This whole expropriation of the life and legacy of Thomas Paine by the ilk of Glenn Beck, for an ideological cause which runs almost totally 180 degrees counter to what Paine fought for, is a libelous slander to history.

Thom Hartmann and Harvey J. Kaye, author of the excellent book “Thomas Paine and The Promise of America” discuss this whole phenomenon and ways to counteract it.

UnCommon Sense TV - “Paul Rieckhoff, IAVA: ‘Chasing Ghosts’ “ Iraq war veteran and the founder & executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America talks about his book “Chasing Ghosts”, which details his experiences in Iraq. Rieckhoff also elaborates on the needs and concerns of our military veterans and how they are being overlooked. This includes both how our nation apportions social and economic support for them, as well as how current political debate on Iraq policy is sorely missing the inclusion of more voices of experience from those who have actually served on the ground there.
Joining the discussion is Paul Hackett, fellow Iraq war veteran and former candidate for U.S. Congress, who weighs in with his own observations and commentary regarding the politics of the Iraq war.

This is a must-read/see for every American. The Banksters continue their plundering in full daylight. How come William Black isn’t on every talk show in the country? Oh, yeah, that’s right. If Obama meant half the things he says, Black would be Secretary of the Treasury, not foxes from Goldman Sachs lording over the henhouse of the public treasury like people like Timothy Geithner.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has topped 10,000 for the first time in a year, as JPMorgan Chase reported massive profits in the third quarter. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that major US banks and securities firms are on pace to pay their employees about $140 billion this year˜a record high. But on Main Street, foreclosures are also at record levels, and the official unemployment rate is expected to top ten percent. We speak to former bank regulator William Black, author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One.

One of the many examples of Bill Black getting to the point…

Well, I mean, Summers, for example—you talked about Geithner’s aides and how much money they had made, and, of course, it’s absurdly large, and they’re making it typically for not doing much of anything. But they’re taking their cue from Summers, who got $5 million, roughly, for working one day a week in areas he had no expertise. So, you know, once you leave the federal service, then these interests that you were very helpful to find a way to make you spectacularly rich, and they know that that’s what’s coming in their future. That’s part of the problem.

But the bigger part of the problem, in many ways, is that they have such an ideology about the market and its ability to deal with all problems that has no basis in reality, has been exposed in this crisis as completely fictional, and yet they can’t give it up. I mean, think of yourself as one of these professors who’s been trained in the Milton Friedmanish views, and you’re in your fifties, and you’ve been saying—you know, everything you’ve said in your career is wrong. Everything you’ve learned in your career is wrong. All of your areas of expertise are wrong. Are you going to admit that? “Hi, I’ve been misleading you, and I’m sorry I caused this disaster. And by the way, I have no meaningful skills or experience.”

Read The Transcript/Watch The Video from this insightful interview

And for those of you who missed it the first time around, here is another excellent interview with Black by Bill Moyers.

A couple of talented film students from the Wright State University film program attended the Fox “News”-promoted self-proclaimed “Tea Party” event in Washington D.C. Here is some of their documentation of it. A superb, funny, even sad short piece.

As an accompanying video, author and radio commentator Thom Hartmann gives some needed perspective on just What Was The Tea Party All About?

UnCommon Sense TV - “America: A Christian Nation?” What were the spiritual perspectives and endeavors of the American Revolutionaries? What were their inspirations for founding the nation in the first place and what were their intentions towards the role of religion in our political society? Who was a bigger influence on these prominent Americans? John the Baptist or John Locke? St. Peter or Adam Smith? Leviticus or Voltaire? These types of questions are looked at and analyzed through such means as reviewing some of the major early documents of the Founders, as well as the architecture, grave sites, money and national regalia and iconography adopted by as national symbols by America’s creators.

The Yes Men Fix The World, a new documentary film by these political a**kickers extraordinaire.

Visit the official website of The Yes Men

Here in one of their greatest moves, The Yes Men hoax the BBC, claiming justice for India and the victims of Bhopal.

UnCommon Sense TV - “Propaganda: Yesterday and Today” A look at the use of propaganda by political regimes and the ongoing recycling of similar rationales used in justifying their actions, particularly those employed to initiate plans of war and conquest. Historical comparisons are highlighted through the featuring of the 1940 Nazi propaganda film “Campaign In Poland”, which presented to the world the argument for the German invasion of Poland as a preventive strike in self-defense against “Polish aggression.” Discussion is focused on employing techniques of effective propaganda through the use of the “Big Lie” and how those techniques continue to be applied successfully today. Focus is also given to the principles for which America fought for in the Second World War, and the argument for how those are being subverted today through actions of the U.S. government as defined by the so-called “Bush Doctrine.”

UnCommon Sense TV - “Truth, Justice and Reconciliation, Pt.2″ Continuation of the forum on human rights and political accountability with Judge Guzman, Peter Kornbluh and others, including questions and dialogue with the public in attendance at the University of Dayton. Other discussants include Mark Ensalaco, Director of Human Rights studies at the University of Dayton, and author of “Chile Under Pinochet: Recovering The Truth”, Bert Lockwood, of the University of Cincinnati Law School and publisher of “Human Rights Quaterly”, and Ted Orlin of Utica College of Syracuse and Director of the International Human Rights Education Consortium.

UnCommon Sense TV - “Truth, Justice and Reconciliation” Exclusive coverage of a forum on human rights and political accountability held in the spring of 2005 at the University of Dayton, featuring Oscar Romero Award recipient Judge Juan Guzman Tapia. He is one of the most important figures involved in bringing former Chilean military dictator Augusto Pinochet to justice for his role in the years of murder and repression that took place in Chile during his reign of power in the 70’s and 80’s. Featured along with Guzman are Peter Kornbluh, senior analyst with the National Security Archives and author of “The Pinochet File”, and Marjorie Agosin, Professor of Spanish at Wellesley College and author of “The Absence of Shadows”.