Donald Trump's phone call to Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is the latest illustration of his lifelong criminality. Over the last 40 years, career criminals like Trump have increasingly moved out of the business world and the streets and into politics, something for which we can thank the Supreme Court.

There are, among us, a small number of individuals who are career criminals. They have literally spent their entire lives skirting or outright breaking the law, and not only believe the law doesn't apply to them, but actually delight in getting away with their crimes.

Read more here.

-Thom

Pundits across the American political spectrum are wringing their hands about the fate and future of the "dirty dozen" Republican senators challenging Biden's election.

One of the most widespread stories about their motivation is that they're "afraid of Trump" or are "worried about being primaried." Both ideas are wrong.

These people are not taking Trump's side because they're afraid. They're not motivated by what they might lose. Instead, they're looking to what they might gain in the future.

Read more here.

-Thom

Monday's Daily Stack

Article: "How the Supreme Court set up the authoritarian takeover of America" by Thom Hartmann.

Case: "Buckley v. Valeo", 1976

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

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

Law: "Tillman Act of 1907".

Article: "Employment integrity testing" by Wikipedia.

Bill: "H.R.1 - For the People Act of 2019" by Rep. Sarbanes, John P. [D-MD-3].

Article: "New Congress sworn in as Georgia runoffs loom and Trump runs amok" by Martin Pengelly, Richard Luscombe.

Article: "Maskless QAnon Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene KICKED OFF House floor as Dem and GOP staffers start 'screaming match'" by Erica Davies.

Article: "House Votes To Condemn QAnon Conspiracy Theory: 'It's A Sick Cult'" by Susan Davis.

Article: "Trump corrupts" by Timothy P. Carney.

Article: "Trump Georgia Transcript Shows Case for Vote Fraud and That President Acted Properly" by Newsmax.

Article: "Trump's New Year's Resolution: 'Find 11,780 Votes' in Georgia" by Jim Geraghty.

Article: "President Trump Takes Massive Action, Files Two Lawsuits Against Georgia Secretary of State" by Collin Rugg.

Article: "The Media Are Lying About Trump's Georgia Phone Call" by Andrea Widburg.

Article: "These Are The Republicans Who Oppose Electoral College Objections" by Andrew Solender.

Article: "It's time to consider delaying the second dose of coronavirus vaccine" by Robert M. Wachter and Ashish K. Jha.

Article: "Reps Lieu And Rice Send Criminal Referral To Fbi Over Trump Call" by Ted W. Lieu.

Article: "Donald Trump could be planning Turnberry trip as Scots airport told to expect a high-flyer the day before Joe Biden's inauguration" by Peter Swindon.

Articles: "Thom Hartmann on Medium.com".

Video: People's Vaccine: Calls Grow for Equal Access to Coronavirus Vaccine as Rich Countries Hoard Supply.

Article: "COVAX: Working for global equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines" by WHO.

Article: "The Life in The Simpsons Is No Longer Attainable" by Dani Alexis Ryskamp.

Article: "The American Middle Class Is Losing Ground" by Pew Research.

Article: "'I just want to find 11,780 votes': In extraordinary hour-long call, Trump pressures Georgia secretary of state to recalculate the vote in his favor" by Amy Gardner.

Article: "Trump Isn't Our Biggest Problem: It's the Authoritarian Fascist Movement He's Launched" by Thom Hartmann.

Quote: "When the last man who remembers the horrors of the last great war dies, the next great war becomes inevitable." - attributed to Arnold Toynbee.

Article: "The Real Boston Tea Party was Against the Wal-Mart of the 1770s" by Thom Hartmann.

Law: "Tea Act", 1773 (GB).

Article: "Stamp Act 1765" by Wikipedia.

Book: The Hidden History of American Oligarchy: Reclaiming Our Democracy from the Ruling Class by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "American Civil War (1861 - 1865) by Wikipedia.

Article: "German American Bund" by Wikipedia.

Article: "America First Committee" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Charles Lindbergh" by Wikipedia.

Book: The Illustrious Dunderheads by Rex Stout.

Article: "Smedley Butler" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Business Plot" (Smedley Butler) by Wikipedia.

Article: "World War II" (1939 - 1945) by Wikipedia.

Article: "American Revolution" by Wikipedia.

Article: "American Revolutionary War" (1775-1783) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Donald Trump Campaign Offered Actors $50 to Cheer for Him at Presidential Announcement" by Aaron Couch, Emmet McDermott.

Article: "Howard Stern: Trump Ran for President as a 'Gimmick' to Get a Pay Raise on 'The Apprentice' (Video)" by Jon Levine.

Article: "Here's the full transcript and audio of the call between Trump and Raffensperger" by Amy Gardner and Paulina Firozi.

