Thom Hartmann...

[pbmus]

https://www.thomhartmann.com/thom-hartmann-biography

Thom Hartmann is a progressive national and internationally syndicated talk show host whose shows are available in over a half-billion homes worldwide. He's the New York Times bestselling, 4-times Project Censored Award-winning author of 24 books in print in 17 languages on five continents. Leonardo DiCaprio was inspired by Thom's book "The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight" to make the movie "The 11th Hour" (in which Thom appears), and the movie "Ice On Fire."

Talkers Magazine named Thom Hartmann as the 10th most important talk show host in America in 2019 and has been in the top ten for over a decade and is the #1 most important progressive host, in their “Heavy Hundred” ranking.

His radio show is syndicated on for-profit FM and AM radio stations nationally, on non-profit and community stations nationwide by Pacifica, across the entire North American continent on SiriusXM Satellite radio (Progress, Channel 127), on cable systems nationwide by Cable Radio Network (CRN), via subscription audio podcasts, worldwide through the US Armed Forces Network, and through the Thom Hartmann iOS and Android apps. The radio show is also simulcast as TV in real-time into nearly 40 million US and Canadian homes by the Free Speech TV Network on Dish Network, DirectTV, on cable TV systems nationwide, and live on both YouTube and Facebook.

Thom has spent much of his life working with and for the international Salem relief organization (www.saleminternational.org) and he and his wife Louise founded a community for abused children in New Hampshire (www.salemchildrensvillage.org) and a school for learning disabled and ADHD kids (www.hunterschool.org). His book "Attention Deficit Disorder: A Different Perception" sparked a national debate, both in the psychology/psychiatry community and among the general public, on ADD/ADHD and neurological differences ranging from giftedness to autism. His book "Rebooting The American Dream" so inspired Senator Bernie Sanders that he wrote a cover letter to accompany the delivery of the book to his 99 colleagues in the United States Senate and he read from it extensively on the floor of the Senate during his famous filibuster.

As an entrepreneur, he's also founded several successful businesses which still are operating, and lived and worked with his wife, Louise, and their three children on several continents.

An inveterate traveler and sometimes a risk-taker, Hartmann has often found himself in the world's hot spots on behalf of the German-based Salem international relief organization or as a writer, a situation which causes his friends to sometimes wonder aloud if he works for the CIA (he does not). He was, for example, in The Philippines when Ferdinand Marcos fled the country; in Egypt the week Anwar Sadat was shot; in Uganda during the war of liberation by Tanzania; in Hungary when the first East German refugees arrived; in Germany when the wall came down; in Beijing during the first student demonstrations; in Thailand when the military coup of 1991 occurred; in Barbados during the 2004 anti-government strikes and shutdowns; in Bogota and Medellin, Colombia, during the spate of killings of presidential candidates; in Israel, in the West Bank town of Nablus, the week the Intifada started there; on the Czech border the week Chernobyl melted down; in Kenya during the first big wave of crackdowns on dissidents; and in Venezuela during the 1991 coup attempt. He has been successful in avoiding some disasters, however. For example, he was out of the country when George H.W. Bush picked Dan Quayle as his running mate.

He was born and grew up in Michigan, and retains strong ties to the Midwest, although he and Louise have lived in New Hampshire, Vermont, Georgia, Germany, and Oregon...and now live with a small menagerie in Portland, Oregon.

[brooklynite]

1. And the reason for the bio?

[pbmus]

2. Someone on this blog said he was a Russian sympathizer...

[in2herbs]

4. Probably because he broadcast on RTV for a while. nt

[Spider Jerusalem]

6. He broadcast on RT until 2017.

During the time he was on RT Russia was helping Assad engage in brutal repression in Libya and invading Ukraine and annexing Crimea. He kept taking Putin's money, so he must've been okay with those things.

[progree]

26. He also excused Russia's annexation of Crimea, saying we would annex Bahrain

Last edited Tue Mar 22, 2022, 01:07 AM - Edit history (1)

if Bahrain was threatening access to our naval base there (headquarters of our 5th Fleet). Yes he said that July 17, 2014.

And about the "Maidan fascists" and how a mob in the street overthrew Yanukovych and if this happened in Canada we'd call it a coup (Februrary 24, 2014).

