Videos and transcripts below the fold.
Before we go, I want to talk one last time about something called the Zadroga bill, who was an NYPD detective who died in 2006 from respiratory illness thought to be caused by the dust he inhaled while working at Ground Zero after 2001. This bill would provide $7 billion in medical and financial benefits for Ground Zero workers who get sick, and they're going to pay for it by closing a corporate tax loophole. It's a win-win-win-win, just fucking do it!! The House passed it. The House of Representatives passed it, and it would pass in the Senate, if it came to an up-or-down vote. They have more than the 50 votes they need. But the Senate Republicans have filibustered it, won't allow the bill to come up for a vote. Luckily, yesterday there was some good news from the Senate, the logjam broke.
DIANE SAWYER (12/15/2010): Today the Senate passed that bill to extend tax cuts to all Americans, including the wealthiest, by an overwhelming 81-19 vote.
Yes! That is astoundingly good news for firefighters that make over $200,000 a year.
Of course, all non-millionaire firefighters are still shit out of luck. Apparently, the party that turned 9/11 into a catchphrase are now moving suspiciously into a convenient pre-9/11 mentality when it comes to this bill.
What's more, none of the three broadcast networks have mentioned any of this on their evening broadcasts for two and a half months. Although to be fair, it's not every day that Beatles songs come to iTunes. Music? For sale on the Internet? This is gonna be huge!
This is an outrageous abdication of our responsibility to those who were most heroic on 9/11. You know what, I hate to say this. This is a job for Fox News, the nation's leading source of 9/11-based outrage. They always fight to make sure that 9/11 is appropriately observed.
MEGYN KELLY (9/7/2010): Will the President take any political criticism for not coming to Ground Zero on this 9/11?
FOX NEWS MALE (2/25/2009): Fox News Channel has looked at an advance copy of her [DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano] speech, and has noticed not once will she use the words terrorism or 9/11.
BRIAN KILMEADE (9/10/2010): Those dots, that's where remains were found, and where does the arrow go? Right to where the mosque would be.
ERIC BOLLING (8/19/2010): When I watched the second plane fly into the building, I was there, I had a safety deposit box in a Chase bank underneath ... You can still see the outline of the dollars ... You want to know why I have passion for this thing? This is why.
Yeah, we lost a lot of good cash that day. So you can imagine how outraged Fox must be to find out that the health care for those who risked their lives to recover that charred money is being held up by a Republican filibuster. And I know they have access to 9/11 first responders.
FOX NEWS FEMALE (11/13/2010): Joining me now, a leading opponent of the mosque and a former New York City firefighter and 9/11 responder, Tim Brown.
STEVE DOOCY (8/4/2010): Here is one of the 9/11 first responders reacting to the decision by the landmark commission.
BRIAN KILMEADE (9/13/2010): A 9/11 responder's taking matters into his own hands by suing the developers for $350 million.
Yet somehow they've been unable to find even one 9/11 first responder to speak about the Zadroga bill. In fact, only Fox's Peter Johnson, Jr., seemed perturbed by it at all.
And even though he railed against the filibuster, he never mentioned that it was the Republicans holding up the bill! Oh, what party was it? Maybe it was the Bull Moose Party, or the Greens, or the Whigs, or... grrrr!!!
Yet, there was one network that gave the 9/11 responders story the full 22 minutes of intense coverage that it deserved. But that network, unfortunately, was Al-Jazeera!
Our networks were scooped with a sympathetic Zadroga bill story by the same network that Osama bin Laden sends his mix tapes to! This is insane! I would like to see one of these Senators have the balls to explain why somehow getting a tax cut extension for wealthy Americans is more important than suffering Ground Zero workers.
SEN. JOHN THUNE, R-SD (12/15/2010): We need to get the issue addressed for the firefighters and the 9/11 victims, and we will. ... The difference I think with the tax bill is there is a deadline, Jan. 1, we have to get this done, taxes go up on Jan. 1.
Yes. There are only two sure things in life, death and taxes. Apparently the only one this cat cares about is taxes. When we come back, we'll speak with some 9/11 first responders, and they'll respond to what we've just seen.
