Biden needs to avoid the old rope-a-dope

"Bipartisanship" is the word of the day. But what the hell does that mean?

News commentators are asking Democrats on TV, as happened to Patrick Leahy on CNN this morning, "Without bipartisanship, won't will further divide the country?"

This is a bullshit question. It's also the Republican's song every time Democrats get political power; it's even how they repeatedly crippled the Obama presidency, and the Democrats repeatedly fell for it during the 2009–2017 Obama era. They need to stop.

Read more here.

-Thom

After 6 years of McConnell's court-packing, we must restore balance to the federal judiciary

Unable to win a majority of votes nationally or in most states, Republicans have resorted to gerrymandering, voter suppression and the federal court system to promote their racist, misogynistic, anti-labor, monopolist and pro-billionaire policies.

Because the courts stand as the final arbiters of all law, they're now openly supporting gerrymandering and voter suppression, from the Supreme Court on down. This has created a crisis for American democracy.

Read more here.

-Thom

Friday's Daily Stack

Article: "Lucy, the Football, and "Bipartisanship"" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "Majority of Republicans supports 'Medicare for all,' poll finds" by Julia Manchester.

Article: "The Green New Deal has Strong Bipartisan Support" by Abel Gustafson, Seth Rosenthal, Anthony Leiserowitz, Edward Maibach, John Kotcher, Matthew Ballew and Matthew Goldberg.

Article: "Poll: Majorities of both parties support Green New Deal" by Timothy Cama.

Article: "New Poll Shows Substantial, Bipartisan Support For Student Loan Forgiveness And Other Relief For Borrowers" by Adam S. Minsky, Esq..

Article: "Trump supporters who voted for $15 minimum wage? Yes, it happened in Florida" by Isadora Rangel.

Article: "Biden privately tells governors: Minimum wage hike likely isn't happening" by Natasha Korecki, Christopher Cadelago.

Article: "Thousands remain without power in Portland area as utility says most will be restored by Friday" by Kale Williams.

Article: "Mercury Retrograde: What Is It, And Dates For 2021" by Farmer's Almanac.

Article: "As power begins to return, many Texans are now without drinking water." by Richard Fausset, Lucy Tompkins, James Dobbins and Will Wright.

Article: "What did Ted Cruz allegedly tweet about Texas and climate change in 2016?" by Patrizia Rizzo.

Article: "Ted Cruz Blames Cancún Getaway On His Daughters" by Bess Levin.

Article: "Ted Cruz Leaving His Dog Snowflake Behind in Texas Prompts Anger and Jokes" by Seren Morris.

Article: "Progressives Aim To Take Over Michigan's Democratic Party" by Walker Bragman.

Article: "Benjamin Harrison: The American Franchise" by Allan B. Spetter.

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

Article: "The Hayes-Tilden Electoral Commission" by James Monroe.

Article: "Trump Paid $750 in Federal Income Taxes in 2017. Here's the Math." by Russ Buettner, Mike McIntire, Susanne Craig and Keith Collins.

Article: "Manhattan district attorney adds prominent prosecutor in Trump probe" by Celine Castronuovo.

Article: "Pat Robertson" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Franklin Graham" by Wikipedia.

Book: The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power by Jeff Sharlet.

TV: "The Family".

Article: "Johnson Amendment" by Wikipedia.

Tweet: "Here's the Jan. 4 memo from former acting Defense Secretary requiring "personal authorization" for DC National Guard to employ riot control agents & other tactics at Jan. 6 "March for Trump." This same day Capitol police knew of a "strong potential" for violence against Congress." by Luke Broadwater.

Article: "Trump Defense Secretary Disarmed D.C. National Guard Before Capitol Riot" by Mark Sumner.

Article: "Is This the Smoking Gun of Trump's Treason?" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "National debt of the United States" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Under Donald Trump's Watch, the National Debt Increased by $7.8 Trillion" by Jason Lemon.

Article: "Donald Trump signs $1.5 trillion tax bill into law" by Emily Shugerman.

Article: "What Is Driving The $1.5 Trillion Student Debt Crisis" by Wesley Whistle.

Article: "Glen Edward Rogers" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Were Panic Buttons Removed From Democratic Lawmaker's Office Prior to Insurrection?" by Jessica Lee.

Article: "Six Capitol Police officers suspended, 35 under investigation in wake of Capitol riot" by Cassidy McDonald.

Hour Two: Series of anti-voter bills steamrolling through the Georgia legislative process
- Aunna Dennis, Executive Director - Common Cause Georgia

Article: "Georgia Republicans File Sweeping Elections Bill That Limits Early, Absentee Voting" by Stephen Fowler.