He also sounded a lot like the Stephen F. Cohen / Katrina Vanden Heuvel apologists for Russia during his RT time, and had one or both on as guests a number of times

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_F._Cohen

scroll down to "Putin era" and "Ukraine crisis" topics for some shining examples of the kind of stuff Cohen and Vanden Heuvel spewed that Hartmann either agreed with or didn't push back on.

[MichMan]

35. Yet, interestingly, no mention in the biography about his seven years working for RT

He must not think it is worth mentioning for some reason

[soldierant]

25. Then someone on this blog said that in the wrong place.

It needs to be said to those in the Party of Putin who actually do sympathize with Russia.

It might make them read or listen to him

And then heads would explode.

[Rhiannon12866]

27. ...

https://www.democraticunderground.com/1017722623

[live love laugh]

28. ✓

[Hulk]

31. I listen to him daily on YouTube...

I now live in Central Mexico, and we are limited to CNN BBC and fox for our news information. Thom is a god...not thee God, but certainly a breath of fresh air in discussing current events around the world today.

He often has very knowledgeable guests on his program, and he takes phone calls every day for a good portion of the time. I have you been called in a half-dozen times myself.

He is also on Free Speech TV, but we don't get that down here in central Mexico. I have donated to Free Speech TV as well as PBS numerous times... always with a very modest donation as my finances allow.

He is on live from noon to 3 pm weekdays.

Check him out. Thom is the most knowledgeable and gifted debater I have ever heard. He often has opposing views, and even changes his opinions when facts contradict what he might believe.

Thom is a godsend. I wish he was on Sunday shows and cable "news networks" more often.

[FoxNewsSucks]

3. Ignore the cranks

I've listened to Hartmann's program for many years, since he was the "local" Portland show.

It is a great show to learn from, every story is backed up with sources. I also like that he has had a number of rightwing guests including some who were regulars. It isn't to promote their position, but instead it's a chance to hear their crap and have it disproven with fact.

[Hortensis]

5. From WaPo, 2017: "RT wants to spread Moscow's propaganda here. It should

It should register as an agent of a foreign government.

Last week, the Russian government-funded cable network RT announced that its American arm had been asked by the Justice Department to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Formerly known as Russia Today, RT was singled out this year in an intelligence community report on Kremlin meddling in the 2016 presidential election. “The rapid expansion of RT’s operations and budget and recent candid statements by RT’s leadership point to the channel’s importance to the Kremlin as a messaging tool and indicate a Kremlin directed campaign to undermine faith in the U.S. government and fuel political protest,” the report concluded. ...

... One way RT has gained credibility is by featuring Americans like Larry King and former MSNBC host Ed Schultz as presenters. Compelled to register as agents of a hostile foreign power, the network’s American employees might flee like rats from a sinking ship. There’s already a sign this may be happening:

Two days after RT revealed it had been asked by the Justice Department to register under FARA, progressive radio host Thom Hartmann, who has helmed a show on the network since 2010, announced his departure. ...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/09/20/rt-wants-to-spread-moscows-propaganda-here-lets-treat-it-that-way/

American "presenters" are there to provide a "credible" transition between Russian propaganda and pro-Russia American discussion, in this case targeted at mostly farther left audiences.

[FoxNewsSucks]

9. Did you ever watch that show?

Hartmann had control over the content of his show. Most of which was the same as his radio show. It was not a "pro-Russia" program. Neither is his radio show. There used to be other liberal shows on RT that were not pro-Russia. When the editorial direction of RT changed, Hartmann left.

Why would anyone on DU try to smear a good liberal Democrat with a radio show? We need more like him. Not the current rightwing media.

[gab13by13]

13. Well said,

Thom had a great show today.

[Doc Sportello]

14. I have an idea why they smear him

Because he was a Bernie supporter who had him on his radio show on a regular basis and has progressives like Pocan regularly on his show now. Some literally cannot stop refighting the 2016 primary. The RT thing is their go to attack, no matter the facts.

[gab13by13]

17. Good catch,

we still have people here fighting the Bernie/Hillary primary.

