It's time for white America to get real about white privilege. Last night, Bill O'Reilly came from back vacation early to host a special edition of "The Factor", one that he said would "tell the truth" about what's going on in Ferguson, Missouri.

 

Right off the bat, it was obvious that Bill was really, really mad about how he people he calls "race agitators" are using events in Ferguson to drive their "agenda." But he really lost his cool after playing a clip from Monday of MSNBC contributor Michelle Bernard saying there is a "war on black boys" in this country.

 

With the help of his video editors, Bill made Michelle Bernard's comments look pretty damning. Obviously, black people aren't only getting killed by the cops. They're also not the only race of people who experience police violence, so it'd be ridiculous for Bernard to make it seem like they are. But the thing is, Michelle Bernard wasn't just talking about cops killing young black men. If you watch the full, unedited clip of her remarks, you'll see that she was talking about the shooting of Michael Brown in the larger context of a social system that devalues the lives of black people.

 

What Bill O'Reilly doesn't get, and what, frankly, most white people don't get, is that the shooting of Michael Brown, and the killing by law enforcement of other young black men like him, didn't happen in a vacuum. It happened in a country with a huge white privilege problem.

 

There are many ways of defining white privilege, but at its core it's a system of social relations that gives white people an inborn advantage over people of other races simply because of the color of their skin.

 

White privilege is like white supremacy and apartheid because it puts white people at the top of society, but it's more subtle than both of those systems, which use explicit racism like Jim Crow laws to oppress people who aren't white. What really makes white privilege so problematic - and what makes it so difficult for most white people to understand - is that the single biggest part of white privilege is that it gives white people the luxury of never having to worry about the fact that they are white.

 

Read more here.

 

-Thom

 

Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10pm... Robert Kennedy Jr: Thimerosal: Let the Science Speak (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)

 

Please watch & share our new video! CARBON - narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio

 

Need to Know: How the U.K. police stop someone with a knife
- America's Lawyer Mike Papantonio, Ring of Fire Radio   

 

 

Conversations with Great Minds: - Robert Kennedy Jr., Thimerosal: Let the Science Speak  

  

The Daily Stack 

Hour One: If it's Friday, it's "Brunch With Bernie"... the honorable Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) joins Thom with all the news from our nation's capitol and as always he'll be spending the hour taking your calls and answering your questions too...
Follow Bernie:     campaign site.

Article: "Statement on Sen. James Jeffords" by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Article: "Senator James Jeffords, 80" by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Article: "Citing Crisis in Ferguson, Sanders to Propose Youth Jobs Bill" by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Article: "Jobs Wanted" by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Article: "An Occupying Army" by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Article: "Let's Stand Together" by Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Case: "Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission" (2010).

Site: Green World Rising.

Video: Carbon.

 

Article: "State officials hear from both sides of NC fracking debate" by Steve Sbraccia.

Article: "Bill Opening North Carolina To Fracking Signed By Gov. Pat McCrory" by AP.

Article: "Medtronic's Tax Inversion Lesson" by WSJ.

Article: "Largest American Drugstore Chain Decides Not To Dodge Taxes By Moving Headquarters Overseas" by Bryce Covert.

Article: "Caring for Veterans" by Valley News.

Law: "Dickey-Wicker Amendment" (1995) (no funds for creation or destruction of human embryos for research).

Article: "Millionaires' Club: For First Time, Most Lawmakers are Worth $1 Million-Plus" by Viveca Novak.

Article: "'Moral Monday' expands to a week of social justice action across U.S." by Cathy Lynn Grossman.

Article: "North Carolina NAACP Announces Moral Week of Action, August 22-28" by Jim Cook.

Event: Charlotte, NC, Aug 27: "The American Legion 96th National Convention" (Presentation of The American Legion Patriot Award to the Honorable Bernie Sanders).

Event: Raleigh, NC, Aug 27: "The Fight for American Justice" (Senator Bernie Sanders).

Hour Two: Tom Tancredo: "Impeach Obama If He Grants Executive 'Amnesty'"
- Former Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO, 6th district) 

Article: "Tom Tancredo: Impeach Obama If He Grants Executive 'Amnesty'" by Sahil Kapur.

Article: "Challenging dictator in chief provokes hate speech" by Tom Tancredo.

Article: "We must call Obama's bluff on impeachment" by Tom Tancredo.

Article: "ATF gunwalking scandal" (Project Gunrunner, Operation Fast and Furious).

Article: "Constitution of the United States", article 3 section 2. "... the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make..."

Case: "Brown v. Board Of Education", 1954 (Segregation in public schools) (overturned Plessy v. Ferguson).

Case: "Roe v. Wade", 1973.

Quote: "John Marshall has made his decision: now let him enforce it!" -- Andrew Jackson.

Article: "Cell Phone Video Contradicts Police Report on St. Louis Shooting Death" by Carlos Miller.

Article: "This Is How UK Police Stop Someone With A Knife" by Ben Cohen.

 

Article: "MSNBC Guest: There's a U.S. 'War on Black Boys,' Could Turn 'Genocide' if We Don't Stop It" by Eddie Scarry.

