People all over the world are finally awakening from their slumber. They’re saying no more to tyrannical rule, oppression, and inequality.

Beginning with a fed-up produce vendor in Tunisia who set himself on fire, people are standing up for their rights as part of the human race.  From Tunisia to Egypt, and on to Libya, Bahrain, Iran, Yemen, Iraq… people are empowered, and saying enough is enough.

But the protests have been brewing throughout the European Union for a while now. We’ve watched the masses take to the streets in national strikes in France. And those who’ve been paying attention have seen the people fighting back in Great Britain too.

Last Thursday, I told you about the UK Uncut movement.  What began as a small group of friends discussing the corporate tax dodgers, and their complicity in the nation’s financial woes turned into a country-wide ongoing protest against the companies who won’t pay their fair share.

The movement was brought to light here in the US by journalist Johann Hari, who wrote “How to build a progressive tea party“  and the follow-up, ” A Ten-Step guide to Launching US Uncut” for The Nation. Johann will be my first guest this morning, right at the start of the show, to tell us about the impact UK Uncut has had, and where we might be headed over here.

A young man in Mississippi, Carl Gibson, read those articles and decided to step up and -with the help of the organizers in the UK – launch US Uncut!  In one short week, US Uncut already has 30 actions scheduled around the country for Saturday 2/26 – the first official US Uncut Day of Action, and quite a few more set up for other days.

I even scheduled one in Boca Raton for the afternoon of the 26th (immediately following David Swanson’s event for his book “War is a Lie” (he’ll join me Thursday morning to talk about it).

Of course, democracy is struggling to stay alive here at home… most visibly in Wisconsin, where tens of thousands have taken to the streets in Madison to protest the attempt by the new dictator governor to bust the public employees unions.

It’s very disheartening to scan the television dial and not see any coverage anywhere.  I was able to watch the revolution unfold in Egypt, almost in real-time thanks to Al Jazeera, Free Speech TV and LinkTV, but can’t get similar coverage of these protests happening here in the USA!

Thankfully, we have some intrepid journalists on the ground covering what’s happening in Madison. Mike Elk is a third-generation union organizer and labor journalist based in Washington, D.C. He writes for Harper’s Magazine, the American Prospect, the Huffington Post and Campaign for America’s Future and has appeared as a commentator on CNN, Fox News, and NPR, and he’ll bring us up to date on the latest from ground zero of the labor movement in the US this morning.

After a news update from TRNS, we’ll check in with The Political Carnival‘s Gotta Laff to talk about some of the stories you might otherwise have missed.  Here’s some of what Laffy brings to us today:

Tea Party plan to impersonate union protesters: “Even if it becomes known that we are plants the quotes & pictures will linger as defacto truth.”

Wisconsin Troopers Association regrets endorsing Walker for governor (I believe it is just the one guy who is speaking for himself, not Assoc, per a reader)

“Even if you’ve never been a member of a Union, YOU BENEFIT everyday from what Unions have done.”

TPC reader: “My conversation today with a tea party member” about Wisconsin protesters

PhotOh! Sarah Palin accepted money from Alaska labor unions

Amateur Hour: Sarah Palin preps for speeches by asking Bristol to Google info for her

VIDEO- POE: Justice Thomas failed to disclose that Citizens United spent more than $100,000 on ads, supported his nomination
Democrat Announces Bill To End Supreme Court Immunity To Judicial Ethics Law

Do something

And Laffy’s readers have contributed to a new “Blunt” webisode, this one entitled “Union(s) Busting out All Over”