2004 Archives

Posted at Thom Hartmann on May. 4, 2004

Time To Reconsider Jefferson's Call For Universal Service

Many of the world's mature democracies require every high-school graduate to serve a year or two of either military or nonprofit service. At first blush, this may seem like an oppression by government, but history shows it's actually one of the best ways to prevent a military from becoming its own insular and dangerous subculture, to prevent the lower ranks of the military from being overwhelmed by people trying to escape poverty, and to keep military actions of the government accountable to the people.

Posted at Thom Hartmann on Apr. 20, 2004

Bush Fails History...Jefferson Predicted Iraq

Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon thought they could bomb Vietnam into accepting democracy. George W. Bush thinks he can do it with Iraq.

Posted at Thom Hartmann on Apr. 11, 2004

Exposing the Conservative Straw Man - "Productivity"

Thomas Jefferson wrote in a September 28, 1821 letter, "The government of the United States, at a very early period, when establishing its tariff on foreign importations, were very much guided in their selection of objects by a desire to encourage manufactures within ourselves." Conservatives don't want you to know this, and - even more frenetically - are working to prevent any discussion of "protectionist" tariffs on labor.

Posted at Buzzflash on Mar. 26, 2004

'How Democratic Is the American Constitution?' -Thom Hartmann's Independent Thinker Review

In "How Democratic Is the American Constitution", Robert A. Dahl takes us deeper into the complexities of how and when the ideals of American democracy were framed, and shows us that this great document came about in a way that was not as orderly as one might think. And while this book would make excellent reading for any college political science course, (much of it is indeed taken from lectures), the writing style makes it very readable.

Posted at Thom Hartmann on Mar. 11, 2004

Democracy - Not "The Free Market" - Will Save America's Middle Class

Here are a couple of headlines for those who haven't had the time to study both economics and history:

Posted at Thom Hartmann on Feb. 19, 2004

Gay Marriage? Blame It On Jefferson…

"It's never been tried before." "The Bible doesn't mention it." "Civilized people have never done things this way." "No society in the 6000 years of the history of civilization since Gilgamesh has suggested such a thing." "It'll create social chaos, ultimately destroying the nation." "It's just too radical an idea for people to accept."…

Posted at Thom Hartmann on Jan. 29, 2004

How Global Warming May Cause the Next Ice Age…

While global warming is being officially ignored by the political arm of the Bush administration, and Al Gore's recent conference on the topic during one of the coldest days of recent years provided joke fodder for conservative talk show hosts, the citizens of Europe and the Pentagon are taking a new look at the greatest danger such climate change could produce for the northern hemisphere - a sudden shift into a new ice age. What they're finding is not at all comforting.

Posted at Thom Hartmann on Jan. 5, 2004

A Fistful of Kryptonite Against SuperGeorge…

In this season of blockbuster movies, it's useful to remember that one of the first lessons aspiring novelists and screenwriters learn is that the goodness of a hero is defined by a single quality - the badness of his opponent.