Give Donald Trump some credit: he might be a bigoted crypto-fascist who's taken the Republican Party to the right of Attila the Hun - but every once in a while he's 100 percent correct.

Case in point: his take on AT&T's proposed $85 billion merger with Time Warner.

During a speech Saturday afternoon in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania Saturday, Trump blasted the deal, saying he would oppose it if elected president.

"As an example of the power structure I'm fighting, AT&T is buying Time Warner and thus CNN, a deal we will not approve in my administration because it's too much concentration of power in the hands of too few."

Again - Trump is 100 percent correct here. We've seen a wave of media consolidations over the past few decades - and they've all resulted in the same thing: more power in the hands of giant conglomerates and fewer choices for consumers.

In 1983 - 90 percent of the media was controlled by 50 corporations; today, that number has dwindled down to 6.

We're very close to having a full-on media monopoly in this country.

Which makes you wonder why Hillary Clinton's campaign isn't speaking out against the AT&T/Time Warner merger in the same direct way that Donald Trump is.

For example - here's what Tim Kaine said recently on Meet the Press when he was asked his thoughts on the deal.

Chuck Todd: Are you a skeptic of this merger as well?

Sen. Tim Kaine: I share those concerns and questions. We've got to get to the bottom of them. Generally pro competition. And less concentration I think is generally helpful, especially in the media. But this has just been announced, and I haven't had a chance to dig into the details. But those are the kinds of questions that we need to be asking.

Translation: "we'll let you know".

Donald Trump's opposition to the AT&T-Time Warner merger probably isn't that surprising given his scorched earth campaign against the media as a whole - but the Clinton camp's equivocation here is interesting.

Opposition to monopoly power is a core progressive value - and it's historically something the Democratic base has believed in.

This isn't that complicated.

You either oppose the consolidation of the media in the hands of the few or you don't.

So why won't the Clinton campaign just come out against the deal?

Are they really still "digging in to the details" or should progressives start worrying that a potential Clinton-Kaine administration won't be as committed to breaking up the big monopolies as they'd like?

-Thom

(What do you think? Tell us here.)

Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10pm... WA Carbon Tax - Does it Have To Be Perfect? (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)

Tuesday's Daily Stack 

Article: "Open Enrollment Period" by healthcare.gov (Obamacare, November 1, 2016 to January 31, 2017).

Article: "Consumer Financial Protection Bureau" (CFPB) by Wikipedia.

Article: "Vote "NO" on shady, not smart, solar amendment | Editorial" by Sun Sentinel.

Article: "Leaked Recording Reveals Plan to Confuse Florida Voters About Solar Amendment" by Stephen Lacey.

Article: "A City Clerk Opposed an Early-Voting Site at UW-Green Bay Because 'Students Lean More Toward the Democrats'" by Ari Berman.

Article: "A growing conflict over voting rights is playing out in Georgia, where the presidential race is tightening" by Vanessa Williams.

Site: Deborah Ross for Senate.

Article: "Keith Olbermann: Donald Trump will give Americans 'regret and shackles' if elected president" by Will Robinson.

Movie: "Michael Moore in TrumpLand".

Article: "What Drives Donald Trump? Fear of Losing Status, Tapes Show" by Michael Barbaro.

Article: "New study finds 45,000 deaths annually linked to lack of health coverage" by David Cecere, September 17, 2009.

Documentary: Where to Invade Next - Michael Moore.

Article: "Michael Moore thanks Wilmington theater for standing up to pressure" by Anne Saker.

DVD: "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy: A Tale of Billionaires & Ballot Bandits" by Greg Palast.

Article: "Florida Solar Energy Subsidies and Personal Solar Use, Amendment 1 (2016)" by Ballotpedia.

Book: The Grid: The Fraying Wires Between Americans and Our Energy Future by Gretchen Bakke Ph.D.

Article: "How Much Wind And Solar Can Norway's Reservoirs Balance?" by Roger Andrews.

Article: "World's first electric car fleet supplying electricity to the grid" by Lotte Krull.

Article: "How Tesla's batteries can change the solar power game" by Hal Hodson.

Article: "Grid energy storage" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Watch Before the Flood for Free, Everywhere | Before the Flood" (October 30).

Article: "Hydrogen Energy Storage" by Energy Storage Association.

Hour Two: Too Much Protection for Free Speech?
- Carl Higbie, George Washington Leadership Foundation/Enemies, Foreign & Domestic: A SEAL's Story    

Article: "Trump explains why the First Amendment has 'too much protection' for free speech" by Judd Legum.

Article: "Donald Trump: We're going to 'open up' libel laws" by Hadas Gold.

Article: "First Amendment to the United States Constitution" .

Case: "New York Times Co. v. Sullivan".

 

Article: "Goldwater's Ghost in the Voting Machines?" by Thom Hartmann.

Article: "Voter Purges Alter U.S. Political Map" by Greg Palast.

Law: "Help America Vote Act" (2002).

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

Clip: "Paul Weyrich - "I don't want everybody to vote" (Goo Goo)".

 

Why is Trump Bad for Black America?
- Andrew Gillum, Mayor of Tallahassee, FL (D)/Hillary for America    

Article: "Mayors strike back against governors in Syrian refugee fight" by CNN.

Article: "13th Amendment", December 6, 1865. "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

 

Talk Media News Segment:
- Bob Ney 

Article: "Ohio Ballot Initiative and Referendum Processes".

Article: "Legislation And Ballot Issues" by Ohio Ballot Board.

Article: "Ohio Ballot Board" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Lawmakers pledge to remedy California veteran enlistment bonus debts" by TMN.

Article: "'Obamacare' premiums to jump in 2017" by Regina Holmes.

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Site: Governor Free Don Siegelman 

Book: "Sideswiped: Lessons Learned Courtesy of the Hit Men of Capitol Hill" by Robert Ney.

Article: "Republicans Threaten Lawsuits Over TV Ads Linking Them To Donald Trump" by Matt Fuller.

Article: "Darrell Issa, Obama's Bogeyman, Tries to Ride President's Coattails" by David Francis.

Article: "Renewables overtake coal as world's largest source of power capacity" by Pilita Clark.

Article: "Australian electoral systems" by Parliament of Australia.

Article: "Casting ballots twice is not a big problem, voting advocates say, but some want action" by Skyler Swisher (Florida snowbirds).

Video: Frontline: The Choice 2016.

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

 

We'll have the latest news and information...everything you need to know to win the water cooler wars...

 

And, the best of the rest of the news along with your calls right here on...

 

The Thom Hartmann Program, Occupying The Media 3 hours a day 5 days a week" for "we the people"

 

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