The story of how Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney came to be on the show today.

Background to Cynthia McKinney being on the Thom Hartmann show February 16 2006

When Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, member of the House Armed Services Committee, was looking for more ammunition in her battle to save taxpayers' money going down the black hole of un-auditable Defense Department spending, with the Pentagon planning a "Long War", she turned to the Internet for reinforcements.

There she found Thom Hartmann's latest article, "Rumsfeld and Cheney Revive Their 70's Terror Playbook". The article describes how Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President (then Chief of Staff) Dick Cheney instilled fear in the hearts of the American people in the 1970's by claiming that the Russians had undetectable weapons of mass destruction. Their prolongation of the Cold War benefited the military industrial complex of which they are a part then, just as their militarization and prolongation of the "war against terror" is costing the American taxpayer dearly now, and their plans, if allowed to bear fruit, will cost future generations dearly too.

Congresswoman McKinney attempted to read Thom Hartmann's article into the Congressional Record On February 16 2006 [Pages H363, H364 and H365], along with an extract from the book "War is a Racket" by Major General Smedley Butler. As she was reading Thom's article, however, she was ruled out of order. The exchange went as follows:

[The SPEAKER pro tempore (Mr. Conaway.)] The gentlewoman will suspend. The gentlewoman is reminded to refrain from personalities toward the Vice President.

[Ms. McKINNEY. Mr. Speaker], I know the gentleman is not suggesting that I cannot say the name of the Vice President. I am reading an article. Is the gentleman suggesting?

[The SPEAKER pro tempore]. The gentlewoman will suspend. The gentlewoman may state the name of the Vice President or make policy references, but she should refrain from engaging in personalities with regard to the Vice President, even by quoting the words of another.

[Ms. McKINNEY]. I did not make a personal reference, so I will move on with my time. I would commend this article to this Congress: ``Rumsfeld and Cheney Revive Their 70's Terror Playbook,'' and everything I have said is quoted right here in this article. Now, I think the last thing this Congress wants to do is try to snuff out the right of people to speak.

The portion of Thom's article that was objected to reads as follows:

"Trillions of dollars and years later, it was proven that they had been wrong all along, and the CIA had been right. Rumsfeld, Cheney, and Wolfowitz lied to America in the 1970s about Soviet WMDs and the Soviet super-sub technology."

The censored portion in the Congressional Record reads as follows:

"Trillions of dollars and years later, it was proven that they had been wrong all along, and the CIA had been right. Rumsfeld *.*.* and Wolfowitz lied to America in the 1970s about Soviet WMDs and the Soviet super-sub technology."

The exchange, which was taking place at the same time that Thom's nationally syndicated radio programme was on the air, was shown on C-SPAN. It was seen and heard by people who were also listening to Thom's show and/or chatting in his chat room. Thom saw the news in the chat room, and his producer promptly invited Congresswoman McKinney onto the show, and within minutes she was on air. (audio)

Thom told her about a previous article he had published in December 2004, "Hyping Terror For Fun and Profit", that has a lot more information that she could use. He also told her about the three hour documentary called "The Power of Nightmares" produced by Adam Curtis and aired on the BBC in the UK, but not yet in the USA. He described that both the modern al-Qaeda movement and the modern Neocon movement have their roots in the reactions of men to the events and lifestyle in the USA in the 1970s.

She and Thom also discussed hearings she had attended on "Able Danger" the previous day and other topical issues.

Thanks to C-SPAN, the Internet, people who are ever on the alert, and liberal radio, word about the censoring spread around the world within minutes. Thanks to the BBC, Thom and the Internet, the information they don't want people to know is out there. Long may it remain so.