And then came one of the most powerful segments I've seen on television all year. I hope I got their names spelled correctly when Jon first introduced them; when they were talking, no names ever appeared at the bottom of the screen to identify them. This was very hard to transcribe, with all the cross-talk going on at times.
To talk a little bit about some of the emotions going on now in the Senate, we're joined by four men who can perhaps best sympathize with what the Senate is going through. Please welcome Kenny Speck from the FDNY, Chris Bowman, NYPD, Ken George, DOT, and John Devlin, operating engineer, heavy equipment. All 9/11 first responders. Gentlemen, you're all 9/11 first responders, you were down there from the moment of the attacks, for the most part. Now you see the Senate is filibustering the bill. What's going through your mind as you're watching this process go down?
SPECK: Well, we're disgusted. We're disappointed. And unfortunately, we're hurt. We are proud protectors of the Constitution, for the people, by the people. And we wanna know where it was lost.
DEVLIN: We're patriots to this country, just like everybody here. We went down there for the love of this country, and for the love of our city. We didn't turn our back on anybody. For us to be here now, 9 years later, still fighting just for our health, for our compensation...
STEWART: You are suffering from Stage 4 throat cancer?
DEVLIN: I have Stage 4 inoperable throat cancer on both lymph nodes.
STEWART: And you are suffering from...?
GEORGE: I got heart disease and lung disease from being down there.
BOWMAN: Heart, lung, back, brain issues.
SPECK: Cancer.
STEWART: And these are all from being down there? You know, none of the Republican Senators went on the floor of the Senate to talk about why they were going to filibuster the bill, but Senator Mitch McConnell, a couple days ago, did actually get on the floor of the Senate, and made, I thought, a really emotional speech, and I wanted you guys to listen to it and maybe get your reactions to it.
SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL, R-KY (12/14/2010): Judd grew up in Nashua, in southern New Hampshire ... he found time to dress up as the school's mascot for a time ... in 1992, Judd decided to run for the Senate ... he's been instrumental (cries) ... When he walks out of this chamber for the last time, he'll leave an enormous void behind.
STEWART: That's Senator Mitch McConnell, on the floor of the Senate, he's talking about Senator Judd Gregg, who's retiring from the Senate.
DEVLIN: Yeah, he's shedding a tear on his lunch buddy that he hangs out with every day. Where is his human feeling for not only the four of us, we represent the brothers and sisters that were down there. This isn't a "me me" to any of us. This is about the brothers and sisters that can't speak like we can. It's sad to see someone like him...
STEWART: To be fair, they have worked together for like 6 years.
GEORGE: He's crying because the other guy pays the tab. That's what he's crying for.
STEWART: Really, that's the thing at the lunch, that the guy pays the tab.
DEVLIN: Yeah, he's going to have to pay his own lunch bill now.
SPECK: Watching that, there's only one thing I can say. I found time to dress as a New York City fireman on September 11th. Isn't that incredible?
STEWART: That is incredible, you were able to do that. You were able to pull that off. Stunning.
SPECK: You know, I feel bad for Mitch McConnell. He said something very important, that he's gonna watch his friend walk out of the Senate chamber, and that's unfortunately more than a New York City firefighter can say about 343 of his brothers who can't walk anymore.
BOWMAN: Has he been to one 9/11 funeral and had that reaction?
STEWART: Yeah, I know, it's the strangest thing. Now, let's address... I do think there's misperceptions out there, that you guys somehow, because you're part of unions, you're already covered for all this stuff. But explain... the way I've heard it is you guys go down to 9/11, you're there basically from the day of the attack straight through, digging people out, I mean, going through horrific things that many of us cannot...
DEVLIN: Almost 10 months, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, we were down there, breathing in all that toxic... like a thousand toxicities down there.
STEWART: So you're going through all this, when you get sick, they consider it workman's comp. You can't work anymore, so your health insurance suddenly is cut. And the workman's comp people fight you...
BOWMAN: It's work-related.
STEWART: ... because they say, well, how can we decide that your cancers are work-related?