Article: "Bill O'Reilly Comes Back From Vacation Early To Rail Against Al Sharpton And Media Coverage Of Ferguson" by Heather.

Article: "It's Time for Bill O'Reilly to Get Real About White Privilege " by Thom Hartmann.

 

Article: "Welcome Berrett-Koehler-Leadership Books that Matter!" by O'Reilly (eBooks half price for the next week, including 5 of Thom's).

The good: "#IceBucketChallenge Has Increased ALS Donations Tenfold" by Matt Wilstein.

The bad: "Tea Party of Louisiana: Common Core turns kids gay, and this parody website proves it" by Travis Gettys.

The very, very ugly: The Missouri National Guard: "Don Lemon: National Guard Member in Ferguson Called Protesters the N-Word" by Breanna Edwards.

 

Talk Radio News Segment:
- Ellen Ratner, Bureau Chief 

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Site: Governor Free Don Siegelman.

Article: "China Sells South Sudan Arms as Its Government Talks Peace" by Ilya Gridneff. "South Sudan has spent at least $1 billion on weapons and delivery systems since the fighting broke out".

Article: "As Ebola Crisis Spreads in West Africa, Liberia's Deterioration Stands Out" by Dick Thompson.

Article: ""Day Of Rage" Over Ferguson To Take Place Near White House" by TRNS.

Article: "Romney And Ryan To Share Stage Again" by TRNS.

Hour Three: How the UK police stop someone with a knife
- America's Lawyer, Mike Papantonio, Ring of Fire Radio  

Article: "St. Louis Police Release Video Of Kajieme Powell Killing That Appears At Odds With Their Story" by Ryan Grim, Ashley Alman.

Article: "Prosecutor Stalls for Time in Michael Brown Case" by Bill Simpich.

 

Article: "A local public defender on the deeply dysfunctional Ferguson court system" by Sarah Kliff.

Article: "What is the Law Enforcement Oath of Honor?" by International Association of Chiefs of Police.

Book: Licit And Illicit Drugs; the Consumers Union Report on Narcotics, Stimulants, Depressants, Inhalants, Hallucinogens, And Marijuana - Including Caffeine, Nicotine And Alcohol by Edward M. Brecher, Consumer Union Report (1972).

Speech: "Thomas Jefferson Second Inaugural Address. March 4, 1805".

Letter: "Letter to Dr. Benjamin Rush, Monticello" by Thomas Jefferson, September 23, 1800. " for I have sworn upon the altar of god eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."

Article: "Mother, Frances Garrett, speaks out after Phoenix police shoot, kill daughter, Michelle Cusseaux" by Josh Frigerio.

Article: "Tuesday's shooting is seventh for Scottsdale police officer" by Ofelia Madrid, Feb. 15, 2012.

Article: "ACLU: Officer Who Threatened to 'F*cking Kill' Ferguson Protesters Taken Off Duty" by Arit John.

Article: "What Happens When Police Officers Wear Body Cameras" by Christopher Mims.

Law: Posse Comitatus Act (1878).

Article: "The FBI Deputizes Business" by Matthew Rothschild, March 03, 2008 (InfraGard).

       

Friday on The Thom Hartmann Program, 12-3pm ET 

It's Anything Goes Friday!

 

Plus, we'll have the best of the rest of the news...all the latest news & information you won't be hearing from the corporate owned news media...

 

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Pre-order The American Revolution of 1800 by Dan Sisson with Thom Hartmann at Amazon or Barnes & Noble now!

Will the events in Ferguson lead to the demilitarization of police?

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Buy Thom's newest book now!
Also on Kindle

"Crash of 2016" website

Watch Thom on: - MSNBC's The Cycle
- CNN's Crossfire
- Democracy Now!

World Premiere: CARBON - Narrated By Leonardo DiCaprio

Politically Corrected: Karl Rove & The Fact Free Zone of Fox News

When Will the Demilitarization Begin in America?

Lone Liberal - 70% Don't Want More Restrictions on Abortion

Lone Liberal - The Ferguson Case

Stop Complaining about Big Government & Embrace It

Solar Jet Fuel is Here

The Ferguson Effect On Our Great Grand Children

Deported Children Murdered...

Tom Hayden - Avoiding a "Forever War"

The Smartest Kids in The World

Full Show 8/20/14: The Premiere of Leonardo DiCaprio's Documentary

Tonight's "Lone Liberal Rumble" discusses the latest unrest in Ferguson, MO, how Compton, California school police officers will now carry AR-15 assault rifles and Senator Mitch McConnell's threat of more government shutdowns. Thom discusses the militarization of America's police with former D.C. Police Officer Ron Hampton and in tonight's "Green Report" we premiere "Carbon," the first in a series of climate change documentaries narrated by Leonardo DiCaprio and presented by Thom Hartmann.

Conflicts of Interest in Ferguson...

Brunch with Bernie - August 21, 2014

Conservatives Push out Myth on Immigration

Caucus Room Conspiracy: The Final Act...

Caller: Why Does Ferguson Have a White Power Structure?

Militarization vs. community policing?

Caller: We Need to Focus on our own Problems!