I'm a liberal and a practicing Mormon. I need to correct one thing you said about Barack's mother and Lore's claim as well.

1) Mormons do not believe that Barack's mother is now a Mormon. We do believe that people can choose to become Mormons (or other religions, too) after they are dead.
2) We believe that physical baptism is required to enter heaven. Because we do not know who has chosen to join our church after they have passed, we perform vicarious baptisms for all that we can. The individual is free to accept or reject that ordinance. They are not added to the church's roles as a "member".
3) There have been many objections over the years to the practice. Out of respect for living relatives, the church asks that people who perform the ordinances get permission from the nearest living relative. I had heard (but am unable to find a place to confirm is) that the church does not do Temple Work for unrelated individuals unless he/she passed away 50 years or more ago.
4) This practice is not meant to offend anyone - to my knowledge, Mormonism is the only Christian denomination that gives everyone who has ever lived an equal chance to go to heaven. You can disagree with the theology, but the fact is that whether you were a Zoroastrian or an Aborigine thousands of years before Jesus lived, in Mormon theology you have an equal chance at salvation as anyone who lives today. Most of Christianity doesn't give you that hope or that chance.

I know the Mormon church was banned from posthumously baptizing people but can't find the link. This is a common practice of the church that has pissed off a lot of people. If someone didn't chose the Mormon church while alive - they aren't going to change their minds once they are dead!

"Marijuana is a gateway drug," says Jared Followill, "It leads to sweat-pants and Cheetos." (Rolling Stone) April 30 2009 Everyone has addictions. We trade them hopefully for less harmfull ones. I gave up booze, cigs, LSD, and a few more for a little Delta 9 Tetra-hydro-cannibanol. It's a great pain releiver and it's as good as a dozen beers. The drug should be treated just like alcohol. I'm pretty sure I'm much better off than doing all of the other more harmfull ones. Thom, I roll my joints with filters, I roll with a bill and slide the filter in just ahead of the paper. It smooths out the smoke and you don"t loose much THC. Take the little bit of weed remaining and save it for your pipe. It's chamber weed. Great show. Dave from MN.

On your going to Pot Topic, I strongly believe marijuana should be legalized with controlled distribution through taxed outlets, similar to many states ABC stores.

Besides keeping pot out of the hands of children, legalization wll break the cycle of disenfranchisement of minorities - the original target of marijuana legislation - by stopping the attitude of "I like pot, this makes me a criminal, since I'm a criminal, I will commit other crimes too." We will be a safer and saner nation.

Thanks so much to everybody for your comments here, and to all the folks who have made contributions to the Salem Children's Village in my mom's name (Jean Hartmann). I read this front page blog every day and really appreciate the feedback...

Thom

Dear Thom (also referred to as "Voice Crying Out In The Wilderness"),
You are without doubt the most enlightening guy on the airwaves. Thanks for remembering the greater good.

I listened with great interest your perspective on the harm Ronald Reagan did the country, and it is definitely news to the average person, who is subjected to a daily diet of "St. Reagan". And that is precisely how neocons want things.

The idea seems to be to create not a political role model, but a religious figure on the order of Christ, the Dalai Lama, or perhaps even Rev. Moon (ha). However, as Jesus said, by their fruits you will know them, and the nation is now reaping the fruits of its own ignorance about this wolf in sheep's clothing.

I also want to thank you for reminding the audience of some of the sane and sound thinking from important Americans whose exposure to the horrors of war and the Masters of the Financial Universe (TM) led them to issue warnings - guys like Eisenhower, Roosevelt (both of 'em), even George Washington (treat prisoners well).

How we lost our way is debatable, I suppose, but the prescription to return to the ideals of America (of real humainity!) is not. Thank you for espousing those ideals in a way that even the most ignorant can understand, even if they won't admit it. I get the feeling that your seeds are not sown in vain, and that if you are given a wider audience, you will become a national hero (you're already a national treasure - you're just sorta...well, buried...in the vast corporate media wasteland.

I predict this will change in a big way for you, and I know the Creator, who does not look at our bank balances when judging worthiness to serve, is at your back giving you speed. And to Louise, whom you so obviously love and admire (comes through the radio in spades!) we wish the best of all good things for being so closely involved in making Thom's busy life so productive. Our heartfelt thanks, Louise.

My dad ran two television stations in conservative Bakersfield CA (Dick Cheney's favorite donor base) after being a radio personality in L.A. and I grew up around a lot of famous people. I'd trade any and all of them for you. Thanks for the inspiration.