Look at what someone posted about John Fetterman who is running for Senator in Pa. I can't wait to vote for him. The DNC is backing Conor Lamb because he is the moderate and we all know progressives can't win.

[pnwmom]

29. He was a Bernie supporter promoting Bernie on Russia Today -- which just so happened

to be Putin's preference, because Putin thought Bernie would have been a weaker candidate against Trump.

[Doc Sportello]

34. The same smears others on here have done

You're implying Hartmann was some kind of useful idiot, which is the same kind of thing cons used against Democrats for years. Your "concerns" are the same ones expressed on this thread and by the Bernie haters for years and have been answered. Hartmann is a loyal Democrat and loyal American who has been fighting for democracy and against repub anti-democratic agendas for years, in addition to philanthropic work.

Try reading some of the fact-based responses here them and think without resorting to the same kind of knee jerk reaction that Bernie haters have been having since 2016. Stop refighting the 2016 primary. GET OVER IT.

[pnwmom]

37. This isn't about Bernie, it's about a host of a Russia Today show.Yes, I think useful idiot applies.

I don't think he purposely tried to help Russia interfere in the election. But the Russians used him to give credibility to their network -- one which, by the way, portrayed Georgia as the aggressor in the "conflict" with Russia.

Maybe Hartmann left in 2017 because he realized he was being used.

[Doc Sportello]

49. No it's about Bernie

Always has been. No matter how much deflection you want to try. That's why the same people keep bringing it up. Maybe you don't realize something.

I think we had the same conversation a couple of years ago and it does no good to talk facts and rationality with you. So off to ignore you go.

Bye

[pnwmom]

50. You can't read my mind, or the other DUers who thought he shouldn't be on RT.

He had been in the business for decades. He could have had a show on another outlet. He didn't need to choose the propaganda station. And he probably realized that, finally, when he quit RT in 2017.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/09/20/rt-wants-to-spread-moscows-propaganda-here-lets-treat-it-that-way/

In addition to better informing American citizens about the nature of RT, another salutary effect of labeling it a foreign agent may be dissuading Americans from seeking employment there. One way RT has gained credibility is by featuring Americans like Larry King and former MSNBC host Ed Schultz as presenters. Compelled to register as agents of a hostile foreign power, the network’s American employees might flee like rats from a sinking ship. There’s already a sign this may be happening: Two days after RT revealed it had been asked by the Justice Department to register under FARA, progressive radio host Thom Hartmann, who has helmed a show on the network since 2010, announced his departure.

[Spider Jerusalem]

51. I voted for Sanders in the 2016 primary AND the 2020 primary.

Anyone who took Putin's money to have a show on RT is either a Kremlin stooge or a useful idiot.

[pnwmom]

38. Tucker Carlson has control of his show. That doesn't mean it's not useful to the Russians.

They love seeing him there, even if they have no direct contact with him at all.

[Liberal In Texas]

7. Thom posts here.

Love his show.

[Grasswire2]

8. Here we go again.

Thom Hartmann is a DU member, FWIW, and has been for a very long time.

[NewHendoLib]

10. Thom Hartmann. Brilliant. Essential.

[gab13by13]

11. I believe that people who say Thom

is pro-Russia have never listened to his shows.

I just so happened to listen to Thom today, he had an excellent segment on why our democracy is hanging by a thread; money.

Hartmann said today that there was 1 billionaire in America when Reagan was president, today there are 400. He said that the key to keeping our democracy was to tax the rich. Today, we have American oligarchs who buy politicians, buy the media, buy judges. The passage of Citizens United was devastating.

Thom is pretty cerebral, if you are just looking for sound bites or slogans, don't listen to him.

Now that we have people here who like Thom and those who don't, I liked what I heard him say today, what do the naysayers think? Give me some positions that Thom takes that you don't like.

[pnwmom]

40. Thom was giving cover, giving credibility, and lending his fan base

to a Russian propaganda network (that said, among other things, that Georgia was the aggressor in the "conflict" with Russia).

He should have done his excellent show somewhere else.

[Tommymac]

59. That is hogwash plain and simple and has been debunked ad naseum.

But keep spouting it, it is a foolish position to take.

I've met Thom and he is a genuine person and passionately believes what he writes and talks about.

