State police raiding the offices of a major voter registration group under suspicious premises and taking thousands of documents... it sounds like the kind of thing you'd expect in a tinpot dictatorship - but it's exactly what happened this week in Indiana.

As the Intercept reports, on Tuesday "Nearly a dozen police entered the Indianapolis offices of the Indiana Voter Registration Project (IVRP) with a search warrant and seized multiple computers, the personal cellphones of employees, and paperwork relating to the group's get-out-the-vote operations in the state."

Tuesday's raid came just a few weeks after Indiana authorities announced that they were investigating the IVRP after finding that least 10 of its registration forms were "forged" or contained "fictitious information."

This investigation has now spread to 9 counties across the state - even though voting rights experts say the issue that brought about the investigation - the supposedly "forged" or "fictious" registration forms - isn't really that big of an issue because fake voters don't actually - you know - vote.

So what's really going on here?

Is this "investigation" into the Indiana Voter Registration Project legitimate or is it a politically-motivated attempt to suppress the kind of get out the vote efforts that win elections?

-Thom

(What do you think? Tell us here.)

Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10pm... Professor Kevin O'Leary PhD, Trump and the Roots of Rage (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)

Friday's Daily Stack

Article: "Hurricane Matthew storm surge a threat as it moves up coast: What we know now" by USA Today.

Article: "Rick Scott won't extend Florida voter registration because of hurricane" by Reena Flores.

Article: "As Matthew Threatens, Florida Governor Slammed for Climate Denialism" by Jon Queally.

Article: "Hillary Clinton Is the Best Choice for Voters Against Abortion" by Eric Sapp.

Article: "Bill Clinton on Abortion" by OnTheIssues. "Safe, legal and rare."

Article: "Pence confirms once and for all that Trump will be an anti-LGBT president" by Zack Ford.

Article: "Reports suggest Donald Trump is unhappy with Mike Pence for winning the VP debate" by Ezra Klein.

Article: "Toxic water leak at Japanese plant" by AAP.

Site: Beyond Nuclear.

Article: "The Clinton BS Files: Who is Chelsea Clinton’s real dad? A mystery spun out of nothing" by Amanda Marcotte.

What to Expect From Sunday's Presidential Debate
- RT Rybak, DNC/Hillary for America

Article: "Second presidential debate: How to watch on CNN" (Sunday 9 October at 9:00 p.m. ET) by Eli Watkins.

Clip: "Paul Weyrich - "I don't want everybody to vote" (Goo Goo)".

Twitter: "#periodsforpence".

Article: "Indiana Gov. Mike Pence signed a law this year that mandated funerals for fetuses" by Emily Crockett.

Article: "Woman Goes to Hospital for Miscarriage, Ends Up Sentenced to Jail for 20 Years" by Amy Goodman, Nermeen Shaikh.

Article: "Judge says Purvi Patel should be freed immediately after feticide conviction overturned" by AP.

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

Article: "Donald Trump’s Draft Deferments: Four for College, One for Bad Feet" by Steve Eder and Dave Philipps.

Article: "Donald Trump's sniff likened to Al Gore's sigh as breathing difficulties during debate light up social media" by Chris Graham.

Article: "Testosterone" (e.g. Androgel) by Wikipedia.

Book: Who Rules the World? by Noam Chomsky.

Article: "The Rand Paul-Lindsey Graham-Mike Lee Plan to Steal Social Security" by Campaign for America's Future, April 18, 2011.

Bill: "S. 804 (112th): Social Security Solvency and Sustainability Act" by Lindsey Graham, Apr 13, 2011.

Hour Two: Latest on the New Cold War
- Professor Stephen Cohen, The Nation/Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives

Article: "Slouching Toward War With Russia in Syria?" by Stephen F. Cohen.

Article: "More Squandered Opportunities to Deal With the New Cold War" by Stephen F. Cohen.

Article: "Who Is Making American Foreign Policy—the President or the War Party?" by Stephen F. Cohen.

Article: "Do We Really Want Nuclear War with Russia?" by Robert Parry.

Article: "Top US General Warns Syrian “No-Fly” Zone Means War with Russia" by Bill Van Auken.