DEVLIN: I can only speak for myself, I died twice last year fighting this cancer. While I'm fighting for the cancer, I was fighting for the compensation that would cover my bills! It's ridiculous!
STEWART: Now how come NYPD doesn't, you know, does NYPD cover all your stuff now, or how does that work?
BOWMAN: No, they're not. They put me out on 3/4. I got a phone call one day, and it comes to terms they told my wife they were putting me out because I was costing NYPD too much. At that point I was "still on the job" but sick.
STEWART: So this is also about though, it's become an enormous, not just a health burden, but a financial burden.
DEVLIN: Exactly.
GEORGE: They don't care.
BOWMAN: We have coverage, but co-pays run me a couple hundred dollars a month. If I get really sick, I've had heart problems, he's had heart problems...
STEWART: And you've had a buddy die, one of the guys that's fighting with you guys died just this week, or last week.
SPECK: Face cancer. I mean, you know, he had a prosthetic nose. His nose fell off his face.
STEWART: And he died of just this cancer.
SPECK: You can't tell a reasonable person that when your nose falls off your face, that you have not died from something absolutely horrific that people are just not familiar with.
BOWMAN: Now part of the problem is they say, OK, you've got cancer, OK, why is it due to 9/11? Other people get cancer. But the vast majority of us are having heart problems, having cancer...
STEWART: And throat and respiratory...
GEORGE: At young ages, and you get penalized for getting sick.
STEWART: A lot of the things they're saying is, hey man, it's Christmas, and we can't... I want you to listen to this, they're saying that they don't have time to get to this. This is Jon Kyl talking about... Harry Reid wants them to stay and work that week between Christmas and New Year's. Listen to this.
SEN. JON KYL, R-AZ (12/15/2010): It is impossible to all of the things the Majority Leader laid out, without, frankly, without disrespecting the institution, and without disrespecting one of the two holiest of holidays for Christians, and the families of all of the Senate, not just the Senators themselves, but all of the staff.
STEWART: So basically what he's saying is, I can't stay here and work between Christmas and New Year's, that would be disrespecting Christians and his family. Do you have any thoughts on that?
SPECK: It just goes to show the disconnect between those we elect to represent us, and those that get out there and do the work. Because I'm here to say that you won't find a single New York City firefighter who considers it a sign of disrespect to work in a New York City firehouse on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
(wild applause)
BOWMAN: How would these Senators feel if the fire department and the police department didn't show up at that time?
DEVLIN: I represent the union tradesmen in this city, and it was an honor to work through Christmas on that 9/11, to give that closure to those people that were on the other side of that gate every morning, showing us the pictures of their loved ones. I don't think there's anything better than to go out there and help other people.
GEORGE: And what would the families think of us if we didn't do our job for them?
STEWART: On 9/11 when you heard that the towers got hit, and you were with your colleagues in the NYPD and the fire department, when you guys voted, obviously you needed a supermajority to vote to go down there, right?
BOWMAN: Of course.
STEWART: Yeah, you need a supermajority.
BOWMAN: We barely made it by one vote.
STEWART: Were you able to... did you have to promise things to the other firefighters or the other policemen, like just vote with us on this to go down to the towers to save people, and we'll have chili on Friday night?
BOWMAN: We're just fortunate nobody retired that day, otherwise we would've been crying that they were retiring and leaving.
STEWART: It would've been a very difficult day for you guys if that had happened. Gentlemen, I cannot thank you enough, all I can do is, I feel like apologizing to all of you, and I'm not even sure why. It's an absolute travesty, I appreciate your service, and I'm really hoping that this is a good Christmas for you guys, 'cause you certainly deserve it more than anybody.
Just watch it. You owe it to yourself to see this. And then make sure this sucker goes viral. Share this with your friends and family. Post it on Facebook. Tweet about it. DON'T LET THE MEDIA IGNORE THIS ANYMORE.
Now, where's Rachel on this? I've seen Rachel mention it now and then, but it's only a quick mention in a long list of things the GOP's been blocking. The day they blocked it, Keith did name all 42 GOP Senators to his Worst Person in the World list for doing so.