The guy is a living progressive icon who has an International and personal reputation that no amount of sticks and stones from posts on a discussion board with dull axes to grind are going to affect.

Maybe you should reach out to him here since he is a long time active member of DU and have a personal chat, pose those statements to him and let him respond to you - I'm sure he will listen and respond appropriately as he has the time.

[pnwmom]

63. What has been "debunked"? Nothing.

By appearing on the network, he lent his own credibility and fanbase to a Russian propaganda network that otherwise might not have drawn as much attention. It doesn't matter how passionate or genuine he is -- he allowed himself to be used by RT, in exchange for profit and a platform.

He only left when the network officially registered as a foreign agent in 2017. But nothing had changed except for the paperwork.

[gab13by13]

12. I will bet money that no one will say why they don't like Thom,

other than he worked for RT. They won't come up with anything he actually said that is bad.

Thom is in the same boat as Keith Olberman or Dylan Ratigan, the right wing owned and managed MSM won't hire them because people like Thom don't toe the right wing narrative, don't spew right wing talking points but talk facts.

Pur Thom in Rachel's spot, he is just as good if not better.

[Doc Sportello]

15. They won't say

But I did in post 14 above.

[gab13by13]

18. Yes, I believe you nailed it.

[Elessar Zappa]

19. He shouldn't have taken Putin's money.;

RT is controlled by his regime.

[FoxNewsSucks]

21. At that time,

it wasn't a propaganda organ. When it became one, Hartmann & legit liberals LEFT IT.

Why is that so fucking hard to understand????

[pnwmom]

30. It absolutely was a propaganda organ then. You just couldn't see it

because it was promoting your favorite candidate. But Putin thought Bernie would lose against Trump, so Putin's govt promoted his candidacy.

[Tommymac]

60. Ah, the truth comes out. Still rehashing past elections here.

Really good for party unity, heh?

[pnwmom]

61. It's a fact that Putin was pulling strings in both 2016 and 2020.

And in 2016, Hartmann was a star in his show.

[betsuni]

62. +1

[pnwmom]

39. It has always been a propaganda organ, even though they gave Thom editorial control.

They wouldn't have given him a show if they didn't want to promote what he had to say -- just like they're now promoting what Tucker has to say. (But they didn't even have to give him a show.)

From 2011 in Slate:

In 2005 RT was hatched, as the Columbia Journalism Review put it, as “a soft-power tool to improve Russia’s image abroad, to counter the anti-Russian bias the Kremlin saw in the Western media.” Reset button or no, we Americans are not the biggest fans of Russian propaganda.

When RT first drew attention here, it was for its coverage of the 2008 Russia-Georgia conflict, which portrayed the small republic of 4.6 million people as the aggressor. (One fairly typical segment featured an interview with an American in South Ossetia who blamed America for the violence.) Its coverage of American politics was heavy on interviews with fringe experts and third party candidates; frequent on-air experts included radio host Alex Jones and newsletter reporter Wayne Madsen, who’d discuss too-good-to-check stories about the origins of the swine flu and why WTC Building 7 fell on 9/11.

A couple of years later, the network has a bureau of 70 people in downtown Washington, including veterans of CNN and NBC News; it gets credible guests from places like Talking Points Memo, Reason, the Cato Institute, and the Washington Examiner. Before he got his own show on MSNBC, Cenk Uygur would go on these shows to riff on the news. Talking out of turn, and not for attribution, these guests have no idea what to make of RT’s regular content (“it’s always some truther crap”). But the network’s most visible, popular presence in Washington is that evening line-up. A watcher of RT always got the impression that America was irrational, oppressive, frivolous and in trouble; a watcher of the prime-time line-up gets the same impression, but it’s different somehow. It’s somewhere between Jon Stewart’s monologue and the world that Rowdy Roddy Piper sees when he puts on those special sunglasses in They Live.

https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2011/06/the-rt-network-russia-s-answer-to-fox-news-and-msnbc.html

[FoxNewsSucks]

56. I've only seen the channel live twice

It's not on the cable where I've lived. Twice, it was on the cable in hotels.

I downloaded Hartmann's video podcast for a while, but since nearly all of it was the same thing as his radio show, stopped. The two times I watched it live out of curiosity, there was a woman on after him that seemed to have a good liberal show as well.

