Author: Thom Hartmann

Three major trends are driving American politics right now and will continue to for at least a decade. If Democrats fail to understand and respond in a meaningful way to each, expect a Republican White House, House, and Senate in 2024. And, with it, the probable end of democracy in the United States. These three political megatrends are: generational “social” changes in America and the Republican Party’s exploitation/demonization of them; he entrance of rightwing billionaires into America’s political scene with the blessing of 5 corrupt Republicans on the Supreme Court; the Republican Party’s rejection of democracy. Much has been...

Can a nation survive as a democratic republic without an honest and trusted news ecosystem? Is it an actual fact that truthful and reliable news, combined with the kind of cultural trust people have in both government and each other as the result of a shared reality, are both historic and necessary preconditions for a democracy to work at all? Thomas Jefferson once famously said that if he was given the ultimatum of choosing to live in a functioning nation without newspapers or a place with newspapers but no national government, he would surely choose the latter. It was...

The pundits are mystified by election outcome on November 8. They were certain a red wave was on its way. They missed the Zoomers. They missed the Fourth Turning. It has been 76 years since the Silent Generation birthed the first Boomers after World War II in 1946. That’s exactly four times nineteen years per generation (4 x 19 = 76). From 1901 to today, we call these generations: Greatest, Silent, Boomers, Xers, Millennials, Zoomers, Alpha. Each lasts roughly 17-20 years, before the next generation steps onto the world’s stage. And there’s something extraordinary about every fourth generation. On September 6,...

For Republicans, the purpose of religion is, as it has been for authoritarians since Old Testament days, political and social control. It is not about spirituality: it is all about raw, naked, taxpayer-subsidized power and the wealth associated with it. A Michigan county Republican Party just posted a video showing picture after picture of that state’s Democratic politicians, starting with Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who rightwing terrorists have already tried to kidnap and murder. Under each picture — including a picture of George Soros representing, presumably, the “International Jews” who Republican politicians suggest wield space lasers and secretly are trying to control...

Donald Trump has built a cult around himself. This is dangerous to America and dangerous to democracy. Cults of personality in governance are broadly incompatible with democracy. They usually erupt in dictatorships where the Great Leader’s face and sayings are splashed all over public places. Think Mao’s China, Stalin’s USSR, Hitler’s Germany, Kim’s North Korea. On a smaller scale and in a different context, we see how destructive such personality cults can be with the deaths around Jim Jones’ Jonestown, David Koresh’s Branch Davidians, and Charles Manson’s Family. This is what Donald Trump aspires to. Back in 2000, Louise and I visited...

“US News and World Report” published a story about how the fringe has become the mainstream in the Republican Party. The headline of their story said it all: “Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Rises From GOP Fringe to Front.” The backstory here is fascinating and grim. The GOP is no longer a normal political party with a single governing philosophy: instead, it’s become a coalition of interest groups, each seeking its own ends. How did we get here, and where will this crisis of political governance lead America? It all started with the billionaires. Of course, back then they were...