it's International "Talk Like a Pirate Day" - a holiday that goes all the way back to 1995 - and was started by two pirate enthusiasts: John "Ol' Chumbucket" Baur and Mark "Cap'n Slappy" Summers. The holiday has since been picked by the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster - which believes that pirates were the originial "pastafarians" and should be considered "absolute divine beings" The Church has also observed a direct correlation between the number of pirates sailing around the world and rising global temperatures. The fewer the pirates - the warmer the planet is. It's no coincidence that Somalia is home to the most number of pirates - and also has the lowest carbon emissions of any nation. So that's the background of International Pirate Day. But in all seriousness, we shouldn't just be recognizing the Golden Age of Piracy today - or all the halloween costumes - and movies - and pop culture references - that pirates have given us on this day. We should also be recognizing the most important contribution of all from pirates...democracy. That's right - long before the United States declared independence and ratified the Constitution - pirates were sailing around the world practicing their own democracy. Yes, they were criminals and killers. But as several historians and pirate experts have pointed - most notably Peter Leeson of George Mason University, author of the book "The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates" - pirates also provided one of the best ...

Marc Harrold, Attorney, & SE Robinson, The Blaze both join Thom Hartmann. You know it's bad in Washington when Republicans can't even pass their own bill. Why did Republicans leave America's veterans in the dust today - and do Conservatives think it's ok to send Americans to war and then not help them when they come home? That and more in tonight's Lone Liberal Rumble

Mitt Romney's "off the cuff" remarks are continuing to make waves - as he proudly stands behind them - saying he has no regrets. But who exactly makes up Romney's 47 percent? Working class Americans screwed over by three decades of Reaganomics - or the Romney-level wealthy elite?

Mitt Romney's "off the cuff" comments caught on tape are the latest proof that he - and Paul Ryan are consumed by the selfish "me society" preached by Ayn Rand. How can we stop that selfishness from taking over the White House - and destroying this country?