Now that we've entered an election year, there is a lot of speculation about what America could look like if Donald Trump gets another term, by hook or by crook.

As Trump uses a crisis he created in the Middle East to distract us from impeachment, increases his chances of reelection, and boosts the fortunes of his buddies in the Military-Industrial Complex, it's important to understand how other demagogic leaders consolidate their power.

Steve Bannon has said that Hungary's strongman prime minister Viktor Orbán was "Trump before Trump."

Read more here.

-Thom

Friday's Daily Stack

Article: "Pelosi Alerts House to Be Ready to Send Impeachment Articles Next Week" by Nicholas Fandos.

Tweet: "So...
Trump: "QUICK! Get Pompeo out there (he doesn't want testimony in impeachment trial, either, because he's in it up to his neck) and have him make a big enough headline to push this story from the WSJ off the top of the news!!!"
Pompeo: "Yes, sir! Imminent, imminent... https://twitter.com/jaketapper/status/1215644318989418496"" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "Trump killed Soleimani to win support in impeachment trial, Wall Street Journal casually mentions" by Laura Clawson.

Quote: "We're fundamentally worse off today than we were just a month ago. Iran has fully restarted their nuclear weapons program," Murphy said. "Our troops are on the verge of being kicked out of Iraq. We've turned the Iranian people, the Iraqi people, the Lebanese people against us. Our counter-ISIL missions have been suspended. This has been a disaster. And I'm glad that we may be on a path towards deescalation, but the carnage of just the last several days is perhaps irreparable" - Chris Murphy.

Article: "Unredacted emails show OMB officials knowingly engaged in conspiracy to hide illegal action by Trump" by Mark Sumner.

Article: "Exclusive: Americans say Soleimani's killing made US less safe, Trump 'reckless' on Iran" by Susan Page.

Article: "House approves resolution aimed at trimming Trump's power on Iran" by Rachel Oswald.

Article: "Kentucky Republicans push restrictive voting law after landmark Democratic win" by Sam Levine.

Article: "The Hidden History of the War on Voting: Who Stole Your Vote and How to Get It Back" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "Job market ends 2019 with disappointing 145,000 growth in payrolls" by Jeff Cox.

Article: "Fed Adds $83.1 Billion in Short-term Money to Markets" by Michael S. Derby.

Article: "Fed Adds Just Over $40 Billion in Temporary Money to Markets" by Michael S. Derby.

Article: "Repurchase Agreement (Repo)" by Nathan Reiff.

Article: "Federal Reserve Admits It Pumped More than $6 Trillion to Wall Street in Recent Six Week Period" by Pam Martens and Russ Martens.

Article: "The market will need the Fed again in 2020" by Dion Rabouin.

Article: "Fed's Richard Clarida says monetary policy remains appropriate" by Sunny Oh.

Site: MoveOn.org

Site: Need to Impeach.

Site: Daily Kos

Site: Public Citizen

Article: "Daily Kos leads major effort pushing Senate Republicans to support a fair impeachment trial" by Dorothy He.

Article: "Narcissistic personality disorder" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Fairness Doctrine" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Reagan's Veto Kills Fairness Doctrine Bill" by Penny Pagano.

Law: "Telecommunications Act of 1996" by Wikipedia.

Law: "Sherman Antitrust Act", 1890.

Article: "Did Trump Propose SSI Changes That Could End Disability Benefits for Thousands?" by Dan MacGuill.

Article: "'A National Disgrace': Trump Proposes Social Security Change That Could End Disability Benefits for Hundreds of Thousands" by Jake Johnson.

Video: The Story of Fascism in Europe.

Article: "Pompeo says Iranian general was plotting "large-scale attack" against U.S. facilities but doesn't provide specific details" by CBS News.

Article: "Grim repo: how the Fed plans to return crucial market to normal" by Joe Rennison.

Article: "Fascism" (a form of far-right, authoritarian ultranationalism) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Nazism" (National Socialism. A form of fascism) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Trump Has Spent $115 Million On Golf Trips - Or 287 Years Of Presidential Salary" by S.V. Date.

Article: "Trump's Art of the Steal" by Michael Kruse.

Law: "Telecommunications Act of 1996" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Cancer eating the heart of Australian democracy" by Kevin Rudd.

Hour Two: Issues of the Day
- Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA, 17th District)

Article: "Bolton says he will testify in impeachment trial if Senate issues subpoena" by Axios.

Bill: "H.Con.Res.83 - Directing the President pursuant to section 5(c) of the War Powers Resolution to terminate the use of United States Armed Forces to engage in hostilities in or against Iran." by Rep. Slotkin, Elissa [D-MI-8].

Bill: "S.J.Res.63 - A joint resolution to direct the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran that have not been authorized by Congress." by Sen. Kaine, Tim [D-VA].

Bill: "H.R.5543 - No War Against Iran Act" by Rep. Khanna, Ro [D-CA-17].

Bill: "H.R.2456 - To repeal the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002." by Rep. Lee, Barbara [D-CA-13].

Article: "How Congress Got Us Out of Vietnam" by Julian E. Zelizer.

Article: "US-Iran relations: A brief history" by BBC.

Article: "Preamble to the Constitution of the United States".
"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

Article: "Constitution of the United States" Article 1 section 8 (Powers of Congress). "The Congress shall have Power To ... provide for the ... general Welfare of the United States..."

Article: "'I'm slowly dying here': Julian Assange tells journalist friend his health is worsening in slurred phone call from Belmarsh prison 'sounding like he's been sedated'" by James Wood.

Site: Action 4 Assange.

Article: "Filibuster" by Wikipedia.

