The pharmacist in Wisconsin who destroyed 500 doses of coronavirus vaccine did so because he believed they would "alter human DNA," reflecting a popular conspiracy theory on Facebook that has absolutely no basis in fact.

Science, religion, and conspiracy theories are all, essentially the same thing: systems or attempts to explain the unknown, to make sense out of things beyond our senses or immediate, touchable reality. Thus, our vulnerability to conspiracy theories and con artists like Trump.

It's impossible for any individual to know or understand everything. We believe electrons make our computers work, but for all but a few scientists who've actually seen and measured electrons, it's only a belief. We must trust their word.

Read more here.

-Thom

Covid has now killed 1 in 1000 Americans in less than a year.

How is it that in Australia it's 3 out of every 100,000 people, and in New Zealand it's 1 out of every 200,000 people, but here in America we're dropping like flies?

Chalk it up to Republican racism and a libertarian indifference to the notion of society.

Read more here.

-Thom

Tuesday's Daily Stack

Article: "Few Problems With In-Person Voting in Georgia: Election Update" by Ryan Teague Beckwith.

Article: "Only public trials and humiliation can save the American experiment from the Trump/GOP coup attempt" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "Nearly a dozen Republican senators announce plans to vote against counting electoral votes" by Jake Tapper, Lauren Fox and Veronica Stracqualursi.

Article: "Sturmabteilung"(brown shirts) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Understanding the Iran-Contra Affairs" by Brown University.

Article: "Bush Pardons 6 in Iran Affair, Aborting a Weinberger Trial; Prosecutor Assails 'Cover-Up'" by David Johnston.

Article: "Pharmacist 'who deliberately destroyed 570 Covid vaccine doses is conspiracy theorist who thought jab could change DNA'" by Jessica Kwong.

Article: "Jim Jones" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Jerry Falwell Jr." by Wikipedia.

Article: "Supply-side economics" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Nuremberg trials" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Truth and Reconciliation Commission (South Africa)" by Wikipedia.

Law: "Patriot Act", 2001.

Law: "Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986" by ScienceDirect.

Article: "Voice over IP (VoIP) " by Wikipedia.

Article: "Days before Georgia runoff, Kelly Loeffler officially became a billionaire" by Roger Sollenberger.

Article: "All Former Living Secretaries Support Biden's Claims of Pentagon Stonewalling" by Paul D. Shinkman.

Article: "Transcript: Bin Laden determined to strike in US, August 6, 2001.

Article: "Mr. Cheney, You Did Not Keep Us Safe" by Paul Begala.

Article: "Trump migrant separation policy: Children 'in cages' in Texas" by BBC.

Article: "Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals" (Dreamers) by Wikipedia.

Book: "Ishmael" by Daniel Quinn.

Article: "New Details About Wilbur Ross' Business Point To Pattern Of Grifting" by Dan Alexander.

Article: "Trump Has Emergency Powers We Aren't Allowed to Know About" by Elizabeth Goitein and Andrew Boyle.

Article: "Gentrification" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Republican sabotage of Social Security has left tens of thousands of eligible recipients without pay" by Joan McCarter.

Article: "Audit Report: Follow-up on Underpayments Payable to Terminated Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance Beneficiaries" by Office of the Inspector General, Social Security Administration.

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 lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States... To establish Post Offices and post Roads;"

Article: "In deadliest week so far, U.S. loses more than 18,400 lives to COVID-19" by Reuters.

Article: "The US has 4% of the world's population but 25% of its coronavirus cases" by Scottie Andrew.

Article: "Black Americans Face Alarming Rates of Coronavirus Infection in Some States" by John Eligon, Audra D. S. Burch, Dionne Searcey and Richard A. Oppel Jr.

Article: "How Jared Kushner's Secret Testing Plan "Went Poof Into Thin Air"" by Katherine Eban.

Article: "Trump: Vaccine Distribution Is The States' Problem, Not Mine!" by Josh Kovensky.

Article: "Los Angeles County ambulance crews are told not to transport patients with little chance of survival" by Alexandra Meeks, Christina Maxouris and Holly Yan.

Article: "Jim Clyburn Hopes Criminal Charges Will Be Pursued Against Trump Over Georgia Call" by Jason Lemon.

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.

Article: "Trump not allowed into Scotland to escape Biden inauguration, Sturgeon warns" by Chiara Giordano.

Article: "Richard Butler (white supremacist)" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Should the Biden Administration Prosecute Trump?" by Ryan O'Connell.

Article: "More than 100 Americans have died after taking hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 despite Donald Trump insisting people had 'nothing to lose' by trying the unproven drug" by Natalie Rahhal.

Hour Three: The Psychology of Authoritarianism
- Psychoanalyst Dr. Justin Frank MD, Psychoanalyst & Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Science - George Washington University / Author - Trump on the Couch (Previous books include Bush on the Couch & Obama on the Couch)

Article: "Internalization" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Biographer Reveals Trump Was a Vicious Bully as a Child Who Threw Rocks at Babies" (stern father) by Andrea Jefferson.

Article: "The Hitler Youth and the Indoctrination of German Children" by Robert Wilde.

Quote: "I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters." - Donald J. Trump.

Article: "Donald Trump Jr.'s revealing holiday video" by Ruth Ben-Ghiat.

Article: "How Authoritarians Leaders Get Away with It" (people not thinking) by Jeremy E. Sherman.

Article: "Deprogramming" by Wikipedia.

Quote: "Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better" - Emile Coue.

Article: "Émile Coué" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Witch-Hunt in Philadelphia" by Gloria T. Delamar.

Article: "Nation's capital braces for violence as extremist groups converge to protest Trump's election loss" by WILL Carless.

Article: "Proud Boys leader arrested in Washington DC ahead of election protests" by Alex Woodward.

Article: "Shunning" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Electoral vote count explained: Can Vice President Mike Pence reject the election result?" by Sam Clench.

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

Congressman Mark Pocan (D-WI, 2nd District) will be calling in to talk about the issues of the day and take your calls.

Plus, will we have the results from Georgia Run-off Election Day?

And, will Trump have persuaded Vice President Mike Pence to reject the election result? Can he? We'll be watching.

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...

Bad Raffensperger Questioned On Leaked Audio (w/ Greg Palast)

How Terrorists Can Turn Nuclear Power Into Weapons (w/Kevin Kamps)

Can Democracy Survive After Trump?

Trump Raised Your Taxes! AGAIN

Is Nuclear Power Too Dangerous? (w/ Kevin Kamps)

Is Mike Flynn a Worse Security Threat Than Trump?