This was around 2008-2010 or so. Back then, Keith Olbermann was the only liberal on cable news. Maybe RT wasn't the best place to go, but at that time there wasn't much of a liberal presence on any channel. We still need more liberals on TV, and the less corporate-influenced they are the better.

[pnwmom]

57. Back then the idea was that TV news reporters were supposed to report the facts,

a la Walter Cronkite -- not give it a political spin. The emergence of "Fox News" changed all that.

[pnwmom]

41. That's enough of a reason. He was giving credibility to RT by his presence there.

And drawing fans like you to a network you might not otherwise have paid attention to.

[pnwmom]

46. He gave credibility and his fan base to RT, the Russian propaganda network.

That's what he did that was wrong. It wasn't the particulars of his individual reports. It was the cover he gave to the network.

When he was still working for RT, the network was claiming that Georgia was the aggressor when Russia attacked it.

That was propaganda, just as RT's stories on the Ukraine war were propaganda.

And Thom Hartmann, through his association with the network, gave it credibility it shouldn't have had.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/03/02/media/rt-propaganda-network/index.html

On Wednesday morning, as Russia's unprovoked war on Ukraine entered its seventh day, I turned on RT, the Russia-controlled network that has in recent days been banned in Europe and dropped by television carriers across the world. Founded in 2005, RT, which operates multiple channels, including RT America, has served as one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's largest megaphones across the world. It offers insight into how the Kremlin would like to portray the world and its role in it.

For several hours I watched the channel and was struck by how brazenly its hosts and personalities worked to mislead its audience and deflect from the issues at hand. The main thrust of RT's coverage presented Russia as a mere victim of western aggression, a country forced to launch a limited "military operation" after its hand was forced by a high-and-mighty NATO that showed no interest in taking Moscow's security concerns seriously.

[brooklynite]

54. So, Rachel Maddow "toes the right wing narrative"?

News to me.

[lapucelle]

58. Ah yes, Dylan Ratigan...

NY21: Democrats say Ratigan voiced preference for Trump over Clinton

A Democratic women's luncheon, a surprising statement

Congressional candidate Dylan Ratigan told a gathering of Democrats earlier this month that he might have voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential contest, if he had cast a ballot. That’s according to four people who were at the public luncheon May 18th in Saratoga County.

“It’s mind-boggling that a Democratic candidate asking for my vote would say this,” said Julie Wash from the town of Stillwater. She told North Country Public Radio that Ratigan made the comment in response to questions she posed.

“He said, I would have voted for Trump,” Wash recalled. “There was silence and everyone’s jaw dropped.”

snip=====================================

[]...Ratigan said he never “seriously” made the statement about supporting Trump. “That’s not true,” he said, describing the claim as part of a dirty tricks campaign designed to harm his primary bid.

When pressed, however, Ratigan acknowledged that he did speculate about voting for Trump, describing the comments as an attempt at humor.

“I have said jokingly to people, I understand why people voted for Donald Trump. And when you get irritated, you know, heck, I considered voting for Donald Trump myself. That’s not a meaningful statement,” Ratigan added.

snip====================================================================

The Democratic luncheon earlier this month wasn't the first time Ratigan spoke in positive terms about Trump.

In a commentary posted to Youtube by a progressive outlet called The Young Turks at the end of Trump’s first hundred days in office, Ratigan described the new president as a man who had torn down walls and opened up the political process.

“If Donald Trump can be president, anybody can be president,” Ratigan said. “That’s an incredibly valuable thing for all of us. Prior to Donald Trump there was a belief that you had to have some kind of pedigree.”

While noting that “there is a lot to feel anxiety about” in the new president’s leadership, Ratigan went on to argue that Trump “basically is somebody we should say to, I like what you’re doing, sir, but you haven’t gone far enough.”

https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/36289/20180528/ny21-democrats-say-ratigan-voiced-preference-for-trump-over-clinton

[FakeNoose]

16. Thanks for this post, a lot of good info here

[MuseRider]

20. I think his show is wonderful.

I really do not get to listen much anymore but I think maybe I can figure out how to listen more when away.

