The diary below was originally posted in my blog, the Intrepid Liberal Journal on Saturday, September 23rd when the interview took place.

Thom Hartmann is a dynamic voice for the aggrieved middle class. After one commercial break on a recent broadcast, the national radio host proudly declared,

"Welcome back to the Thom Hartman show where our talking points come from Jefferson and Madison, not some right wing think tank."

He then asks, "Will the next election be hacked?" as he promotes Bobby Kennedy, Jr.'s article in Rolling Stone magazine that examines fraudulent vote counting to the benefit of Republican candidates.

Talkers Magazine noted,

"There's a buzz growing around nationally syndicated talk show host Thom Hartmann, whose nationally syndicated daily program is drawing high marks by those who are on the lookout for talk radio's `Great Liberal Hope.'"

John Edwards and Bernie Sanders are about the only politicians discussing it, but what could be the hottest issue in this election is the death of the middle class caused by the "flat-earthers."  So-called "conservatives" and "flat world" globalists have bankrupted our nation's middle class for their own bag of silver, and in the process are selling off America. Through a combination of the "Fast Track" authority pushed for by Reagan and GHW Bush, sweetheart trade deals involving "most favored nation status" for dictatorships like China, and Clinton pushing us into NAFTA and the WTO (via GATT), we've abandoned the principles of tariff-based trade that built American industry and kept us strong for over 200 years.

There's a battle waging today in America that will decide the future of the Middle Class.

On one side are those like Thomas Jefferson who believe that a free people can govern themselves and have the right to organize their government to create a strong middle class - which will, in turn, keep the government democratic. On the other side are those like Thomas Hobbes who believe that only a small elite can and should govern and that the people should be willing to pay the price of poverty in exchange for security.

Major News, as of a few minutes ago: Success in the Senate!

The U.S. Senate on Thursday killed a bill backed by President George W. Bush that would have permanently repealed estate taxes. On a vote of 57-41, the Senate blocked consideration of a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that would wipe out what Republicans call the "death tax." Republican backers had acknowledged they were short of votes for full repeal, but they had hoped to offer an alternative that would have reduced the tax rate and exempted all but the wealthiest estates from the tax.

Frist had thought he was two votes short. So much for his judgment. Despite this success, contact your Senators and congratulate them, encourage them to continue to fight for middle-class Americans, and vote for the best interests of the country. Today's the day Bill Frist will try to ram the vote through on repealing the Estate Tax--the so-called "Paris Hilton" tax.

While this tax benefits only the top 1% of all Americans, and the 14 families (including the Wal-Mart heirs, the Mars heirs, and others) pushing this have lobbyied long and hard for the repeal, the netroots have an important part to play here.

If you haven't already contacted your Senator, DO SO TODAY!!!

Surely Frist is concerned only about his own financial interests here, but he's also counting on the fact that we'll all be distracted by the Al-Zarqawi news and other items.

Begin by contacting two important "wobbly" Democrats:  Maria Cantwell and Mark Pryor.

Background below the fold.