Dear Friend,

I’m writing you today because the network on which my show airs, Free Speech TV, needs your help.

Please consider the value you get from the one-of-a-kind programming you see on Free Speech TV every day. And, consider donating so that you can continue receiving this important news and information for another year. This is a crucial time for FSTV because the funds they have heading into the new fiscal year will determine what documentaries, programs, and special events they are going to be able to bring to you over the next 12 months.

Free Speech TV has been a loyal partner of mine for some time now and I am an ardent supporter of their programming, and you should be too.

Their programming director, Alexander, is waiting to find out what their budget is going to be, and, Caroline, the documentary acquisitions manager is waiting to find out if she can buy the rights to air some of the most ground breaking documentaries of the year.

So, in these last few days of the year, please give what you can and help to ensure that an independent progressive television network has a leg up as we move into a critical election year.

Your support means that I get to stay on the air. It would mean that you get to continue to watching some of the other amazing programming that they air--such as Democracy Now!, Ring of Fire with Mike Papantonio, The Stephanie Miller Show, and a vast selection of incredible documentaries created by passionate independent filmmakers and producers.

With your help, we will have another successful year of bringing you the content, news, and information that you won't find anywhere else. Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Thom Hartmann

The Thom Hartmann Program

Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10pm... Naomi Klein and Greg Grandin (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)

Friday's Daily Stack

In for Thom today... Progressive Talkers Danielle & Shane-O.

Article: "Troll - definition" by Oxford University Press.

Article: "The absolutely epic trolling letter Jeb Bush’s leadership PAC sent to Donald Trump’s lawyer" by Chris Cillizza.

Article: "Donald Trump’s amazing ‘cease and desist’ letter, annotated" by Cillizza.

Article: "Houston mayoral election, December 12, 2015".

Article: "Three years and 90,000 gun deaths since Sandy Hook, appetite for change builds" by David Smith, Griselda Nevarez and Tafline Laylin.

Article: "Connecticut to Ban Gun Sales to Those on Federal Terrorism Lists" by Elizabeth A. Harris and Eric Lichtblau.

Article: "Watch President Obama Troll Donald Trump in 2011" by Ryan Teague Beckwith.

Quote: "If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you" - Oscar Wilde.

Article: "Scalia: Black Students Don’t Need Affirmative Action Because They Benefit From A ‘Slower Track’" by Casey Quinlan.

Article: "Argument Transcript: Fisher v. University of Tex. at Austin", 9 December 2015.

Article: "Scalia channels his colleague Clarence Thomas in saying minorities might need ‘slower track’ schools" by Reuters.

Site: BradBlog

Book: Trump: The Art of the Deal by Donald J. Trump with Tony Schwartz.

Article: "GOP Rep Steve King on Muslim Rep Keith Ellison: Accepting Sharia Law as Superior to the Constitution ‘Antithetical to Americanism’" by Jeff Poor.

Article: "Rep. Keith Ellison rips Steve King for ‘spewing’ same anti-Muslim ‘nonsense’ as GOP candidates" by Arturo Garcia.

Article: "ISIS is in Afghanistan, But Who Are They Really?" by Priyanka Boghani.

Article: "Trump's Comments Cost Him Money in Middle East" by María Villaseñor.

Article: "Letter to Trump and Complaint" by Politico.

Site: Vote for Bernie.

Article: "First Amendment to the United States Constitution".

Article: "Syrian Refugees Greeted by Justin Trudeau in Canada" by Ian Austen.

Article: "Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan & Kevin McCarthy: Plot To Sabotage US Economy with Frank Luntz" by keepemhonest.

Article: "GOP preparing for contested convention" by Robert Costa and Tom Hamburger.

Article: "2012 Republican presidential candidates all have flaws" by Chris Cillizza.

Case: "Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission" (2010).

Article: "2012 Outside Spending, by Super PAC" by Open Secrets.

Article: "Charts: How Much Have the Kochs Spent on the 2012 Election?" by Dave Gilson.

Article: "Senate rips up Obama's nomination wish list" by Burgess Everett and Seung Min Kim.

Article: "Kabul attack: Taliban target embassy district" by BBC.

Site: Washington State Coalition to Amend the Constitution (WAmend).

Case: "Brown v. Board Of Education", 1954 (Segregation in public schools) (overturned Plessy v. Ferguson).

Audio: "Argument Transcript: Fisher v. University of Tex. at Austin", 9 December 2015.

Tweet: "Scalia should check out some actual numbers" by Peter A. Shulman.

Tweet: "source: National Science Foundation: http://nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf08319/" by Peter A. Shulman.

Article: "Obama Sends Welcome Note To Syrian Refugee Coming To America" by Kim Bellware.

Site: Supreme Court.

Article: "Supergirl (U.S. TV series)" by Wikipedia.

Talk Media News Segment:
- Victoria Jones

Article: "COP21: Paris climate talks enter tense final few hours" by Pilita Clark and Michael Stothard.

Article: "House Passes Bill To Delay Shutdown" by Nick Salazar.

Article: "Pelosi: Tax deal is 'massive' giveaway" by Naomi Jagoda.

Article: "Kerry: 'Kinks' in Syrian opposition framework" by Matthew Lee.

Article: "Woman Who Shot at Home Depot Shoplifters Vows to Never Help Anyone Again" by Christine Hauser.

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Site: Governor Free Don Siegelman.

Article: "Teamsters visit capital to ask Treasury for pension help" by Fatima Hussein.

Article: "The Kline-Miller Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014 " by Treasury Department.

Article: "Employee Retirement Income Security Act" (1974) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Michigan could soon part ways with straight-ticket voting" by Rebecca Himmelstein.

Article: "2nd Amendment". A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Article: "How the NRA Rewrote the Second Amendment" by Michael Waldman.

Case: "District of Columbia v. Heller", 2008.

Article: "Constitution of the United States".

Article: "America is an oligarchy, not a democracy or republic, university study finds" by Cheryl K. Chumley.

Article: "Make the Pie Higher!" by George W. Bush.

Book: The Roosevelts: An Intimate History by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken Burns.

Book: The Fight for the Four Freedoms: What Made FDR and the Greatest Generation Truly Great by Harvey J. Kaye.

Article: "SS St Louis: The ship of Jewish refugees nobody wanted" by Mike Lanchin.

Site: On The Issues.

Site: congress.gov (formerly thomas.gov).

Site: govtrack.

Article: "27th Amendment. "No law, varying the compensation for the services of the Senators and Representatives, shall take effect, until an election of representatives shall have intervened."

Monday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 12-3pm ET

We'll have the latest news and information...everything you need to know to win the water cooler wars...

And, the best of the rest of the news along with your calls right here on...

The Thom Hartmann Program, Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week" for "we the people"

And don't forget...Democracy is NOT a spectator sport...it begins with you...

Please support the Hunter School, a unique therapeutic boarding school for young children diagnosed with ADHD, Anxiety, Sensory, Mood and related conditions...

With the RNC align themselves with Democrats to stop Trump?

Vote here!

Full Show 12/9/15: 65% of Trump Supporters Want Ban on Muslims

Guest host Sam Sacks is in for Thom Hartmann tonight and discusses the FBI’s plan to finally track all fatal police shootings with former police officers Ron Hampton and David Klinger and in tonight’s Daily take Thom discusses how the Republican candidates are helping ISIS. Tonight’s Rumble discusses Bernie’s thoughts on Trump’s anti-Muslim rhetoric, whether the GOP will shut down the government again, and Sen. Feinstein’s Patriot Act-style legislation.

Why Extreme Inequality is fueling Extremist Groups...

War Feeds Terror