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Thom's blog
Is America the First Developed Country to Begin Moving Backwards?
 Russian president Vladimir Putin recently suggested that "liberal democracy" is "obsolete." He may be onto something, at least from the point of view of conservatives and neoconservatives in the United States and Europe. Indeed, a liberal democracy has been under attack for sometime. But the question is, was America the first developed country to begin moving backwards? Conservatives led the deconstruction of the US labor market, at a time when the Labor movement around the rest of the world was doing well or even growing. Reagan and Clinton kicked off an era of massive deregulation that led directly to the crash of 2008. Reagan, Bush, and Trump's massive tax cuts have all thrown America massively into debt and wildly exacerbated the divide between rich and poor in this country, shattering many people's expectation that liberal democracy in America would produce a better life for them. At the same time, though, America has become more tolerant of racial and gender minorities, and moved toward a more economically equal society in many ways. On the other hand, Trump's demagoguery over his wall and putting children in cages has inflamed white racists, and threatens to undo liberal advances dating all the way back to the Brown v. Board Supreme Court decision. So the question: was America the first country where liberal democracy began to backslide? How rapidly has this accelerated across the rest of the world? In what direction is this heading? And what, if anything, should we do about it? -Thom |
Wednesday's Daily Stack 
Article: " Constitution of the United States" Article 1 section 8 (Powers of Congress). " ...To raise and support Armies, but no Appropriation of Money to that Use shall be for a longer Term than two Years..."
Hour Two: Is America the First Developed Country to Begin Moving Backwards?
Article: " 13th Amendment", December 6, 1865. " Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction." Article: " 14th Amendment, July 9, 1868 (citizenship, representatives, public debt, Equal Protection Clause) Article: " 15th Amendment", February 3, 1870 " The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude" Article: " 19th Amendment " The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."
Quote: " Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." - George Santayana.
Hour Three: The Movement to Get Guns Under Control- David Swanson, Journalist/Activist/Campaign Director- Roots Action / Author- War Is A Lie 
Event: Thu, July 11: PHILADELPHIA, PA - Netroots Nation, PA Convention Center, 1101 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA. Event: Fri, July 12: PHILADELPHIA, PA 4:15pm - Netroots Nation, PA Convention Center, 1101 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA. Thom's The Hidden History of Guns and the 2nd Amendment Book Tour. |
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Thursday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 12-3pm ET
Plus, I'll be joined by Stephen Smith, Progressive Candidate for Governor of West Virginia.
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...
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Watch & Listen to Thom
Can You Forgive Your Republican Friends?
Mueller Investigation Report, Part 42: The Most Expensive Caviar You Ever Had
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Can Impeaching Trump Win Billionaire Tom Steyer the 2020 Presidential Race?
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On the Road Again
The Hidden History of Guns and the 2nd Amendment Book Tour Is Coming...
Fri, Jul 12: PHILADELPHIA, PA 4:15pm - Netroots Nation, PA Convention Center, 1101 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA.
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