Rare is the liberal who criticizes Hollywood where liberalism has been the party line for decades. Rarer still are Democrats who do, especially at Hollywood fundraisers.
Left-wing radio host Thom Hartmann, among the top-rated talkers in the country, recently ventured where few on the left dare tread while talking with attorney and "Ring of Fire" radio show co-host Mike Papantonio about upheaval in Ferguson, Mo., after the fatal police shooting of an unarmed 18-year-old black man. (Audio after the jump)
Thom Hartmann
By Jack Coleman | September 4, 2014 | 6:22 PM EDT
By Jack Coleman | August 4, 2014 | 11:27 AM EDT
Liberal radio host Thom Hartmann is busy at work on two crucial elements of the left-wing agenda -- criminalizing differences of opinion and perpetuating the myth that our politics have never been more polarized.
Hartmann received help in this endeavor from his weekly guest, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Bolshevik of Vermont, who frequently appears Fridays on Hartmann's program for the preciously named segment "Brunch with Bernie." (Audio after the jump)
By Jack Coleman | July 18, 2014 | 7:42 PM EDT
The envelope please for most inane apologia in defense of Hamas this week ...
Even worse, this particular inanity comes from Thom Hartmann, a top-rated talker on the barren moonscape known as liberal radio. In response to a caller who took him to task for blaming Israel for the latest flare-up, Hartmann downplayed the peril posed by Hamas firing hundreds of rockets at Israeli civilians. (Audio after the jump)
By Jack Coleman | July 10, 2014 | 7:42 PM EDT
But hey, give the man credit -- how often do left-wingers ever admit that Saddam Hussein was a socialist?
In the last two decades, the number of times I've heard them acknowledge this comes in somewhere around less than hardly ever. If Saddam had been a right-winger, we'd all have heard that repeated ad infinitum and then some. But because he wasn't -- just the opposite, in fact -- Saddam's big-government political ethos has somehow remained under the radar in so much media discourse about him. (Audio after the jump)
By Jack Coleman | July 2, 2014 | 6:27 PM EDT
Fortunately, there might still be time for the show trial that Thom Hartmann craves.
Hartmann, long atop the decidedly short list of popular liberal radio hosts, has again lapsed into the language of fringe leftist, this time while talking about the horrific situation in Iraq, al Qaeda's rationale for attacking the US on 9/11, and the Persian Gulf war. (Audio after the jump)
By Jack Coleman | June 17, 2014 | 5:58 PM EDT
Remember that scene in "Spinal Tap" when lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel showed documentary filmmaker Rob Reiner how he could turn up the volume on his amplifier all the way to 11, for that "extra push over the cliff" which he couldn't get with ordinary amps that would only go to 10?
Left wing radio host Thom Hartmann just cranked Iraq war revisionism all the way to 11. (Audio after the jump)
By Jack Coleman | June 11, 2014 | 4:59 PM EDT
Yes, it was indeed unfortunate that the Chinese government cracked down on protesters in Tiananmen Square 25 years ago, Thom Hartmann told his radio audience in noting the anniversary.
But on the bright side, Hartmann exclaimed, at least there aren't any billionaires like the Koch brothers in China. Providing, of course, that one overlooks China's government kleptocracy. (Audio after the jump)
By Jack Coleman | June 9, 2014 | 3:30 PM EDT
Ever notice that liberals possess a childlike faith in the magical powers of negotiating? This is perhaps best embodied by Bill Clinton, a man who conveys the distinct impression of believing he can talk his way out of anything.
Liberal radio host Thom Hartmann shares that faith, as exhibited on his radio show last week when he joined the chorus of praise on the left for the Obama administration springing American prisoner of war Bowe Bergdahl for five Taliban held at Guantanamo Bay. (Audio after the jump)
By Jack Coleman | May 26, 2014 | 4:01 PM EDT
Don't you love it when a liberal concedes your point, then claims that your criticism merely proves what he was saying to begin with? O-kay ...
An example of this occurred on Thom Hartmann's radio show last week when he responded to a NewsBusters post that questioned whether he benefited from President Ronald Reagan cutting the capital gains tax in 1981. (Audio after the jump)
By Jack Coleman | May 23, 2014 | 8:39 PM EDT
Dog bites man -- conservative criticizes National Public Radio for liberal bias. Man bites dog -- liberal criticizes National Public Radio for insufficient liberalism.
The liberal in question is radio host Thom Hartmann, who's likely to become a more prominent voice in liberal radio thanks to Ed Schultz's abrupt announcement this week that he's ending his decade-long radio show for a shorter webcast. (Video after the jump)
By Jack Coleman | May 21, 2014 | 8:48 PM EDT
Sure looks like it, based on what the liberal radio host recently told his listeners.
Anyone listening to Thom Hartmann won't have to wait long for him to blame the malevolent political monster known as Ronald Wilson Reagan for nearly every pathology to befoul America in the last three decades -- which makes it all the more odd that Hartmann appears to have benefited considerably from Reagan's tax policies. (Audio after the jump)
By Jack Coleman | May 16, 2014 | 7:29 PM EDT
Thom Hartmann is a rarity among liberal radio hosts. Not only does he frequently invite conservative guests on his show, and engage them in debate that is often contentious but rarely unpleasant, he did something this week that many liberals are ideologically incapable of doing.
Hartmann was speaking with fellow radio talker and author Michael Smerconish on Wednesday about changes in the radio industry over recent years when he credited Rush Limbaugh with a valid insight about the state of liberal radio. (Audio after the jump)