Mike Pompeo lied to a reporter on the air, and then screamed obscenities at her afterwards. A few days later, he refused to allow another reporter from NPR on the state department airplane in punishment. Donald Trump just praised this behavior, Saying "You did a good job on her," as if it was some sort of a physical assault.

If Thomas Jefferson was right that a Free Press is the strongest defender of democracy, our democracy is now officially at a very, very weak point. Every American should be horrified by this behavior in the White House and State Department and should speak out in social media and any other venue available against this administration's latest attempt to muffle a Free Press.

Combined with the fact that the White House has stopped having press conferences altogether, the Trump administration is behaving like a tinpot dictatorship rather than an advanced democracy.

-Thom

Wednesday's Daily Stack

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

Article: "Impeachment Report: Democrats Manchin, Jones, Sinema May Vote to Acquit Trump" by Joshua Caplan.

Article: "The three Senate Dems who could vote to acquit Trump" by Melanie Zanona.

Article: "Trump Attacks Bolton As Impeachment Trial Heats Up" by Paul Handley.

Article: "Trump Tied Ukraine Aid to Inquiries He Sought, Bolton Book Says" by Maggie Haberman and Michael S. Schmidt.

Article: "John Bolton's Account Upends Trump's Denials, but Will It Upend Trump?" by Peter Baker.

Article: "John Bolton's bombshell gives the GOP a glimpse of its nightmare scenario" by Aaron Blake.

Book: The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir by John Bolton.

Article: "The TRUST Act is a plot to gut Social Security behind closed doors" by Alex Lawson.

Article: "The Social Security 2100 Act" by Rep. John B. Larson.

Bill: "H.R.860 - Social Security 2100 Act" by Rep. Larson, John B. [D-CT-1].

Article: "Cost of living" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Consumer Price Index" by BLS.

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

Article: "Democratic Majority for Israel" (DMFI PAC) by Wikipedia.

Article: "WATCH: Anti-Bernie Democrats Launch Brutal Ad Hitting Sanders Over Heart Attack" by Tommy Christopher.

Article: "It was a blowout: Bernie Sanders won a whopping 99 percent of counties in the Wisconsin primary" by Ben Norton.

Article: "Trump claims Bolton book is 'classified national security'" by Quint Forgey.

Bill: "H.R.770 - Discharge Student Loans in Bankruptcy Act of 2019" by Rep. Katko, John [R-NY-24].

Movie: "Idiocracy".

Article: "Government Accountability Office Finds That Trump White House Illegally Held Up Ukraine Aid" by Lachlan Markay.

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

Article: "Adam Schiff Says House Intelligence Committee May Subpoena John Bolton" by Hayley Miller.

Law: "Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act, 1994.

Article: "Despite Election Security Fears, Iowa Caucuses Will Use New Smartphone App" by Kate Payne, Miles Parks.

Article: "Electoral College" by Wikipedia.

Hour Two: How do we deal with a potential pandemic when so many people don't have healthcare?
- Dr. Ezekiel "Zeke" Emanuel, Oncologist and Bioethicist / Senior Fellow - Center for American Progress / currently, Vice Provost - Global Initiatives, University of Pennsylvania & Chair - Department of Medical Ethics & Health Policy.

Article: "Here's The Science on How Serious The Wuhan Coronavirus Outbreak Actually Is" by Paul Ricard.

Article: "NIH officials discuss novel coronavirus that recently emerged in China" by NIH.

Article: "10-Year-Old Boy Raises Fears Wuhan Virus Could Spread Undetected" by Jason Gale.

Article: "Statement on the meeting of the International Health Regulations (2005) Emergency Committee regarding the outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)" by WHO.

Article: "A familial cluster of pneumonia associated with the 2019 novel coronavirus indicating person-to-person transmission: a study of a family cluster" by Jasper Fuk-Woo Chan, MD et al.

Article: "Germany confirms first human coronavirus transmission in Europe" by Sarah Boseley.

Article: "How to Avoid the Coronavirus? Wash Your Hands" by Elisabeth Rosenthal.

Article: "Top White House official in charge of pandemic response exits abruptly" by Lena H. Sun.

Article: "John Bolton Disbanded Global Health Security Team in Charge of Pandemic Response Efforts" by Emma Fiala.

Article: "Top White House official in charge of pandemic response exits as global health security team disbanded" by Lena H Sun.

Article: "Influenza A virus subtype H1N1" by Wikipedia.

Site: CDC: 2019 Novel Coronavirus, Wuhan, China.

Article: "NIAID Officials Discuss Novel Coronavirus that Recently Emerged in China" by NIH.

Article: "Trump attacks Bolton as indicted businessman shows up for Trump impeachment trial" by Susan Cornwell, Patricia Zengerle, Susan Heavey.

Article: "Trump pressures GOP senators on witnesses after McConnell warns he needs votes" by Trish Turner, Mary Bruce, Quinn Owen.

Site: Greg Palast

Article: "Gerrymandering" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Impeachment: Trump wants Senate trial over before State of the Union address" by Tom McCarthy and Martin Pengelly.

Article: "Cheapening a Sacred Space" by Andrew Exum.

Article: "Speaking to troops, Trump gets overtly political, talking border wall and leaving Syria" by Ali Rogin.

