While most of America is shocked and horrified by the stories and pictures coming out of Trump's concentration camps, part of America is delighted. Trump's base thinks it's just fine that he is so brutal and cruel, and their answer to any question about conditions on the southern border is, "Well, if people don't want to be stuck in these conditions, then they shouldn't come to the United States."

This argument is how Trump and the media divert our attention from why these people are coming: a five-year climate-change-driven drought in central America that is wiping out millions of family farms, along with the political violence caused by American meddling all the way back to the Reagan administration. Until the countries of the Americas, particularly the United States, address these issues, the refugee crisis will continue to get worse, and, like in Europe, the anti-immigrant base will continue to grow and thus increase Trump's domestic political power.

Democrats need to raise the causes of this crisis every time they mention the horrors and brutality of Trump's response to it.

-Thom

Wednesday's Daily Stack

Hour One: Mid-day with Mark
- Congressman Mark Pocan (D-WI, 2nd District)

Article: "Squalid Conditions at Border Detention Centers, Government Report Finds" by Zolan Kanno-Youngs.

Article: "Rush Limbaugh says that "maybe toilet water is a step up for" some migrants, "based on what the left is telling us" " by Media Matters.

Article: "Majority of undocumented immigrants show up for court, data shows" by John Kruzel.

Article: "'Trump 41%' Trends On Twitter After New Poll Suggests Six Dems Would Beat Him" by Hayley Prokos.

Article: "Melania Trump's Parents Become U.S. Citizens, Using ‘Chain Migration' Trump Hates" by Annie Correal and Emily Cochrane.

Article: "Mueller Report (Redacted) Searchable Version (PDF)".

Article: "Ohio congressional map tossed out for partisan gerrymandering" by Steven Shepard.

Article: "HR 1: Democrats pass sweeping bill to get money out of politics" by Ella Nilsen.

Article: "Mitch 'The Grim Reaper' McConnell: Meet the Man Who Ruined the Senate" by Fred Wertheimer.

Article: "Despite Florida loss, Democrats pick up 7 new governorships – including Wisconsin, Kansas and Nevada" by Bill Theobald and Marco della Cava.

Article: "Park Service diverts $2.5 million in fees for Trump's Fourth of July extravaganza" by Juliet Eilperin, Josh Dawsey and Dan Lamothe.

Article: "RNC Giving Out Tickets To Trump's Hijacked Fourth Of July Celebration" by S.V. Date.

Article: "Constitution of the United States" Article 1 section 8 (Powers of Congress).

Article: "Jimmy Carter calls Donald Trump an 'illegitimate president' - live" by Amanda Holpuch.

Article: "House Democrats file suit to obtain Trump's tax returns" by Bryan Renbaum.

Article: "Harvard Law Prof Calls Trump Admin's Blocking of Key Witness Testimony ‘Egomaniac Immunity'" by Matt Naham.

Article: "The Republican tax bill got worse: now the top 1% gets 83% of the gains" by Dylan Matthews.

Article: "Ivanka Trump's Asia trip wasn't just awkward — it will harm American diplomacy" by Daniel B. Shapiro.

Article: "President Trump's Mar-a-Lago Trips Can Cost Taxpayers $1 Million a Day: GAO" by Jennifer Epstein.

Article: "Justice Department Argues Against Providing Soap, Toothbrushes, Beds To Detained Kids" by Mary Papenfuss.

Article: "Does It Cost $750 a Day to House Migrant Children in Camps?".

Law: "H.R.3590 - Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act" (111-148) by Rep. Rangel, Charles B. [D-NY-15].

Article: "Appellate court raises potential new threat to ACA" by Yasmeen Abutaleb.

Article: "Border agents confiscated lawmakers' phones. Joaquin Castro captured photo and video anyway." by Katie Mettler, Mike DeBonis and Reis Thebault.

Article: "House passes unchanged version of Senate border bill" by Rebecca Kaplan, John Nolen.

Article: "Everything We Know About Trump's July 4 Event" by Adam K. Raymond.

Article: "Redlining" by Wikipedia.

Hour Two: How Close is Iran to a Nuclear Bomb, really?
- Jamal Abdi, President - National Iranian American Council (NIAC)

Article: "Iran is breaching its uranium stockpile limit under the nuclear deal. Here's what that actually means" by Natasha Turak.

Article: "Iran will start enriching uranium at higher levels after this weekend, Rouhani says" by Nada Altaher and Tamara Qiblawi.

Article: "Iran not getting sanctions relief it was promised" by Barbara Slavin, April 8 2014.

Article: "EU powers resist calls for Iran sanctions after breach of nuclear deal" by Patrick Wintour.

Article: "Iran Downs U.S. Drone, Will Breach Nuclear Deal's Limits" by NIAC.

Article: "NIAC Statement on Iran Surpassing Enriched Uranium Stockpile Limit".

Article: "China seeks Indian and Russian backing for ‘new' multilateral trading system to counter Donald Trump's protectionism" by Lee Jeong-Ho.

