For decades a staple of the far-right has been the story that the news media in the United States is unreliable, doesn't tell the true story, and even promulgates outright lies. There was the "absolute reality" that the moonshot was faked, that the government is filled with communists, that whites are the superior race, or that both 9/11 and the Newtown massacres were false flag government psychological operations. Conspiracy theorist and right-wingers have long pointed the finger of doubt or damnation at the corporate news agencies in our country.

But 2016 was the year when that perspective on the mainstream news went mainstream itself. The man just elected president of the United States has promoted outright lies, like there being three million illegal voters, or that climate change is a hoax invented by the Chinese, where the immigrants and Muslims are responsible for crime way out of proportion to "average Americans", also known as white people in his world.

Both the president-elect and the entire Republican Party not only embrace outright lies, but damn the mainstream media for not embracing them too. On the other hand, what would you call the refusal of MSNBC to cover net neutrality in any meaningful way -some speculate because its parent company is hostile to net neutrality - or their unwillingness to call out advertisers in the defense and oil industries with anything at all resembling investigative reporting? Is that fake news by omission?

For that matter, why won't they cover the consequences of Republican voter suppression efforts, as in Interstate Crosscheck and others? Is it because they need Republican guests to come on their shows to maintain their profitability? And their "news" stars need to suck up to them to maintain their multi-million dollar salaries?

Whatever the answers to these questions, the media in the U.S. is being questioned now both as to veracity and bias like never before, and it's no longer just the John Birch Society doing the questioning.

-Thom

(What do you think? Tell us here.)

Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10:30pm... Ethics...What is the GOP Hiding? (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)

Tuesday's Daily Stack 

Quote: "This world demands the qualities of youth: not a time of life but a state of mind, a temper of the will, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over the love of ease." -- Robert F. Kennedy.

 

Article: "Behind Closed Doors, House GOP Vote Overwhelmingly to Eviscerate Ethics Watchdog" by Jon Queally.

Article: "Update: 1,094 Bias-Related Incidents in the Month Following the Election" by SPLC.

 

Article: "Choice of Robert Lighthizer as USTR Strengthens Prospects for a New Approach to U.S. Trade Policy" by Public Citizen.

Site: Social Security Works.

Tweet: "With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it" by Donald J. Trump.

Tweet: "........may be, their number one act and priority. Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance! #DTS" by Donald J. Trump.

Article: "In Time for Christmas: A Social Security Plan Only Scrooge Could Love" by Monique Morrissey.

Article: "Ban on local plastic bag bans now Michigan law" by Emily Lawler.

Site: The Stephanie Miller Show.

Article: "Nixon's Vietnam Treachery" by John A. Farrell.

Article: "'Argo' helps Iran's dictatorship, harms democracy " by Abolhassan Bani-Sadr.

Clip: Phone conversation between President Lyndon Johnson and Sen. Everett Dirksen (R) 968. "Here's the latest information we've got... This is treason. ... "

Hour Two: GOP Just Tried to Pull A Fast One...
- Congressman Dan Kildee, (D-MI, 5th District)  

Article: "After Public Outrage, House Republicans Suspend Efforts to Gut Ethics Office" by Public Citizen.

Article: "America Becomes a Stan" by Paul Krugman.

 

Site: Governor Free Don Siegelman 

Article: "Abraham Bolden" by Wikipedia.

Video: Justice for Abraham Bolden.

Book: "Ultimate Sacrifice" by Lamar Waldron with Thom Hartmann

Book: "Legacy of Secrecy" by Lamar Waldron with Thom Hartmann

Site: The Hidden History of the JFK Assassination.

Article: "Grover Norquist on the GOP candidates: All we need is someone who can 'handle a pen'" by Hunter, Feb 13, 2012.

Video: Nixon betrayal of Vietnam peace talks confirmed by aide's notes - Rachel Maddow.

Article: "How the Chained CPI Affects Social Security Payments" by Emily Brandon.

