Actress & author Mimi Kennedy joins Thom Hartmann. Just how sordid is this take down of Gov. Siegelman?

It's not easy being a Democrat in a red state - just ask former Governor of Alabama Don Siegelman. Thom talks to former Governor of Alabama Don Siegelman and his daughter, Dana, as he prepares to start serving a 78 month prison sentence on trumped up bribery charges.

Gloria Steinem, Womens Rights Activist joins Thom Hartmann. The nation's third largest school district is without teachers today. After contract negotiations fell through over the weekend, the Chicago Teachers Union declared a strike and walked off the job this morning. This is the first time Chicago teachers have gone on strike in 25 years. Altogether 29000 teachers and school workers are joining in on the strike to demand better pay, working conditions, and stop the march toward privatization of the city's schools. At the heart of the strike are several issues: One is a four-percent pay increase teachers were promised last year -- but was cancelled by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Instead, the mayor is asking teachers to work a longer school day. Also, teachers are asking for a state limit on classroom sizes -- a law that's in place in 32 other states, but not in Illinois. Plus, teachers are trying to reverse the Mayor's plans to slash public education funding and use that money to create 250 non-union, for-profit charter schools. Chicago has now become ground-zero in the battle over how we as a nation will educate our children. Will we embrace the public school system that Thomas Jefferson and Horace Mann worked so hard to create -- and support teachers who perform one of the most important jobs in our society? Or, will we hand off educating our kids to the money-changers and corporate CEOs who see education as a get-rich-quick scheme? Keep an eye on the Windy City.

Mike Elk, Reporter-Working In These Times & Neil McCabe, Human Events Online join Thom Hartmann. For the first time in 25 years - teachers in Chicago are on strike - leaving more than 350000 students locked out of the classroom. What's the motivation behind the teacher's strike - and can we expect to see a resolution anytime soon?

Thom discusses the Chicago teacher strike with Labor Journalist Mike Elk and Human Rights Columnist Neil McCabe. Also discussed: whether this year's presidential election will be decided by our courts because of voter suppression laws and former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman joins Thom with less than 24 hours before he starts serving his 78-month prison sentence. In tonight's "Daily Take" Thom looks at how the medical marijuana issue may be the deciding issue come November.

So the conventions are in the books, and we're two months away from the election. We're two months away from Americans having an ultimate choice - vote for the Democrat or vote for the Republican. Actually...that's not really much of a choice at all. In fact - other Democracies around the world would laugh at us if we claimed that a vote between one of two major parties here was ACTUALLY a legitimate choice. The truth is - a two-party system isn't really that Democratic at all. And most of the other Democracies on the planet know that - that's why they've reformed their elections to prevent a two-party duopoly from taking over their representative governments. Did you know there are six political parties represented in the German Congress - the Bundestag - and even more parties represented in state parliaments around Germany - including the Pirate Party? Australia, too, has six parties represented in their parliament. In the Italian Parliament as well - there's six major parties represented - and more than two dozen smaller parties that are represented in some way as well. Brazil has 15 parties represented in Congress. Heck - Israel's Parliament has like 18 parties in it.

Alan Uke, author, Buying America Back: A Real-Deal Blueprint for Restoring American Prosperity, joins Thom Hartmann. Could "buying American" create new jobs across the country and help improve the state of the economy? Is "Buying America Back" a political issue - is it Democrat versus Republican. Or is it simply about looking out for America?

Alan Uke, author, Buying America Back: A Real-Deal Blueprint for Restoring American Prosperity, joins Thom Hartmann. Could "buying American" create new jobs across the country and help improve the state of the economy? Is "Buying America Back" a political issue - is it Democrat versus Republican. Or is it simply about looking out for America?

Adam Bitely, NetRightDaily.com & Brian Darling, Heritage Foundation & Sam Sacks, Progressive Writer & Commentator all join Thom Hartmann.

Adam Bitely, NetRightDaily.com & Brian Darling, Heritage Foundation & Sam Sacks, Progressive Writer & Commentator all join Thom Hartmann.

Thom talks with entrepreneur Alan Uke, author of the book "Buying America Back," in tonight's "Conversations with Great Minds." Tonight's "Big Picture Rumble" panel discusses the DNC and RNC Conventions and which party has the right vision for America. In tonight's "Daily Take" Thom details how we can break up the two party duopoly in American politics.

Bill Clinton's speech at the DNC on Wednesday night did more than just make the case for why President Obama should get a second term and why Republicans are bad for our nation. The speech also overshadowed a very embarassing moment for Democrats earlier in the day - when they compromised not only their party's prinicples - but also the principles on which this nation was founded. You see - on Tuesday - the offical Democratic Party Platform for 2012 was adopted by delegates. And the vast right-wing echo chamber was quick to pounce on a slight change in the party's official platform from 2008. The word "God" had been removed from the platform. Now of course - to Republicans - who've made a deal with the religious far right in America - this ommission was tantamount to a mortal sin. But to Democrats - the ommission made sense. After all, Democrats are the Party of all faiths - and of both believers and non-believers. The Democratic Party was founded by Thomas Jefferson, who knew our nation was founded with a strict separation between Church and State - meaning government doesn't get involved in religion - and those politicians in our government don't get involved in religion when they're crafting their parties' official platforms. Besides, when you insert God into a political platform - a lot of questions get raised - mainly - which God are you referring to? Is it the Christian God? The Jewish God? Is it Allah? Is it the Nordic God Thor? Is it the Flying Spaghetti Monser?

The Good! *Dr. Peter Bourne* *Dr. Peter Bourne* Bourne was the drug policy advisor to President Jimmy Carter. In an interview with Newsweek this week - Bourne attacked President Obama's current drug policy - calling the administration's approach to marijuana "totally insane." He also said that the federal government should be taking a hands-off approach when it comes to marijuana policy in the states. It's time lawmakers in Washington listened to Bourne - started worrying about the real issues instead - like the economy - and got to work creating sensible drug policies for our country. ------------ The Bad! *Conservative Pundits* While Bill Clinton stole the show last night at the DNC - another high-profile speaker last night was Sandra Fluke. And - shortly after her speech - numerous Conservative pundits took to Twitter to bash Fluke. Ann Coulter said, "Sandra wants taxpayers to pay for her tanning appointments," while Dana Loesch tweeted, "Don't lecture conservative women about empowerment while demanding we pay for what goes on in your bedroom." Finally - Michael Berry chimed in, saying, "I hope someone was passing out free condoms tonight, otherwise Sandra Fluke might be in trouble tomorrow." Conservatives say they care about women and respect their rights - but it's quite clear from this hatefest that they don't care at all. ------------- And the Very Very Ugly! *Rep. Steve King (R-IA)* King said in a recent speech that the government's new nutrional standards for ...

Professor Max Fraad Wolff, Economist/Instructor, New School University joins Thom Hartmann. A new report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development warned that the German economy could sink into a recession during the second half of this year. Germany's is the biggest economy in the Eurozone, and has largely been spared from the debt crisis that is dragging other nations like Greece, Portugal, Spain, and Italy into economic ruin. But this report suggests that it's just a matter of time before Germany, too, starts to go under - signaling that the Eurozone crisis is reaching a new stage - where even the strong can't survive. News of Germany's woes comes on the heels of a decision by the European Central Bank to buy bonds in struggling Eurozone nations to ease the debt crisis. So what can we expect to come out of Europe in the next few weeks and months that could have a serious affect on the US economy?

Activist Tom Hayden joins Thom Hartmann. Is it reasonable to assume that President Obama will be able to achieve more progressive victories in a second term?