Article: "China Could Outrun the U.S. Next Year. Or Never" by David Fickling.

Article: "The forgotten history of how Abraham Lincoln helped rig the Senate for Republicans" by Ian Millhiser.

Article: "'Grim reaper' Mitch McConnell buries plans to protect America from election interference" by USA Today.

Article: "Trump's Fourth of July Parade to Include Flyover by Russian Air Force" by Andy Borowitz.

Article: "Buttigieg unveils national service plan with new climate and health programs" by Colby Itkowitz.

Article: "GOP lawmakers blast Nike over scrapping Betsy Ross flag shoe reportedly over Colin Kaepernick's concerns" by Ryan Gaydos.

Tweet: "It's a good thing @Nike only wants to sell sneakers to people who hate the American flag.... @NFL #HappyFourth https://twitter.com/WSJ/status/1145838971731226624" by Ted Cruz.

Article: "American Pride Hits New Low; Few Proud of Political System" by Megan Brenan.

Tweet: "A new poll shows only 45% of men and women in the U.S. are 'extremely proud' to be American. That is the lowest amount ever recorded by this poll. What do you think is causing the decline?" by Fox & Friends First.

Article: "Fox News buried in mockery for asking why Americans are ashamed of US under Trump" by Travis Gettys.

Article: "Desegregation busing" by Wikipedia.

Quote: "We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." - Benjamin Franklin.

Article: "Definitions of Child Abuse and Neglect in Federal Law" by Child Welfare Information Gateway.

Article: "Supremacy Clause" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Supreme Court allows gerrymandering in North Carolina, Maryland, setting back reform efforts" by Pete Williams.

Article: "House to investigate Secretary Elaine Chao corruption allegations" by MSNBC.

Article: "How deep does the Russia collusion go? To McConnell?" (aluminum factory) by Joan McCarter.

Talk Media News Segment:
- Bob Ney

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Book: Loving What You Do: The Elements of a Great Working Life by Ellen Ratner.

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

Article: "Federal judge blocks Trump policy keeping asylum seekers detained" by Dave Alsup and Caroline Kelly.

Article: "11 companies propose guiding principles for self-driving vehicles" by Kyle Wiggers.

Hour Three: What's Up With Medicare? Are There Big Changes Effective January 1, 2020?
- Alex Lawson, Executive Director - Social Security Works

Site: We Act Radio.

Article: "What's Medicare Supplement Insurance (Medigap)" by Medicare.gov.

Article: "Medicare Advantage" by Wikipedia.

Site: Medicare Rights Center.

Article: "The GOP's Stealth War Against Voters" (Interstate Crosscheck) by Greg Palast, August 24, 2016.

Article: "Arizona SB 1070" (Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act) (papers, please).

Quote: "It violates the essence of what made America a great country in its political system. Now it's just an oligarchy with unlimited political bribery being at the essence of getting the nominations for president or elected president. And the same thing applies to governors and U.S. senators and Congress members. So now we've just seen a complete subversion of our political system as a payoff to major contributors who want and expect and sometimes get favors for themselves after the election's over'." - President Jimmy Carter on unlimited money in politics on the Thom Hartmann Program, 28 July 2015.

Article: "Gingrich on AOC: She's ‘Viciously Dishonest' About Border Issues" by PoliZette Staff.

Article: "Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez receives so many death threats her staff performs visitor risk assessments" by Chelsea Ritschel.

Quote: "When they opened the door, the first thing that ... hit us was a smell. It was the smell of sweat, urine and feces... And I heard crinkling to my left and I looked over there and it was a sea of silver ... there were young children, boys in there. Unaccompanied boys in there... and they had no expression on their faces, there was no laughing, there was no joking, no talking... I describe them almost like dog cages with people in each of them... And the silence was just hard to watch, hard to see."" - Dr. Sara Goza, incoming president of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Article: "Robert Mueller agrees to publicly testify before House committees on Trump Russia probe on July 17" by Jacob Pramuk.

Article: "8th Amendment" "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."

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: "Hoffman arrested for American flag shirt: 1968" by Washington Area Spark.

Article: "Nike Pulls Shoes Featuring Betsy Ross Flag Over Concerns About Racist Symbolism" by Bill Chappell.

Video: Look for the Union Label 1981 classic ad.

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

We're off Thursday and Friday for the 4th July weekend. Have a great 4th and enjoy our best of shows.

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...

Iran Deal Over! Did US Sanctions Force Tehran to Enrich Uranium? (w/ Jamal Abdi)

Mueller Investigation Report, Part 37, the Republican National Convention

Could Abolishing Pharmaceutical Patents Save Democracy?

Would Reinstating the Draft Make the Upper Class Anti-War?

Is Our Economy Completely Screwed? (w/ professor Steve Keen)

Fri, Jul 12: PHILADELPHIA, PA 4:15pm - Netroots Nation, PA Convention Center, 1101 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA.