Dropping the so-called Mother of All Bombs on Afghanistan has earned Donald Trump another round of glowing coverage from the war-hungry Beltway media.

But the decision to use America's biggest non-nuclear weapon in Afghanistan wasn't really his - it was the generals'.

So - should it reassure us that the professionals are in charge?

Or scare us even more?

The Pentagon has released video of Thursday's Mother of All Bomb strike in Afghanistan that it Afghan officials say killed 36 ISIS fighters.

Questions remain, however, about just how necessary the strike really was and whether any civilians were killed.

One thing's for sure, though, we'll probably see more of this because Donald Trump has more or less given the generals free reign to bomb the you-know-what out of anything they want.

"What I do is I authorize my military. We have the greatest military in the world and they've done their job as usual. So, we have given them total authorization. Frankly, that's why they've been so successful lately."

So this bomb, we just have to take the Pentagon's word for it that it was necessary. We've been at war for 15 years, and haven't had to use it. But we had to use it now.

Should we be concerned that Trump seems to be giving the military this much latitude?

-Thom

(What do you think? Tell us here.)

Tonight on The Big Picture on RT TV at 7pm and 10:30pm... Why Bernie's Red State Revolution is Giving Trump Nightmares (check your local listings for stations or stream at RT or Free Speech TV, and catch past shows on Youtube)

Monday's Daily Stack 

In for Thom, Progressive host Alex Lawson, Social Security Works/We Act Radio   

 

Article: "Trump 'will take action' to end any North Korea threat to US: top security adviser" by Nicki Rossoll.

Article: "Trump's Beyoncé-free Easter Egg Roll" by Nancy Cook.

Article: "Sad! The Easter Bunny is the only celebrity at President Trump's first Easter Egg Roll" by Tatiana Baez.

Article: "Georgia's 6th congressional district special election, 2017" (April 18, 2017).

Site: Jon Ossoff for Congress.

Article: "Bank of North Dakota" by Wikipedia.

Bill: "SB 5464 - Establishing the Washington investment trust." by State Senator Bob Hasegawa.

Article: "Seattle joins nationwide 'Tax Day' marches" by Nadia Romero.

Article: "Trump's Huge Failure" by Bob Burnett.

Site: Stephen Miles, Win Without War-Center for International Policy.

Article: "Droit du seigneur" by Wikipedia.

Poll: "Daily Presidential Tracking Poll" by Rasmussen.

Article: "The referendum that just brought Turkey closer to one-man rule, explained" by David Stevens.

Hour Two: Media Coverage Of Trump
- Richard Eskow, The Zero Hour/Campaign for America's Future      

Article: "Trump launches attack on Syria with 59 Tomahawk missiles" by Everett Rosenfeld.

Article: "U.S. drops "mother of all bombs" in Afghanistan, marking weapon's first use" by CBS News.

Article: "The Washington Post: 'Democracy dies in darkness'" by Joe Concha.

 

Article: "Hospital stocks buck market drop after Obamacare repeal fails" by Lauren Thomas.

Documentary: The Brainwashing Of My Dad.

Article: "Bill Maher" by Wikipedia.

Video: Bernie Sanders State of the Union interview, 16 April 2017.

 

We Act Radio Celebrates 5 Years and Being Best Social Justice Radio In DC
- Kymone Freeman, We Act Radio/Black Lives Matter DC     

Article: "Best Social Justice Radio: We Act Radio" by Matt Cohen.

Article: "Brian Williams calls images of US missile launch 'beautiful'" by AP.

Movie: "Kill the Messenger".

Book: Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion by Gary Webb.

Hour Three: How government data is crucial for everyone's progress
- Heidi Hartmann, PhD, Institute for Women's Policy Research    

Article: "How government data is crucial for everyone's progress" by Heidi Hartmann.

Article: "Trump Administration's FY18 Budget Blueprint Outlines Non-Defense Budget Cuts" by Steve Pierson.

Article: "Funding Cut for Data on Economic Well-Being" by Lyndsey Layton, June 4, 2007.

Article: "2020 Decennial Census" by GAO.

 

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

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

Article: "Harvard Study Confirms Bernie Sanders Was Right: Media Blackout Badly Hurt Campaign" by Timothy Bertrand.

Article: "Bayh-Dole Act", 1980 by Wikipedia.

 

Drug-Price Reduction Bill Under Attack
- Lee Fang, The Intercept    

Article: "Big Pharma Funds "Independent" Advocacy Groups Attacking Drug-Price Reduction Bill" by Lee Fang.

Bill: "S.771 - Improving Access To Affordable Prescription Drugs Act" by Sen. Al Franken.

Article: "California Proposition 61, Drug Price Standards (2016)" by BallotPedia.

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

 

I'll be speaking with Dr. Elisabeth Rosenthal, author of An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back

 

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...

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