The big Republican knock against Bernie Sanders - and, to some extent, the knock on Hillary Clinton and any Democrat - is that they want America to be more like Europe, in particular Northern Europe.

Bernie's socialist policies might work fine for Scandinavia, Republicans say, but they're pretty much D.O.A. in the good old U. S. of A.

Marco Rubio even went so far as to joke at a recent debate that Bernie would actually be better off just running for president of Sweden.

Now, Sweden doesn't actually have a president (it's a constitutional monarchy with a king as its head of state and a prime minister as its head of government), but Rubio's point here is still pretty obvious.

Basically, he's saying that even if it were a good idea, Bernie Sanders' Sweden-style socialism would never work in the U.S. because damnit, this is America and we don't like pinko commies here.

Conservative columnist David Brooks gives another version of this argument in his latest op-ed for The New York Times.

He writes, "There's nothing wrong with living in Northern Europe. I've lived there myself. It's just not the homeland we've always known. Bernie Sanders' America is starkly different from Alexander Hamilton's or Alexis de Tocqueville's America, or even Bill Clinton's and Barack Obama's America."

But is that really true?

Is Sweden-style social democracy really as alien to the American way of thinking as David Brooks says it is?

Do Americans really prefer our way of doing things to the Scandinavian way of doing things?

Well, contrary to what you might hear on Fox So-Called News, they don't.

Americans actually really like socialism, in particular Swedish-style democratic socialism, the kind Bernie Sanders is promoting as part of his political revolution.

Read more here.

-Thom

Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10pm... Indian Point: When the unthinkable happens... (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)

Free excerpt, read book for free at Truthout, buy the book!

The Daily Stack 

Hour One: Republicans: "Black President Only Gets to Appoint to SCOTUS 3/5ths of the Time"
- Randi Rhodes, The Randi Rhodes show  

Article: "Presidents Day snow and ice storm to administer wintry travel in much of eastern US" by Kristina Pydynowski.

Article: "Read the Full Transcript of the Ninth Republican Debate in South Carolina" by TIME.

Article: "Is this the next Supreme Court Justice? Indian-American litigator Sri Srinivasan is tipped as Obama's choice to replace Scalia" by Jessica Chia.

Tweet: "What is less than zero? The chances of Obama successfully appointing a Supreme Court Justice to replace Scalia?" by Conn Carroll, Communications Director for Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT).

Speech: "Remarks Announcing the Nomination of Anthony M. Kennedy To Be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States " by Ronald Reagan.

Article: "Is a recess appointment to the Court an option?" by Lyle Denniston.

Article: "The Randi Rhodes Radio Show - Kickstarter".

 

Article: "Constitution of the United States" Article 2 section 2." ... The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session. ..."

Case: "District of Columbia v. Heller", 2008.

Article: "Bernie Sanders Just Introduced a Bill That Would Transform Voting in America" by Zeeshan Aleem.

Law: "Voting Rights Act of 1965".

Article: "Kasich on Next Supreme Court Choice: Let the People Have a Say" by Kailani Koenig.

Article: "Ted Cruz vows to filibuster Supreme Court nomination: Ted Cruz in the news" by Robin Goist.

Article: "The Federalist Papers : No. 76" by Alexander Hamilton.

Book: "The Federalist Papers" by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay.

Article: "What Antonin Scalia Thought About Politicizing The Supreme Court Nomination Process" by Emily Atkin.

Article: "Justice Scalia: minority students may be better off going to 'lesser schools'" by Dan Roberts.

Article: "Illinois GOP governor stands by stalled agenda as state budget languishes" by Reuters.

Article: "Rauner halts funding for CeaseFire" by Thomas A. Corfman.

Article: "State Funding For Autism Program Cut On World Autism Day, Advocate Says" by Ravi Baichwal.

Case: "Webster v. Reproductive Health Services".

Case: "Roe v. Wade", 1973.

Article: "12 "memorable" quotes from Antonin Scalia" by Katie Halper.

Article: "List of United States Supreme Court Justices by time in office" by Wikipedia.

Case: "Lochner v. New York" by 1905.