He is on the left of the left, that is why he is routinely buffeted around on this site. You know, like someone above said, he supported Bernie and he had the nerve to run for president and be outspoken no matter where he finds himself. Ya gotta stick with the center according to some.

I was thrilled to find out that he posts here now and again and is a member. I am amazed he is still here, I would have left after reading some of what people say about him. It is very good that we do not all feel the need to be 100% in line with each other.

[Ferrets are Cool]

22. I am not a fighter, but

I would physically FIGHT anyone who tried to say that Thom was not one of the most American of Americans.

[pnwmom]

52. Then why did he continue to appear on a network which was portraying GEORGIA

as the aggressor in Russia's war on it -- just like Russia went on to claim Ukraine was the aggressor?

[Ferrets are Cool]

53. If you are that interested, why don't you ask him. He is a very open and forthright person

I personally don't care because I know what a great human he is.

[pnwmom]

55. Everybody makes mistakes. His was serving as a front man for RT.

And he must have realized that when he left RT after the network was required to register as a foreign agent.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/09/20/rt-wants-to-spread-moscows-propaganda-here-lets-treat-it-that-way/

In addition to better informing American citizens about the nature of RT, another salutary effect of labeling it a foreign agent may be dissuading Americans from seeking employment there. One way RT has gained credibility is by featuring Americans like Larry King and former MSNBC host Ed Schultz as presenters. Compelled to register as agents of a hostile foreign power, the network’s American employees might flee like rats from a sinking ship. There’s already a sign this may be happening: Two days after RT revealed it had been asked by the Justice Department to register under FARA, progressive radio host Thom Hartmann, who has helmed a show on the network since 2010, announced his departure.

[gab13by13]

23. If I had to pick someone to lead a debate on an issue

it would be Thom.

[multigraincracker]

24. I met him over 50 years ago.

I was impressed then as now.

[Kid Berwyn]

32. Thom is a good man.

For a capitalist, especially.

[orleans]

33. i listen to his show every day

i think he's extremely intelligent, progressive/liberal, and has a great show.

he's also a DU member (with a star) and while he hasn't posted for awhile, he still reads du and mentions it/references it on occasion

[pnwmom]

42. He's a public figure. If Hillary Clinton, another public figure, had been a starred member of DU,

that wouldn't exempt her from criticism as a public figure. It doesn't exempt Thom, either.

[Goodheart]

36. I know by listening to Thom that he reads this site and posts here

A lot of topics and points echo here and on his program.

Thom is fantastic, by the way. So are the Stephanie Miller and Michael Signorele programs that preceded and follow his on Sirius 127.

[GoodRaisin]

43. I like his show.

It’s a great break from the MSNBC line up between 12-3 pm EST for those who routinely complain about Andrea Mitchell and Chuck Todd. I don’t care for them but sometimes watch Thom’s show on Directv channel 348 (FSTV).

[maxsolomon]

44. He made a deal with the Devil: RT.

He has to know it, but he doesn't really talk about it in the times I listen (a couple minutes on the way to work when my wife isn't commuting with me). Maybe he addressed it after the deal ended, IDK.

It certainly lowered his estimation in my eyes.

[SalviaBlue]

45. He did address it after the deal ended.

Why would he address it again now. It has been addressed on this forum many times. It would be easy to access it for anyone who is concerned.

[pnwmom]

47. I can't find where he addressed the issue. But when I looked, I found this instead:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2017/09/20/rt-wants-to-spread-moscows-propaganda-here-lets-treat-it-that-way/

In addition to better informing American citizens about the nature of RT, another salutary effect of labeling it a foreign agent may be dissuading Americans from seeking employment there. One way RT has gained credibility is by featuring Americans like Larry King and former MSNBC host Ed Schultz as presenters. Compelled to register as agents of a hostile foreign power, the network’s American employees might flee like rats from a sinking ship. There’s already a sign this may be happening: Two days after RT revealed it had been asked by the Justice Department to register under FARA, progressive radio host Thom Hartmann, who has helmed a show on the network since 2010, announced his departure.

[maxsolomon]

48. I don't particularly care to investigate.

I knew it was a foolish deal when he made it, and I don't hold it against him.