Judge Barrett, you can take a bit of a breather on your return to the committee, because what I want to do

... is go through with the people who are watching this now, the conversation that you and I had when we spoke on the telephone. You were kind enough to hear out a presentation that I made and I intend to ask some questions in that area. But it doesn't make sense to ask questions if I haven't laid the predicate particularly for viewers who are watching this.

Thom Hartmann: Welcome back, Thom Hartmann here with you and on the line with us is Tim Karr, the Senior Director of Strategy of the Free Press and Free Press Action Fund, the website freepress.net, you can tweet him @TimKarr or @freepress. Tim, welcome back to the program.

Thom Hartmann excerpts both Milton Mayer's "They Thought They Were Free" and Hannah Arendt's "The Origins of Totalitarianism" and lays out the warning signs we all need to look out for under the current administration.

Thom Hartmann: Hello, I'm Thom Hartmann in Washington DC and welcome to The Big Picture.

Thom Hartmann: Hello, I'm Thom Hartmann in Washington DC and welcome to The Big Picture.

In 1992 when Bill Clinton first ran for president, his campaign famously had a large sign in their headquarters that said "it's the economy stupid!". Arguably all the navel-gazing being done by political commentators trying to figure out why Trump is about to walk into the White House can boil down to that same statement.

Thom Hartmann: Hello, I'm Thom Hartmann in Washington DC and welcome to The Big Picture.

Thom Hartmann: Hello, I'm Thom Hartmann in Washington, DC and welcome to The Big Picture.

Thom Hartmann: And super pleased to have with me on the line Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, the website citizen.org/trade and you can tweet her @WallachLori, and Lori, there's another URL for you, for Global Trade Watch, isn't there?

Thom Hartmann:

You need to know this....

The Electoral College voted today and, despite a last minute push to get some electors to switch their votes, Donald Trump secured the minimum 270 votes he needed to win. It's now official: he will be our next President.