It’s what I try to do on my show every day. But in real life, do we truly take action?

I understand, life gets in the way.  Working -sometimes 2 or 3 jobs- to get enough money to feed our kids and pay the rent – or mortgage, if we haven’t yet lost our homes.  Taking care of the kids, the car, the house, the dogs… then we’re supposed to get active too?

Of course, there’s the money issue.  There are always great actions going on in Washington DC that we’d love to attend… if it didn’t cost money that we don’t have to get there.

I get the excuses. I make them myself. But there are so many other ways to get involved. Today, I’ll talk to a few people who walk the talk.  They may just give you a few ideas.

Did you even know that the United Nations just wrapped up the COP16- The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Cancun, Mexico?  Probably not, as climate change doesn’t get much play in the US mainstream media… unless the story is about Rush Limbaugh claiming that there is no climate change cuz it’s cold in Florida. (Huh?)

My first guest this morning is Maggie Zhou, an organizer of Climate SOS, a US national network of environmental, social justice and other grassroots organizations fighting for strong climate legislation, and opposing false solutions and market fundamentalism.  In case you’re thinking that Maggie is just the type of liberal activist that Limbaugh rails on, know that she comes with serious credentials to be in this fight.

Maggie Zhou received her PhD in genetics/molecular biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She also worked as a computational biologist, a.k.a. bioinformaticist to study genes, proteins and molecular pathways. More recently her concern about the grave threats from global warming and environmental degradation has turned her into a full time, volunteer climate activist and amateur climate scientist.

We’ll find out what went on in Cancun, and why Maggie was kicked out!

Guest number two is Brett Solomon, former executive director and now board member of GetUp!, an Australian action group.  Solomon is in Washington DC to join in an action tomorrow along with Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, former CIA operative Ray McGovern,and  president of Veterans for Peace Mike Ferner, in calling for President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder to resist the tide of hateful rhetoric and to ensure that Assange’s civil rights are protected.

GetUp! is leading a campaign that will run full-page ads in the The New York Times and The Washington Times on Thursday. Over 90,000 Australians have signed onto a petition asking for fairness from the US government in its treatment of the WikiLeaks founder.

Guest number three is someone you’ll definitely want to hear!  Darcy Burner is the executive director of Progressive Congress and the Progressive Congress Action Fund. As such, she is responsible for strategy and management of the organizations.  She’s also a board member of Netroots Nation, and will be speaking with us this morning from San Francisco, where she’s attending a board meeting.

Today is the day to get involved… however you can, for what ever cause you find the most important.

A few other items before I call it a day… Sad news that Lt. Dan Choi has been hospitalized for what he calls a “breakdown.”  Dan’s statement and caring commentary here, courtesy of Pam’s House Blend.

Glenn Greenwald writes of “The inhumane conditions of Bradley Manning’s confinement” on Salon.com today. This guy has not even been tried yet. What ever happened to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty, and since when did we treat prisoners like this? (You don’t have to answer that second one…)

And finally, the idiot who will become my Congressman on January 5, Allen West, says we should censor the media so wikileaks documents can’t be published!

Now he’s backtracking, saying that he said “censure,” not “censor!”  Listen for yourself.

I’ll be off tomorrow… and Monday I begin guest hosting the Randi Rhodes Show for the last two weeks of the year.  We’ll look back on the year 2010 and forward to 2011 with leaders from different fields, discussing what went on this year, and what we can look forward to – or fight against – in 2011.

Some of the guests already scheduled are Glenn Greenwald on justice, Media Matters newest employee Angelo Carusone (aka @StopBeck) on their campaign to Drop Fox, The Nation’s John Nichols on progressive progress, Congressman and co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus Raul Grijalva, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka (what ever happened to the Employee Free Choice Act?), Savetheinternet.com’s Tim Karr on Net Neutrality…. and lots more.

Plus my year in review with audio clips (I’ve got to find a better name for that! – any suggestions?

I’ll be doing my regular show too… starting Tuesday morning of next week… Talk to you then, Radio or Not!