Last Thursday the Senate voted down a bill that would have provided health care for the 9/11 first responders, many of whom are suffering debilitating illnesses as a result of their heroic efforts following the worst act of terrorism in our nation’s history.

The James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010 failed to pass because every Republican senator voted against it. By contrast, every Democratic senator voted for it (with the exception of Majority Leader Harry Reid who changed his vote to “no” so that under senate rules he could bring it up for another vote).

As if it weren’t bad enough that the GOP once again put politics before people, the media exacerbated the insult by virtually ignoring the story altogether. There seemed to be a firewall erected across the mediasphere to insure that Americans didn’t learn that a pack of heartless Republican hypocrites had voted to let America’s heroes suffer and die.

However, there was at least one channel on your TV dial where you could have actually been informed about this significant issue. Guess which one:

Jon Stewart has repeatedly insisted that he is only a comedian on a fake news show. But his work belies his modesty, just as it indicts the purveyors of “real” news as unprofessional hacks with a vested interest in maintaining a corrupt status quo. Stewart once again demonstrates why many regard him as more trustworthy than the conventional press, and he does it with passion, honesty and, of course, humor.