Pennsylvania has been described as Pittsburgh and Philadelphia—with Alabama in the middle. Thus communities like Shenandoah, where an all-white jury expiated its own collective sins, cannot escape collective guilt from the eyes of those aware its deliberately fostered atmosphere of hate. Yet no one, save lonely voices like that of the Southern Poverty Law Center, wants to force Americans to come face-to-face with its national fascism.
I mention this because last Friday, Thom—whose Euro-centrism is only to be differentiated from Pat Buchanan’s “Hispanics are out to destroy America” shibboleth in tone, prevented a caller from forcing him to come to grips with the reality of anti-Latino hatred. Alone among the “progressive” personalities I listen to from morning to night on the local radio station, Thom stirs at the very least resentments against “gypsies, tramps and thieves,” which is basically what the non-Latino attitude can be boiled down to.
Instead of allowing the female caller to go on her anti-Latino rant, he steered her quickly ranting “illegal” employers, because he doesn’t want his show to be taken as proof of what the Splcenter said of media complicity. Of course she claimed not to be racist, because nobody is racist in this country, right? If you have a visceral reaction to a particular group of people that is negative, and you assume negative stereotypes, I’m sorry, but you are a racist. Despite the fact that, according to the Pew Foundation, nearly a quarter of all illegal immigrants are from nations outside of Latin America—often taking high-wage jobs—“Mexicans” have been the sole focus of paranoia and scapegoating. Face it: you just hate “Mexicans.” Illegal immigration is just the shield behind which you throw your brickbats.
And don’t think that those other nations that supply non-Latino illegal immigrants don’t appreciate U.S. “thoughtfulness.” In fact, they take the U.S.’ lead in treating “Mexicans” like a walking pestilence, as one can see in this swine flu panic; as in the U.S. ,it diverts attention from other issues—like deliberately putting dangerous chemicals in toys and toddler formulas, as China does.
Note that Thom never has a minority guest on his show, especially not to offer an alternative reality. The reason for this, admittedly, has less to do with Euro-centrism but simply that what Thom prefers to discuss has little relevance in the reality of life for the typical African-American or Latino. Latinos especially are persona non grata, especially if they want to talk about the atmosphere of, well, “resentment” that Thom does in impart. For fun, I check-out the business section in the Seattle Times, to see who is “moving up.” Needless-to-say, it’s a whites only province. Meanwhile, black unemployment far higher than the official rate; whites answer to that is to blame the Mexicans. The reality is that they just want them to fight over the crumbs they throw them.
While there seems to be an inordinate amount of energy expended on gays, gay issues and (white) women, minority issues seem to receive little but lip service. Barack Obama’s election isn’t “proof” that racism no longer exists—Obama wasn’t living in your neighborhood, after all. Wherever minorities exist in large numbers, the greater the racism. It took till the 1960s to enforce black (and Latino) suffrage in many parts of this country that was allegedly enshrined in the Constitution in the 1860s. We have seen Supreme Court decisions recently that essentially say that only whites are allowed “choice” in schools, and there is a case before the Court that is challenging oversight over changes in voting rules, which if overturned would essentially allow the resumption minority voting disenfranchisement; shockingly, this has received zero attention from the “progressive” media, to the detriment of the "progressive" cause, since minorities are its most faithful voting block.

Thanks for the book Thom!

And the book is one of yours I don't have...what a great way to start a week!

Last week Thom accused non-developed world countries of bearing the principle fault in depleting resources due to over-population. My reply to this is that it’s difficult to get one’s mind around the notion that a farmer or hunter in the Congo existing on the bare essentials of life is to blame when that country’s wealth of natural resources is being used-up by the insatiable demand of the West, China and Japan. 74 percent of Japan’s land mass is wooded; yet it imports all of its wood products while North American and Amazon forests are being clear-cut. It also should be noted that one shouldn’t allow conservatives to escape notice from another one of their beliefs, enunciated by former Interior Secretary James Watt: that Armageddon was just around the corner, so let’s use-up the Earth’s bounty while we can.

sorry about the bad grammar -- I didn't proofread, and should have.

Hey Thom I just wanted to point out that the dog story you did earlier happened in Michigan (Waterford, MI) and not the U.K

Healthcare,

could you distinguish between single-payer versus not-for-profit healthcare systems? Given today's political reality, would not-for-profit healthcare be a more acceptable legislative compromise to seek?