Article: "One year inside Trump's monumental Facebook campaign" by Julia Carrie Wong.

Article: "Facebook gets Foxy" by Judd Legum.

Article: "Trump impeachment trial live updates: Senators ask written questions to both sides" by Benjamin Siegel, Quinn Owen.

Article: "Bolton told Barr he was concerned Trump did favors for autocrats: report" by John Bowden.

Article: "Remembering Howard Baker, whose famous question embodied the Watergate hearings" by Connie Cass.

Article: "National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020" (NDAA) by Wikipedia.

Article: "'Atrocious': 188 Democrats Join GOP to Hand Trump $738 Billion Military Budget That Includes 'Space Force'" by Jake Johnson.

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: "Port Arthur massacre (Australia)" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Tough gun laws in Australia eliminate mass shootings" by Meghan Rosen.

Article: "Here's How The Nation Responded When A Black Militia Group Occupied A Government Building" by Nick Wing.

Book: The Hidden History of Guns and the Second Amendment by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "The Mulford Act" by Yvonna Russell.

Article: "Thousands rally in Virginia's capital for gun rights" by AP.

Article: "Pro life supporters participate in 7th annual Life March in Shreveport".

Article: "China built a lab to study SARS and Ebola in Wuhan - and US biosafety experts warned in 2017 that a virus could 'escape' the facility that's become key in fighting the outbreak" by Natalie Rahhal.

Article: "History of syphilis" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Influenza" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Feinstein says LA Times 'misunderstood' her stance on whether Trump should be acquitted" by Savannah Behrmann.

Article: "Cost of EpiPen: One senator's daughter is Mylan CEO, another's needs drug" by Eugene Scott.

Hour Three: Climate Crisis is Devastating Earth's Coral Reefs...Why It Matters
- Steven Trent, Founder/Executive Director - Environmental Justice Foundation & Founder - WildAid, will tell us about the Climate Crisis Devastating the Reefs

Article: "Corals and Communities: EJF Report Highlights Devastating Impacts of Climate Crisis on Reefs" by Daisy Brickhill.

Report: "Marine Havens Under Threat: The Impacts Of The Climate Crisis On Tropical Coral Reefs And The Communities That Rely On Them" by EJF.

Article: "Here's just how bad the devastating Australian fires are -- by the numbers" by Christina Maxouris.

Article: "2020 Jakarta floods" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Ocean acidification" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Great Barrier Reef" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Great Barrier Reef scientists confirm largest die-off of corals recorded" by Guardian.

Article: "Coronavirus: Americans Evacuated From Wuhan Will Remain At U.S. Air Base For 3 Days" by Bill Chappell.

Article: "Coronavirus latest: Australian lab first to grow virus outside China" by Nature.

Article: "Coronavirus vs SARS, Spanish flu and Ebola – death toll and symptoms compared" by Gemma Mullin.

Article: "Dogged scientist unearthed Alaska victims of horrific flu pandemic to help pinpoint cause" by Ned Rozell.

Article: "Construction Worker Finds 1918 Flu Pandemic Mass Grave" by Christopher Klein.

Article: "2019–20 Wuhan coronavirus outbreak" by Wikipedia.

Book: "Unequal Protection: The Battle to Save Democracy" by Thom Hartmann (read online)

Book: "Unequal Protection: How Corporations Became "People" - And How You Can Fight Back" by Thom Hartmann

Article: "Thom Hartmann: The Plot to Destroy America — and What We Can Do to Stop It" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "The IMF Is Throwing Cold Water On Trump's Economy Boom" by Desmond Lachman.

Article: "Explainer: The Fed has a repo problem. What's that?" by Richard Leong.

Article: "Fixing repo market a 'trial and error' process, former Atlanta Fed president says" by Jesse Pound.

Article: "Dallas Fed chief: Bond-buying program likely helping to boost stocks" by Dion Rabouin.

Article: "Global dissatisfaction with democracy has reached a record high, research claims" by Chloe Taylor.

Article: "GOP senators visited Moscow on July 4, warned Russia against meddling in 2018 election: report" by Emily Birnbaum.

Case: "Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co." (1895).

Case: "Plessy v. Ferguson", 1896 (separate but equal).

Article: "By 2040, two-thirds of Americans will be represented by 30 percent of the Senate" by Philip Bump.

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

I'll be debating with Julio Rivera, Reactionary Times.

Plus, did we learning anything from the senators' questions and answers at the impeachment trial yesterday?

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...

Science Revolution: Coronavirus: The Virus That Can Become a Pandemic

Youth Climate Lawsuit Asks Court For A Right To A Future (w/ Mary Christina Wood)

Science Revolution: Virginia Can't Wait For Progressive Policies (w/ Stephen Smith)

Mon, Feb 17, 7:30pm PT: Berkeley Arts & Letter Series.

Wed, Feb 19, 7:30pm PT: Seattle Town Hall.

Sun, Feb 23, noon or 1pm: Blue State Ball.

Fri, Feb 28, 7:30pm PT: Powell's, 1005 W Burnside St., Portland.

Sun, Mar 1, noon: Frugal Muse Books -Chicago- tickets will go on sale Feb 3rd.