Article: "The Day New York Tried to Secede" by Ron Soodalter.

Article: "List of United States presidential elections by popular vote margin" by Wikipedia.

Article: "GOP's Massie warns fellow Republicans not to destroy the Electoral College with their Trump stunts" by Travis Gettys.

Site: National Popular Vote.

Article: "Carl Bernstein believes tape of Trump seeking votes from election official is the 'ultimate smoking gun'" by George Back.

Article: "Casus belli" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Zarif Warns of Israeli Push for Fake Casus Belli" by Tasnim.

Article: "Al-Askari Shrine" by Wikipedia.

Article: "2006 al-Askari mosque bombing" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Scotland to go into full lockdown at midnight, Sturgeon announces" by Severin Carrell.

Article: "Cheney came up with idea of Defense secretaries letter, says fellow ex-chief" by Dominick Mastrangelo.

Article: "A blizzard, a disputed electoral vote count and the 1887 law tying Pence's hands" by Ronald G. Shafer.

Article: "Bitter GOP split upends the pomp as a new Congress takes over" by Mike DeBonis and Paul Kane.

Article: "Know Nothing" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Merrick Garland" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Amy Coney Barrett" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Josh Hawley" by Wikipedia.

Hour Three: Civil Rights Groups Fight Back Against Georgia's Voter Purges
- Greg Palast, The Guardian / Investigative Journalist/Author/Filmmaker, The Best Democracy Money Can Buy / His new book, How Trump Stole 2020: The Hunt For America's Vanished Voters

Article: "Brad Raffensperger" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Georgia Lawsuit to Restore Voters to Rolls Ahead of Runoff" by Nicole Powers.

Article: "Federal judge hears case challenging Georgia voter purges" by Maya T. Prabhu.

Article: "Judge Urges Parties to Meet in Georgia Voter Purge Case" by Julia Wouk-Brown.

Article: "Palast, Black Voters Matter and Voting Rights Lawyers File New Lawsuit in Georgia" by Zach D. Roberts.

Article: "Civil Rights Groups Fight Back Against Georgia's Voter Purges" by Marjorie Cohn.

Tweet: "Stealing Georgia: Raffensperger is no hero [trailer] https://youtu.be/vYq7iqPNYD8 Watch this space. Our full report is coming soon.... #GASen" by Greg Palast.

Article: "Black Voters Matter, Palast Hit Georgia with New Lawsuit Notice: Return of 198,000 illegally Purged Voters to Rolls" by Zach D. Roberts.

Article: "Georgia takes illegal No Car, No Vote policy for spin" by Greg Palast.

Article: "Georgia Closes Black Polling Stations: White Polls Open for Early Voting" by Zach D. Roberts and Greg Palast.

Site: Hilbert Law.

Tweet: "I wonder if Trump knows you can commit a state crime in Georgia by telephone from DC, and you can't pardon yourself or your henchmen on state charges." by Sheldon Whitehouse.

Site: Fair Fight.

Site: Jon Ossoff for Senate.

Site: Warnock for Georgia.

Article: "Pat Buchanan" by Wikipedia.

Article: "David Duke" by Wikipedia.

Article: "US Attorney in Atlanta abruptly resigns citing 'unforeseen circumstances'" by Sarah K. Burris.

Law: "Glass-Steagall Act", 1933.

Law: Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (1999) (Financial Services Modernization Act Of 1999).

Article: "Children struggling with hunger come from families who are struggling, too" by Feeding America.

Article: "Madison's notes on the Constitutional Convention of 1787: July 20, 1787" by James Madison.

Quote: "The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness." - John Kenneth Galbraith.

Article: "Trump is a 'not very smart' mafia boss, former solicitor general says" by Louise Hall.

Article: "Carl Bernstein Says Latest Trump Tapes Are 'Far Worse' Than Watergate" by Josephine Harvey.

Article: "Trump call summary shows he pressed Ukrainian president to probe Biden" by Grace Segers, Kathryn Watson, Clare Hymes, Emily Tillett.

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

Article: "President Trump's checks repaying Michael Cohen for hush money, explained" by Emily Stewart.

Article: "Steve Bannon pleads not guilty to fraud after arrest on luxury yacht" by Victoria Bekiempis.

Video: Kris Kristofferson - Me and Bobby McGee.

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

It's Georgia Run-off Election Day. What do you think will happen?

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...

US Nuclear Facilities Aging Badly - VERY Badly (w/ Kevin Kamps)

Ralph Nader's Surprising Diet (w/ Ralph Nader)

Why Don't Billionaires Pay Taxes?

GOP Thinks Taxing The Rich is Lunatic

McConnell's New Way To Torture The Middle Class

The Wrecking of America by Donald J. Trump (w/ Ralph Nader)