And now almost the entire Republican Party has chosen to go down the same Taliban-paved path with him. What could possibly go wrong? Yesterday afternoon while watching CNN, Louise and I were treated to an ad by the Wall Street-funded "No Labels" group that finances the "Problem Solvers Caucus" in Congress, extolling the virtues of Kurt Schrader, a Democratic Congressman who represents part of Portland.

It's grim enough that Schrader was one of the 9 Democrats who threatened to blow up President Biden's $3.5 trillion infrastructure deal; now he's being lauded on my TV by the very fat cats who own him.

But Schrader and his handful of fellow "corporate-owned" Democrats in the House and Senate simply occupy the same political space the GOP did when I was a kid during the Eisenhower and Nixon administrations: putting the interests of corporations and fat-cats over those of working-class Americans.

Read more at HartmannReport.com.

-Thom

The best of the rest of the news. — Remember when then-Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy said that the Benghazi hearings would cut into Hillary Clinton's favorable ratings enough let Donald Trump beat her in 2016? "[W]e put together a Benghazi special committee," McCarthy said. "A select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping." Now Republicans are planning a repeat if they seize control of the House in 2022, only this time to batter President Biden with the Afghanistan pullout. The biggest problem they may encounter is that multiple Republicans who were in Trump's administration, including his Defense Secretary and National Security Advisor, have said that he stupidly sold out America and turned Afghanistan over to the Taliban with no conditions and no plan to get out our allies, leaving it all for the next president. Democrats may want to respond with, "Go ahead, make my day."

Read more at HartmannReport.com.

-Thom

Monday's Daily Stack

Article: "Trump Brutally Represents an American Version of the Taliban" by Thom Hartmann.

Case: "Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization".

Article: "President Biden says closing gender pay gap is 'a moral imperative' as House passes Paycheck Fairness Act" by Courtney Connley.

Article: "Here Are the 9 Right-Wing Democrats Threatening to Tank Their Party's $3.5 Trillion Agenda" by Jake Johnson.

Article: "Senior Trump Officials Rip Former Boss for Afghanistan Pact: 'The Taliban Didn't Defeat Us. We Defeated Ourselves.'" by Joe DePaolo.

Article: "CNN Interviews Trump Supporter Who Threatens Taliban-Style Takeover to Reinstate Him: 'There's Millions of Guns Here'" by Ken Meyer.

Article: "Afghan women's rights are threatened — but the GOP isn't their champion" by Dean Obeidallah.

Article: "Democrats have to end gerrymandered districts — eventually" by Hayes Brown.

Article: "Rep. Steve Scalise Called Out by Jewish Activist Group Over Alleged "Anti-Semitism" and "White Nationalism"" by Aila Slisco.

Article: "'What traitors do': Trump slammed for praising Taliban at Alabama rally" by Tom Boggioni.

Article: "'Not a parody': Trump-loving GOP candidate blasted for 'openly violent' campaign ad with Jan. 6 'subtext'" by John Wright.

Article: "Planned Parenthood, ACLU sue to block Arkansas ban on most abortions" by Gabriella Borter.

Article: "Problem Solvers Caucus" by Wikipedia.

Article: "No Labels" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Sinema: I simply won't back a $3.5T spending bill" by Burgess Everett.

Article: "Johnson Amendment" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Report: Scalise's Pitch 20 Years Ago: I'm 'David Duke Without The Baggage'" by Matthew Boyle.

Article: "Pfizer becomes first Covid vaccine to gain full FDA approval" by BBC.

Cartoon: "Mask Shootings" by John Darkow.

Article: "Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting", December 14, 2012 by Wikipedia.

Site: SHERO - Amee Vanderpool.

Article: "What Happened Was... A lightning fast recap of the week's biggest events for August 16th - 22nd, 2021" by Amee Vanderpool.

Article: "List of mass shootings in the United States in 2021" by Wikipedia.

Article: "These 16 Republicans voted against speeding up visas for Afghans fleeing the Taliban " by Mabinty Quarshie.

Article: "Laboratories of democracy" by Wikipedia.

Article: "The upside-down stars in the GOP logo" by quaoar.

Article: "HBO's 'The Newsroom' Labels Tea Party 'The American Taliban'" by Benjamin Fearnow.

Video: The American Taliban - The Newsroom - HBO.

Movie: "Tombstone".

Article: "Trump Says He Secretly Invited Taliban Leaders, Afghanistan President To U.S." by Carla Herreria Russo, Hayley Miller.

