Until Friday, the anti-media rhetoric coming out of the Trump administration had been just that - rhetoric.

But Friday afternoon, it turned into action. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer blocked reporters from a number of news outlets from attending a briefing at his office.

As the New York Times reports -

"Reporters from The Times, BuzzFeed News, CNN, The Los Angeles Times and Politico were not allowed to enter the West Wing office of the press secretary, Sean M. Spicer... Aides to Mr. Spicer only allowed in reporters from a handpicked group of news organizations."

It's not that difficult to see what's going on here.

This was revenge - pure and simple.

All of the news outlets blocked from attending today's briefing have been accused by Donald Trump and his administration of putting out "fake news" - AKA any news that calls into question the administration's extreme right-wing agenda.

So - are we watching a crackdown on the press - American-style?

Or was what happened Friday just a one-off thing and that's being blown out of proportion by mainstream media?

-Thom

(What do you think? Tell us here.)

Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10:30pm... Professor Michael Eric Dyson: "Tears We Cannot Stop" (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)

Monday's Daily Stack 

Article: "Trump to lay out details on Obamacare overhaul in speech to Congress" by Reuters.

Article: "Trump wants to raise military spending - but cut everywhere else" by Shane Goldmacher, Sarah Ferris and Jennifer Scholtes.

Article: "Kasich, GOP at odds over Medicaid coverage" by Jack Torry.

Article: "Republican lawmakers introduce bills to curb protesting in at least 18 states" by Christopher Ingraham.

Article: "Study Confirms Tea Party Was Created by Big Tobacco and Billionaire Koch Brothers" by Brendan DeMelle, Apr 13, 2013.

Book: Poison Tea: How Big Oil and Big Tobacco Invented the Tea Party and Captured the GOP by Jeff Nesbit.

Article: "The Billionaires Bankrolling the Tea Party" by Frank Rich, Aug. 28, 2010.

Law: "Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act", 1970 (RICO).

Article: "Arizona Senate votes to seize assets of those who plan, participate in protests that turn violent" by Howard Fischer.

Bill: "Arizona Senate Bill 1142: Riot; planning; participation; racketeering".

Article: "North Dakota Law Would Legalize Accidentally Running Over Protesters Who Block Roadways" by CBB Wire.

Article: "US Democrats pick Tom Perez as new national chairman after divisive campaign " by AP.

Article: "Tom Perez went from "the process was rigged" against Bernie to "I misspoke" in under a day" by Jeff Stein.

Article: "DNC Members Vote Down Corporate Money Ban" by Daniel Marans.

Site: Our Revolution

Article: "Marco Rubio Quietly Undermines Affordable Care Act" by Robert Pear.

Article: "Explaining 'Risk Corridors,' The Next Obamacare Issue" by Louise Radnofsky and Jennifer Corbett Dooren, Jan 22, 2014.

Article: "Rescission" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Why the Emerging Bill to Repeal the Affordable Care Act Will Fail" by Topher Spiro and Harry Stein.

Article: "First Amendment to the United States Constitution"

Site: AFP News (Agence France-Presse).

Site: RT.

Site: Al Jazeera.

Site: BBC News.

Law: "Telecommunications Act of 1996" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Senate Election Results: G.O.P. Keeps Control" by NY Times.

Article: "Sturmabteilung" (Brownshirts).

Article: "Reichstag fire", 27 February 1933 by Wikipedia.

Article: "Could There Be an American Reichstag Fire? Don't Underestimate Trump" by Peter Schrag.

Article: "When Democracy Failed: The Warnings of History" by Thom Hartmann, March 16, 2003.

Book: "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany" by William L. Shirer.

Book: We the People: A Call to Take Back America by Thom Hartmann, illustrated by Neil Cohn

Law: "Patriot Act", 2001.

Article: "John McCain stands up for the press" by Aaron Short.

Article: "The First 100 Lies: The Trump Team's Flurry Of Falsehoods" by Igor Bobic.

Law: "Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act", 2010.

Law: "Glass-Steagall Act", 1933.

Law: Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (1999) (Financial Services Modernization Act Of 1999).

Quote: "Less government in business and more business in government" - Warren Harding.

Article: "Shooting of Michael Brown" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Death of Sandra Bland", 2015 by Wikipedia.

Site: Alexa.

Article: "Blitzkrieg" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Trump's F.C.C. Pick Quickly Targets Net Neutrality Rules" by Cecilia Kang.

Article: "It looks like the FCC wants to roll back rules that'd force internet providers to get your consent before selling your data" by Jeff Dunn.

