That’s the only way I can rationalize the way the 21st century Republican party operates.  It’s leaders don’t give a damn about anyone who can’t contribute big bucks to their continued political ascension or help fatten the bank accounts of their cronies.

With the help of professional liars like Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and everyone at Faux News, they’ve snookered the lemmings into taking to the streets to fight against their own best interests.

I can’t find who said it originally, but the thought “never underestimate the stupidity of the American people” rings truer today than ever before…

Mitch McConnell drew another line in the sand yesterday, and got the whole Republican delegation in the Senate to agree that they’d block any bills from getting a vote until the Bush tax cuts are continued for the wealthiest of Americans. In other words, they’ll hold their breath until they turn blue.  What do you want to bet they win this one?

Again, I go back to the Faux News minions and the right wing rulers of the airwaves who control the messaging in this country.  The reason that the fight over net neutrality isn’t front and center is because the corporations that control the media doesn’t want it to be! Comcast certainly doesn’t want you to realize that if real regulation is not put in place to guarantee that the internet remains a place where all content is treated equally, the net will soon look a lot like the corporate controlled mainstream media does today.

This morning, I invited Tim Karr, campaign director of FreePress.net and SaveTheInternet.com back on the show to give us the latest on this fight for a free and open internet.  Unfortunately, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski seems to have been replaced by a pod person.  According to Josh Silver, president of FreePress.net,

This morning, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski announced that he will finally seek a vote on President Obama’s top tech issue, “Net Neutrality.” There’s just one problem: According to the New York Times, it’s not even close to the real Net Neutrality that President Obama promised the American people.

The Times report, based on an advance copy of a speech the chairman plans to give today, indicates that the proposed rule is riddled with loopholes and falls far short of what’s necessary to prevent phone and cable companies from turning the Internet into something that looks like cable TV, where they decide what moves fast, what moves slow, and whether they can price gouge you or not.

The proposal is a shiny jewel for companies like AT&T and Comcast that have met with the Chairman more than anyone else during the past month, and whose affection he seems to crave more than making good on President Obama’s promise.

Now that the FCC’s proposed rulemaking has been officially announced, it will be deliberated and modified for the next three weeks, leading to a final vote on Dec. 21.

You can take action now to help protect the last bastion of free speech in this world.  I know that our activism time is limited, what with such pressing issues as the repeal of DADT, extending unemployment benefits to the neediest of our neighbors, and getting the economy back on track by NOT extending the Bush tax cuts to the richest among us who don’t need the money, and more.  But the future of internet content like this show and blog are at stake!

Also at stake, independent investigative journalism from sites like Truthout.org, which yesterday published Jason Leopold and Jeffrey Kaye’s explosive story, “Controversial Drug Given to All Guantanamo Detainees Akin to ‘Pharmalogic Waterboarding’“.

A few other stories I touched on today that are worth your browsing time…

David Corn reports at Mother Jones that “Obama and GOPers Worked Together to Kill Bush Torture Probe.”

In its first months in office, the Obama administration sought to protect Bush administration officials facing criminal investigation overseas for their involvement in establishing policies the that governed interrogations of detained terrorist suspects. A “confidential” April 17, 2009, cable sent from the US embassy in Madrid to the State Department—one of the 251,287 cables obtained by WikiLeaks—details how the Obama administration, working with Republicans, leaned on Spain to derail this potential prosecution.

Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Daily News had asked candidate Obama, explicity, about such a possibility, and wrote about it in “The day that Barack Obama lied to me!

In my ongoing salute to the wonderful Senator Bernie Sanders, we must note that his leadership on the fight against the US Federal Reserve resulted in yesterday’s disclosure by the central bank of more details than ever on its actions during the financial crisis, with more transparency to come!

Thank goodness there are people like John Fugelsang who help us laugh at times when things are so dire. As he does most Thursday mornings, John joined in today to help lighten the mood.

Take a look over to the left and see that Radio or Not is now a part of the Banter Media Group… If you haven’t yet done so, check out the links to some of the best progressive voice on the net!