Article: "U.S. Elections: Is Donald Trump The Kremlin's Candidate?" by Shellie Karabell.

Article: "New Trump Putin Connection Website, A Focus of Journalists" by dawnslight.

Article: "Pence calls Putin 'small and bullying' leader" by Jacob Pramuk.

Article: "George F. Kennan" by Wikipedia.

Speech: "Farewell Address" by George Washington (1796).

Article: "Trump Reportedly Tried to Convince Kasich to Be His VP by Offering Him the President’s Job" by Josh Voorhees.

Talk Media News Segment:
- Bob Ney

Article: "Hurricane Matthew slams Florida with 120 mph winds" by Regina Holmes.

Article: "Florida governor says state won't extend voter registration, rebuffing Clinton campaign" by Eric Bradner.

Article: "US added 156,000 jobs in September, unemployment up slightly" by TMN.

Book: "Sideswiped: Lessons Learned Courtesy of the Hit Men of Capitol Hill" by Robert Ney.

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Site: Governor Free Don Siegelman

Article: "Quick Morning News - Hurricane Matthew barrels toward Southeast US Coast - October 6, 2016" by Victoria Jones.

Hour Three: What is Libertarianism Really About?
- Libertarian Charles Sauer, The Market Institute

Articles: On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation by David Ricardo ("On labor" 1814, "On profits" 1816, "of wages").

Book: "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations", Adam Smith, 1776.

Book: Theory of Moral Sentiments, Adam Smith, 1759.

Law: "Sherman Antitrust Act", 1890.

Site: Colonel Doug Applegate for Congress (CA49, running against Rep. Darrell Issa).

Video: Darrell Issa's Lined Pockets - Doug Applegate for Congress.

Video: Everything Changed - Doug Applegate for Congress.

Article: "World faces wave of epic debt defaults, fears central bank veteran" (William White) by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard.

Movie: "Margin Call".

Article: "Pakistan passes long-awaited anti-honour killing legislation" by AFP.

Site: John Fugelsang.

Movie: "Dream On".

Video: John Fugelsang Says “Dream On!".

Article: "Dream On with John Fugelsang Premieres Oct 7th at 10pm EST on PBS".

Book: Democracy In America by Alexis De Tocqueville, 1835.

Article: "ICE union endorses Trump" by Politico.

Site: .gov Domain Name Registration Service.

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...

Quiz: Which party platform says, "We call for ... the repeal of all laws which restrict voluntary financing of election campaigns" (answer in Monday's newsletter)

Vote here!

Who said, "I want to build a wall"? Answer: Donald Trump. Hillary said, "We will not build a wall". Emperor Hadrian actually built a wall.

Is Yahoo Secretly Monitoring Emails For the Government?

Now, Every Storm is a Climate Change Storm

The Gilded Rage Exposed

Support Indigenous Rights By Abolishing Columbus Day

Why Are The Police Raiding Voter Registration?

The Trump Stock Market Crash

Full Show 10/6/16: Even Wall Street Fears A Pres. Trump

Thom discusses Wall Street’s wariness about a President Trump with the Center for Economic and Policy Research’s Mark Weisbrot, how Yahoo secretly monitored emails on behalf of the U.S. government with The District Sentinel’s Sam Sacks, how the Fukushima nuclear disaster has now contaminated most of the Pacific Ocean with Beyond Nuclear’s Kevin Kamps, and in tonight’s Daily Take Thom details how climate change is to blame for the severity of Hurricane Matthew.

What's Up With US-Russia Relations? (w/Guest: Stephen Cohen)

What Should We Expect In Sunday's Presidential Debate? (w/Guest: RT Rybak)

If You Want To End Abortions, You Should Work To End Poverty.

Greenpeace Says Rick Scott Has Failed The People of His State!

Thom Hartmann Book Club - "From The Ashes" - October 7, 2016

GMU Students Say: "Un-Koch My Campus!" (w/Guests: Janine Gaspari & Samantha Parsons)

Muslim Congressman Accuses Trump Aide of Fear Mongering... (w/Guest: Rep. Keith Ellison)