Article: "Pompeo meets with Taliban's political chief as historic Afghanistan peace talks begin in Qatar" by CBS/AP.

Article: "Donald Trump Lands in Saudi Arabia on First Overseas Visit of Presidency" by Ali Vitali and Saphora Smith.

Hour Two: Afghan women's rights are threatened — but the GOP isn't their champion
- Dean Obeidallah, Host of Dean Obeidallah show weekdays 6-9PMET @SXMProgress Radio Ch127/Columnist-The Daily Beast

Article: "Afghan women's rights are threatened — but the GOP isn't their champion" by Dean Obeidallah.

Article: "Planned Parenthood, ACLU sue to block Arkansas ban on most abortions" by Gabriella Borter.

Article: "MSNBC opinion piece compares Republicans to Taliban" by Lindsay Kornick.

Article: "MSNBC Columnist Compares Pro-Lifers to the Taliban" by Alexandra DeSanctis.

Article: "MSNBC Columnist Says Pro-Life Republicans Are 'Extremists' Like The Taliban" by Jordan Davidson.

Article: "Jefferson & Madison on Separation of Church and State: Writings on Religion and Secularism " by Lenni Brenner.

Article: "James Madison And Church-State Separation" by Rob Boston.

Article: "Jefferson's Wall of Separation Letter".

Bible: "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in," - Matthew 25:35.

Article: "Scientists dig deep to understand the effects of population pressure on violence levels" by Okayama University.

Article: "Afghanistan: How does the Taliban make money?" by Dawood Azami.

Article: "Crusades" by Marshall W. Baldwin.

Article: "Spanish Inquisition" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Reformation" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Nicolaus Copernicus" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Jim Jones" by Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Article: "No Religious Test Clause". "...but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States."

Article: "First Amendment to the United States Constitution" Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Article: "Fact check: Do Republican presidents oversee recessions and Dems oversee recoveries?" by Doug Stanglin.

Hour Three: The Price Disparities Hospitals & Insurers Didn't Want You to See
- Wendell Potter, Center for Health and Democracy / Tarbell / author, Deadly Spin & Nation on the Take: How Big Money Corrupts Our Democracy and What We Can Do About It

Book: The Hidden History of American Healthcare: Why Sickness Bankrupts You and Makes Others Insanely Rich by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "Hospitals and Insurers Didn't Want You to See These Prices. Here's Why." by Sarah Kliff and Josh Katz.

Article: "Maryland All-Payer Model" by CMS.

Bill: "H.R.1976 - Medicare for All Act of 2021" by Rep. Jayapal, Pramila [D-WA-7].

Article: "Canada's health care system" by Canada.

Article: "Ten reasons why you should get a COVID-19 vaccine" by Sam Wood.

Article: "Benefits of Getting a COVID-19 Vaccine" by CDC.

Article: "Marjorie Taylor Greene posts image of herself with gun alongside 'Squad' congresswomen, encourages going on the 'offense against these socialists'" by Veronica Stracqualursi.

Article: "Rep. Lauren Boebert releases video of herself walking around DC with gun" by Lia Eustachewich.

Article: "Communicable Disease Chart for Schools and Child-Care Centers" by Texas.

Article: "Biden administration will recommend COVID booster shots for ALL Americans eight months after their second dose" by Mary Kekatos.

Article: "Pfizer Booster Significantly Lowers Risk Of Covid-19 Infection Among Elderly, Israeli Data Shows" by Siladitya Ray.

Article: "Some people are getting a 3rd Covid shot. Getting it too soon could backfire, Fauci says." by Daniel Arkin and Daniella Silva and Akshay Syal.

Article: "How does COVID-19 affect the brain? A troubling picture emerges." by Emily Mullin.

Article: "Stephen Miller Gutted Visa Programs So Afghans Couldn't Come To The US" by Jason Easley.

Article: "Matthew Dowd: President Biden Just Got 30,000 People Out Of Afghanistan Without Losing A Single American" by Tim Hains.

Article: "The TRIPS Waiver as a recognition of public health concerns in the WTO" by Andrew D. Mitchell, Tania Voon.

Site: Public Citizen's Trade Watch

Article: "Poulsbo church's invitation to speaker on critical race theory draws protest " by Christian Vosler.

Article: "Parable of the Good Samaritan" by Wikipedia.

Site: Social Security Works.

Book: Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul: Church, State, and the Birth of Liberty by John M. Barry.

Article: "Moral Majority" by Wikipedia.

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

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