Article: "House Democrats have passed nearly 400 bills. Trump and Republicans are ignoring them." by Ella Nilsen.

Article: "What Happened With Merrick Garland In 2016 And Why It Matters Now" by Ron Elving.

Article: "Constitution of the United States" Article 2 section 1. "The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation, which shall neither be encreased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them." (domestic emoluments clause).

Article: "Constitution of the United States" Article 1 section 9. "No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign state." (foreign emoluments clause).

Article: "ADHD: A Hunter in a Farmer's World 3rd Edition" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "'No War With Iran' protest held in Phoenix among others nationwide" by Perry Vandell.

Site: Thom Hartmann Audible books.

Article: "U.S. contractor whose killing in Iraq was cited by Trump was linguist with 2 young sons" by Elisha Fieldstadt.

Bill: "H.R.2474 - Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2019" by Rep. Scott, Robert C. "Bobby" [D-VA-3].

Law: "Patriot Act", 2001.

Article: "The U.S. continues to separate migrant families. For one father, a miscommunication proved costly" by Camilo Montoya-Galvez.

Article: "Here's The Crushing Truth About American Farmers Under Trump's Trade War" by Erik Sherman.

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

Bill: "H.R.1562 - SAFE Act" by Rep. Pocan, Mark [D-WI-2].

Article: "Rep. Khanna And Rep. Gaetz Bipartisan Amendment To Prohibit Funds From Being Used With A War Against Iran Overwhelmingly Passes In 2019 NDAA" by Ro Khanna.

Article: "'Atrocious': 188 Democrats join GOP to hand Trump $738 billion military budget that includes 'Space Force'" by Jake Johnson.

Article: "Susan Collins working with 'small group' of GOP senators to allow impeachment witnesses" by Michael Shepherd.

Article: "Reaganomics" (voodoo economics) by Wikipedia.

Article: "U.S. Immigration Timeline" by history.com.

Article: "Mar-a-Lago in the firing line: Iranian presidential adviser posts list of Donald Trump's properties in chilling hint of an attack on his real estate empire - after Iran put an $80million bounty on his head" by Tim Stickings.

Article: "Trump threatens attacks on 52 sites if Iran retaliates for Soleimani killing" by Dennis Romero and Yuliya Talmazan.

Article: "On the day U.S. forces killed Soleimani, they launched another secret operation targeting a senior Iranian official in Yemen" by John Hudson, Missy Ryan and Josh Dawsey.

Article: "Video Shows Ukrainian Plane Being Hit Over Iran" by Christiaan Triebert, Malachy Browne, Sarah Kerr and Ainara Tiefenthäler.

Article: "Iran denies missile downed Ukrainian plane" by Amir Havasi.

Article: "Iran Air Flight 655" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Tor missile system" by Wikipedia.

Article: "GOP's Mike Lee and Rand Paul rebuke Trump administration for "worst military briefing" ever on Iran" by Igor Derysh.

Article: "Carr Fire" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Camp Fire (2018)" (Paradise fire) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Giuliani Took Money From a Group That Killed Americans. Does Trump Care?" by Daniel Benjamin.

Article: "Democrats move swiftly to halt Trump's conflict with Iran" by Sarah Ferris, Heather Caygle, Melanie Zanona.

Article: "Cost of living" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Consumer Price Index" by BLS.

Article: "Consumer Price Index for the elderly" (CPI-E) by BLS.

Article: "Cambridge Analytica" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Facebook-Cambridge Analytica data scandal" by Wikipedia.

Video: The Weaponization of Data: Cambridge Analytica, Information Warfare & the 2016 Election of Trump.

Video: "Democracy For Sale": Cambridge Analytica & Big Tech's History of Manipulating Elections.

Article: "Here's How Facebook Actually Won Trump the Presidency" by Issie Lapowsky.

Article: "100,000 Leaked Cambridge Analytica Documents Reveal A Lot More About 'Global Manipulation'" by Natasha Mathur.

Article: "Cambridge Analytica timeline: Everything you need to know | Data" by TechieTricks.com.

Article: "Is it time to regulate or nationalize Facebook?" by Thom Hartmann.

Site: The Hartmann Report

Article: "Julián Castro endorses Elizabeth Warren for president days after dropping out" by Ed O'Keefe.

Article: "Former fighter pilot Amy McGrath announces bid to take on Mitch McConnell in 2020" by Rebecca Buck.

Article: "Amy McGrath" by Wikipedia.

Site: Amy McGrath for Senate.

Video: "The Letter" - Amy McGrath for U.S. Senate.

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.

Case: "Buckley v. Valeo", 1976

Case: "First National Bank Of Boston V. Bellotti", 1978

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

Article: "America Escalates its "Democratic" Oil War in the Near East" by Michael Hudson.

Article: "Otto Warmbier parents blame Kim for son's death and reject Trump's 'excuses'" by Lauren Aratani.

Article: "Malaysia Airlines Flight 17" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Mitch McConnell flatly rejects Chuck Schumer's demand for witnesses at Donald Trump's impeachment trial, warning it would bring about 'mutually assured destruction' because Republicans would call Hunter Biden and the whistleblower" by Emily Goodin.

Article: "Scott Morrison: what is Pentecostalism and how might it influence our PM?" by Mark Jennings.

Article: "How 4 more years of Trump could send the U.S. down the path toward corrupt oligarchy" by Thom Hartmann.

Coming up 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...

Did Trump Strike Soleimani so GOP Won't Impeach Him?

Is Donald Trump The Real Terrorizer?

Can Minimum Wage Increases Prevent Economic Recession? (w/ Richard Wolff)

Congress Moves To Revoke Trump's Military Authorization (w Mark Pocan)