Article: "Steve Bannon Says Trump's Cabinet Picks Are Intended to 'Deconstruct' Regulation and Agencies" by David Z. Morris.

Article: "$2 Billion Worth of Free Media for Donald Trump" by Nicholas Confessore and Karen Yourish.

Article: "CBS CEO: "...may not be good for America, but it's damn good for CBS"" by Lee Fang.

Article: "Amy Goodman Blasts CNN for Airing Trump's Empty Stage Instead of Sanders' Speech" by Zach Cartwright, March 20, 2016.

Article: "White House blocks news organizations from press briefing" by Dylan Byers, Sara Murray and Kevin Liptak.

Article: "Fairness Doctrine" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Mitch McConnell Employs Turtle Strategy to Avoid Town Hall Turmoil" by Adam K. Raymond.

Article: "GOP finds fix for chaotic town halls: Don't hold them" by David Weigel.

Site: MoveOn.org

Site: Progressive Democrats of America

 

Talk Media News Segment:
- Ellen Ratner, Bureau Chief 

Article: "Trump Talking Healthcare Reforms With US Governors" by Ken Bredemeier.

Article: "Trump budget shouldn't surprise anyone, says OMB director" by S.A. Miller.

Article: "Trump says budget will 'do more with less,' raise military spending" by TMN.

Article: "F-35 Partner Disputes Trump's Claim of Securing Big Savings" by Benjamin D Katz.

Article: "Trump to reporters: 'Nobody knew that healthcare could be so complicated'" by Tom Cahill.

Article: "Trump Promises 'Something Special' on Health Care Before Speech" by Zachary Tracer, Anna Edney, Jennifer Jacobs.

Article: "Trump Meets With Insurance Execs on Obamacare Repeal" by Ben Popken.

Article: "Totalitarian Trump White House Removes Democratic Governors From Joint Press Conference" by Sarah Jones.

Article: "Bush breaks with Trump on immigration, Russia and the media" by TMN.

Article: "Trump's early budget slashes EPA, other favorite Republican targets" by AP.

Article: "Trump and Paul Ryan Head for a Clash Over the Budget, and Ideology" by Jennifer Steinhauer.

Article: "DNC narrowly elects Tom Perez as new chair" by Maxwell Tani.

Article: "Trump now claims he hasn't called Russia "in 10 years." That's not what he's said before" by Max de Haldevang.

Article: "Lawmakers fundraise amid rising town hall pressure" by Cristina Marcos.

Site: "Goats for the old Goat".

Hour Three: Latest on the New Cold War
- Professor Stephen Cohen, The Nation/Soviet Fates and Lost Alternatives  

Article: "D�tente" by Eric Foner and John A. Garraty.

Article: "Trump tried to downplay his pro-Russian tilt in the last debate. Then he proved it." by Zack Beauchamp.

Article: "McCarthyism" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Why We Must Oppose the Kremlin-Baiting Against Trump" by Stephen F. Cohen.

Article: "Michael Flynn resigns: Trump's national security adviser quits over Russia links - as it happened" by Claire Phipps.

Article: "The Silence of the Hacks" by Paul Krugman.

Article: "What Did Trump Know, and When Did He Know It?" by Nicholas Kristof. "The bigger issue here is why Trump and people around him take such a radically different view of Russia than has been the case for decades. We don't know the answer to that."

Book: Failed Crusade: America and the Tragedy of Post-Communist Russia by Stephen F. Cohen.

Article: "Is D�tente Really Dead?" by Stephen F. Cohen.

Article: "Neo-McCarthyite furor around Russia is counterproductive" by Katrina vanden Heuvel.

 

Article: "Buchenwald concentration camp" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Cinema Rex fire" by Wikipedia.

Article: "Russia's got a point: The U.S. broke a NATO promise " by Joshua R. Itzkowitz Shifrinson.

Article: "California to weigh single-payer, universal health care plan" by Katy Murphy.

Article: "Californians for a Healthy California Act Seeks One Plan, More Choice for Residents" by State Sen. Ricardo Lara.

Bill: "SB-562 Californians For A Healthy California Act." by Senators Lara and Atkins.

Book: Gun Control in the Third Reich: Disarming the Jews and "Enemies of the State" by Stephen P. Halbrook.

Law: "Enabling Act of 1933"(Germany).

Bible: "Revelation 7: 144,000 Sealed".

Bible: "Revelation 14: The Lamb and the 144,000".

Article: "James G. Watt" by Wikipedia.

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

 

I'll be talking to Noel Flasterstein, Attorney, Second Amendment & Gun Rights.

 

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...