Article: "Senate Subcommittees Consider Anti-Voting Bills 'in the dark'" by Aunna Dennis.

Article: "Anti-Voter Bills are 'steamrolling through the legislative process'" by Aunna Dennis.

Bill: "H.R.1 - For the People Act of 2021" by Rep. Sarbanes, John P. [D-MD-3].

Book: "October Surprise" by Barbara Honegger.

Article: "Mae Brussell" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Frozen Wind Farms Are Just a Small Piece of Texas's Power Woes" by Will Wade, Naureen S. Malik and Brian Eckhouse.

Article: "Despite deep freeze, Iowa's largest utility is having no gas & electric supply trouble" by Radio Iowa.

Article: "Quantitative easing" (QE) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Turns Out That Trillion-Dollar Bailout Was, in Fact, Real" by Matt Taibbi.

Article: "Stephanie Kelton" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Modern Monetary Theory" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Fed Balance Sheet Hits $7 Trillion: Increased Buying Of Corp Bond ETFs" by Derek Wolfe.

Article: "Humans just 0.01% of all life but have destroyed 83% of wild mammals – study" by Damian Carrington.

Site: Michigan Progressive.

Site: MI Solidarity.

Article: "'Green News Report' - February 18, 2021" by Desi Doyen.

Article: "Texas Military Bases" by MilitaryBases.com.

Article: "Louis DeJoy" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Board of Governors of the United States Postal Service" by Wikipedia.

Article: "USPS removed 711 sorting machines this year, new court documents show" by Kristen Holmes and Paul P. Murphy.

Article: "Rep. Bennie Thompson Is Suing Trump For Conspiring To Incite The Capitol Insurrection" by Zoe Tillman.

Article: "Bretton Woods system" by Wikipedia.

Article: "legalisation drugs oregon" by AP.

Article: "Portugal decriminalised drugs 14 years ago - and now hardly anyone dies from overdosing" by Chris Ingraham.

Article: "'No Reason for This—Other Than Greed,' Says Sanders as GAO Shows Medicare Pays Twice as Much as VA for Same Drugs" by Jake Johnson.

Article: "Medicare Advantage" (Medicare Part C) by Wikipedia.

Documentary: SiCKO - Michael Moore.

Article: "Rep. Porter Introduces Bipartisan Bill to Protect Older Americans from Surprise Medicare Penalties" by Katie Porter.

Article: "Ted Cruz calls for congressional probe of Cuomo nursing home scandal" by Ebony Bowden.

Article: "U.S. Senate panel sets Feb. 22-23 hearing for attorney general nominee Garland" by Reuters.

Article: "A Sitting President's Amenability To Indictment And Criminal Prosecution" by U.S. Department of Justice (OLC), 2000.

Article: "Re: Amenability of the President, Vice President and Other Civil Officers to Federal Criminal Prosecution while in office." by U.S. Department of Justice (OLC), 1973.

Article: "Merrick Garland, Biden's pick for attorney general, has confirmation hearing set for February 22" by Paul LeBlanc.

Article: "Wind power by country" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Hydro-Québec" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Politics of Puerto Rico" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Puerto Rico mayor blames Donald Trump for soaring Hurricane Maria death count: 'It's a historic failing'" by Chris Riotta.

Article: "White House Withholds 100,000 Pages of Judge Brett Kavanaugh's Records" by Sheryl Gay Stolberg.

Article: "Brett Kavanaugh and the Risk of a Return to Torture" by Jamie Mayerfeld.

Article: "New Brett Kavanaugh sexual misconduct accusation sets off calls for Supreme Court impeachment" by Jason Silverstein.

Article: "Brett Kavanaugh paid off up to $200,000 in debt last year, but the White House has an explanation" by The Week.

Article: "Myra C. Selby" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Trump's business career is more connected to Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy than we ever knew" by Grace Panetta.

Article: "Did Anthony Kennedy Resign from the Supreme Court to Protect His Son?" by David Mikkelson.

Article: "Who Is Justice Anthony Kennedy's Son? Justin Kennedy & Trump Reportedly Know Each Other Well" by Monica Hunter-Hart.

Article: "Joe Biden: America Facing 'Four Historic Crises All at the Same Time'" by Hannah Bleau.

Article: "Biden warns democratic progress is 'under assault' from authoritarian regimes" by Deirdre Shesgreen.

Article: "America First Party (1943)" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Charles Coughlin" (Father Coughlin) by Wikipedia.

Quote: "People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made" - Franklin D. Roosevelt.

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

Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA, 17th District / Vice Chair-Congressional Progressive Caucus) will be here to talk issues of the day and take your calls.

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