Video: Carol for Another Christmas - Rod Serling.

Article: "Marshall Plan" by Wikipedia.

 

Talk Media News Segment:
- Victoria Jones 

Article: "House tables controversial ethics provision amid backlash" by Bryan Renbaum.

Article: "GOP rep: Reining in ethics panel will 'provide more accountability'" by Jessie Hellmann.

Article: "Congress Prepares to Battle Over 'Obamacare'" by Benjamin Siegel.

Article: "Obama to huddle with Capitol Hill Democrats to discuss Obamacare game plan" by Tom Howell Jr.

Article: "Pence to huddle with House GOP on ObamaCare" by Melanie Zanona.

Article: "2016 United States House of Representatives sit-in" by Wikipedia.

Article: "House Dems to protest GOP move to punish sit-ins" by Heather Caygle.

Article: "Paul Ryan Wins Re-election as House Speaker" by Matt Flegenheimer.

Article: "Amnesty International USA Launches Aggressive Guantánamo Closure Campaign In Obama's Final Days" by Amnesty International.

Tweet: "There should be no further releases from Gitmo. These are extremely dangerous people and should not be allowed back onto the battlefield." by Donald J. Trump.

Article: "Ford cancels Mexico plant. Will create 700 U.S. jobs in 'vote of confidence' in Trump" by Heather Long and Poppy Harlow.

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Hour Three: Federal Climate Lawsuit Youth Plaintiffs Seek to Depose Ex-Exxon CEO
- Julia Olson, Our Children's Trust  

Article: "Youth Seek Testimony From Exxon's Rex Tillerson in Federal Climate Lawsuit" by Our Childrens Trust.

Article: Chapter Two: The Corporate Conquest of America

Book: "Unequal Protection: The Battle to Save Democracy" by Thom Hartmann (read online)

Book: "Unequal Protection: How Corporations Became "People" - And How You Can Fight Back" by Thom Hartmann - new updated version out now!

Case: "Juliana v. United States".

Book: Storms of My Grandchildren: The Truth About the Coming Climate Catastrophe and Our Last Chance to Save Humanity by James Hansen.

 

Article: "Bill, Hillary Clinton to attend Trump Inauguration" by Dan Merica and Theodore Schleifer.

Image: "Thom Hartmann At Obama's inaugural".

Book: Capitol Punishment: The Hard Truth About Washington Corruption From America's Most Notorious Lobbyist by Jack Abramoff.

Article: "Jack Abramoff" by Wikipedia.

Article: "John Bradshaw" by Wikipedia.

Book: The Hidden Injuries of Class by Jonathan Cobb, Richard Sennett.

Article: "Think Twice Before Using NSAIDs" by Dr Jodie Gruenstern.

Article: "Fox News Viewers Uninformed, NPR Listeners Not, Poll Suggests" by Kenneth Rapoza.

 

Congress, Please Pass the "Nuclear Sanity Act"
- Richard Greene, Huffington Post/Words That Shook the World: 100 Years of Unforgettable Speeches and Events 

Video: Trump, America's Duterte... (w/Guest: Richard Greene).

Article: "Philippines drugs war: The woman who kills dealers for a living" by BBC.

Article: "Dear Congress - Please Pass "THE NUCLEAR SANITY ACT" Before January 20" by Richard Greene.

Video: Trump on the Couch w/Dr. Justin Frank, MD.

Book: Bush on the Couch Rev Ed: Inside the Mind of the President by Justin A. Frank, M.D.

Article: "Karen Bass Wants Mental Health Professionals to Evaluate Trump" by Warren Rojas.

Site: Rep. Karen Bass.

Site/movie: The Coming War On China - John Pilger.

Article: "Duped by fake news story, Pakistani minister threatens nuclear war with Israel" by Ben Westcott.

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"

 

And don't forget...Democracy is NOT a spectator sport...it begins with you...