Summary: What the corporate media didn't talk about this week... This week on Talking Left, we covered several HUGE stories that the corporate media ignored this week as they obsessed about Chris Christie. First off, we talked about the new, bipartisan proposal to bring back the pre-clearance section of the Voting Rights Act. While it's a shame that this bill has a carve-out allowing discriminatory voter ID laws, there's a big change to Section 3 of the VRA that could be a major victory for Progressives. You can read all about it in Ian Millhiser's great article: "Here's The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly About The Bipartisan Bill To Restore The Voting Rights Act." After that we spoke with Desi Doyen of The Green News Report about the West Virginia chemical spill and the Environmental Chapter of the Trans Pacific Partnership. Believe it or not, these two subjects are closely related, and the massive spill is a preview of what life could be like if the TPP is approved. Congress already proposed a bill to fast-track the TPP, so we need to act quickly and loudly, and demand that our lawmakers reject this trade deal! Next, Shane-O gave us a rundown of some of the major court cases this week - from the Supreme Court hearing arguments on the National Labor Relations Board and Massachusetts' abortion clinic buffer zones, to Oklahoma's same-sex marriage ban being stuck down as unconstitutional. These stories are all huge, yet they barely got coverage in the major media. And, they all show why presidential appointments - like federal judges and Supreme Court justices - are so important. In other legal news, this week the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the FCC's net neutrality rules, and dealt a major blow to internet freedom as we know it. Jen Yeh of FreePress.net joined us to explain what net neutrality is, why it's so important, and what we can do to push the Federal Communications Commission to restore internet freedom. Net neutrality isn't just about who can pay the most to prioritize their internet content, it's about free speech and the free exchange of ideas. Shows like ours could become nearly impossible to find because we can't compete with the corporate "news" outlets. To help in this fight, please sign the petition on FreePress.net, and tell the FCC to restore net neutrality. After that we devoted a full hour to talking about President Obama's speech on NSA surveillance. And, we spoke with Justin Duckham, the Chief Washington Correspondent for Talk Radio News Service about Washington's reaction. During the speech, he did his best to make Americans feel better about government spying, but that's not what his words were really about. A detailed review of the actual proposals that the President offered shows that these so-called reforms are actually about three things: making people believe that the NSA gives a damn about our privacy, preventing the next Edward Snowden from sharing government secrets, and mooting the legal challenges to government spying. At no point did the President really address our privacy concerns in his speech, and none of his directives are going to restore our Fourth Amendment rights. Thanks to Rocky Mountain Mike for writing and producing our incredible theme music! Please check out his amazing Sound Cloud! Thanks to We Act Radio - 1480AM WPWC, Radio or Not, and SoFlo Radio- for helping to ensure all listeners have corporate-free, independent radio! And, of course, thanks to you, our listeners, friends, and family - for supporting us through all of our crazy shows, dreams, and political addictions!! You can also follow all of the news about upcoming topics and guests on our Facebook page and on Twitter @TalkingLeft. And you can subscribe to Talking Left free on iTunes! As always, thanks for listening!
