Thom talks with journalist and author Susan Jacoby in tonight's "Conversations with Great Minds." Tonight's "Big Picture Rumble" panel discusses US austerity, more evidence that the oil industry has bought the House of Representatives and a new poll showing that a majority of Republicans still believe Saddam Hussein had WMDs. In tonight's "Daily Take" Thom details how a 2008 column written by Dick Morris explains everything that's happening with our economy and politics today.

Dick Morris was a campaign strategist for Bill Clinton back in 1996 before resigning after news broke that he was sucking the toes of a prostitute. After leaving the Democratic Party in disgrace, Dick - like most other freaks and perverts found a new home in the Republican Party... and eventually on Fox so-called News...often appearing with loufa-obsessed Bill O'Reilly. By 2008, Dick was a rockstar on the Right, and one of the go-to Republican strategists for Fox News. And right after President Obama won the election that year - Dick wrote a very interesting column for "The Hill" titled: "An election that the Republicans needed to lose - good luck Obama." If you want to know why the economy is where it is today - why Republicans are acting the way they're acting - and why President Obama's re-election chances aren't all that great - then it's worth reading toe-sucker Dick Morris's 2008 column. Rewind back to 2008 - remember those days? When President Bush and Treasury Secretary Paulsen were routinely addressing the nation about the dire financial crisis Bush looked scared to death - Paulsen hands trembled. 2.6 million Americans lost their jobs that year. The foreclosure crisis was speeding up, banks were failing, and businesses were closing their doors. It was economic doomsday. And Dick Morris and the rest of the top Republican strategists knew it. That's why Morris wrote in his column after the election: "If ever there was an election that was not worth winning, it was ...

Susan Jacoby, Journalist/Author, "Freethinkers: A History of American Secularism," and most recently, "Never Say Die: The Myth and Marketing of the New Old Age" is tonight's Greatest Mind. Forty years ago - very few politicians flaunted their religious beliefs for personal gain. So what's changed - and what's given rise to the Christian Right in American politics? Her latest piece is - How The Founders Ensured America Would Not Be a Christian Nation.

You might remember last week when Michigan State Representative Lisa Brown said the word "vagina" & so shocked her mostly male Republicans colleagues in the House - that she was banned from speaking on the House floor for the rest of the legislative year. Then a spokesman for the GOP House majority leader claimed the women were having "temper tantrums." Now, in a renewed sexist move by the Michigan Republicans, state Rep. Wayne Schmidt (R) compared the women to children, saying that they were given a "time out" for misbehaving. He said, "You know, as I said to someone up north here, it's like giving the kid a time out for a day. Hey, time out, you went a comment too far, you spoke your piece, we're gonna let these other people have their dissenting comments, and then we'll get back to business. But unfortunately, business has become a sideshow." The war on women and blatant sexism have found a home within the Republican Party platform of late. How do we stop the patriarchy and anti-female bigotry in the Republican Party - and give women more power and freedom in American society?