Article: "Bernie's 'Political Revolution' Is Actually Happening, Although the Corporate Media Won't Tell You That" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "New Hampshire primary election results".

Article: "Bernie Sanders won the most votes ever in a New Hampshire Presidential Primary" by jonorlin.

Site: TheBlueBrothers.

Article: "Conspiracy kooks shift into overdrive after learning Antonin Scalia was found dead with a pillow over head" by Tom Boggioni.

Documentary: Where to Invade Next - Michael Moore.

Book: "The Crash of 2016: The Plot to Destroy America--and What We Can Do to Stop It" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "The Powell Memo or Powell Manifesto".

Case: "Buckley v. Valeo", 1976.

Article: "New Deal" by Wikipedia.

Article: "The Nation Renews Its Faith; Out Of The Swift Succession Of Events That Has Marked Two Weeks Of The New Deal, This Fact Stands Out: That The Confidence Of The People In The Government Has Been Re-established" by Anne O'Hare McCormick, March 19, 1933.

Article: "LET'S TRY IT!" SAYS ROOSEVELT; That Remark Reflects the President's Way and So His Plunge Into Action Surprises Every One but Himself -- A Portrait of the Nation's Chief Executive, at Ease and Unharried, on the Job" by Anne O'Hare McCormick, March 26, 1933.

Article: "Bernie Sanders draws more than 18,000 in Denver, campaign says" by April Schildmeyer.

Article: "Selling Off Apache Holy Land" by Lydia Millet.

Article: "The power of magical thinking" by William Falk.

Article: "Bernie Sanders' Phantom Movement" by Chris Hedges.

Hour Three: How the Kochs Are Ghostwriting America's Story
- Michael Winship, BillMoyers.com/Writers Guild of America East    

Article: "The Kochs Are Ghostwriting America's Story" by Michael Winship.

Quote: "There is no such thing as society" Margaret Thatcher.

Article: "American Legislative Exchange Council" (ALEC) by SourceWatch.

Book: Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right by Jane Mayer

 

Article: "Legislation Sponsored or Cosponsored by Bernard Sanders which became law" by Congress.gov.

Article: "Legislation Sponsored or Cosponsored by Marco Rubio which became law" by Congress.gov.

Article: "Legislation Sponsored or Cosponsored by Hillary Rodham Clinton which became law" by Congress.gov.

Article: "Maher: SCOTUS Climate Decision Attacked Earth, 'This Is The Oligarchy At Work'" by Ian Hanchett.

Article: "Trump Defends Comment That George W. Bush Should Be Impeached For Iraq: "They Lied"" by Katherine Miller.

Site: Democracy for America

Site: MoveOn.org

Article: "Trump: RNC breaking pledge to remain neutral" by Andrew Shain.

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

Article: "Details in Flux in Death of Justice Scalia" by Pam Martens and Russ Martens.

 

Video: Economist Explains Why a Bernie Economy Would Soar (Dr. Gerald Friedman).

Article: "Under Sanders, income and jobs would soar, economist says" by Tami Luhby.

Article: "Single-payer health plan wouldn't cost U.S. more" by Steffie Woolhandler and David U. Himmelstein.

Article: "Enacting Sanders Agenda Would Catapult Economy, Shatter Inequality" by Lauren McCauley.

Article: "A majority of low-wage workers earn so little they must rely on public assistance to make ends meet" by David Cooper.

Article: "Congressional Republicans Balk at Obama's Budget, Sight Unseen" by Jackie Calmes.

Article: "Obama Calls For $11 Billion To End Homelessness In His Last Budget" by Bryce Covert.

Article: "Jeb Bush Unveils Sneaky New Plan To Make Citizens United Even Worse" by Ian Millhiser.

Article: "State Legislature Overrides Governor's Veto to Restore Voting Rights for 40,000 Marylanders" by Advancement Project.

 

Do you have all the info you need to vote for @BernieSanders? Find it here.

    

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

 

I'll be talking to Roger Stone, veteran of nine presidential campaigns, the latest being Donald Trump, about Jeb! and the Bush Crime Family.

 

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