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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Trump's takeover of Venezuela is about much more than oil, experts say; Trump White House will store Venezuela's oil revenue outside the U.S. Treasury; Extreme snow in Alaska sinks boats, collapses roofs as FEMA plans to lay off disaster recovery staff; PLUS: One year after two catastrophic, deadly fires, Los Angeles builds a slow road to recovery... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Trump Pulls Out of Global Climate Agreement; What a Trump Invasion Could Mean for Greenland’s Minerals and Environment; Oil Industry Will Eye Venezuela Warily, Experts Say; Hundreds Of Groups Urge Congress Not To Weaken Chemical Safety Law; Congress’ Latest Spending Package Spares Environment, Energy Agencies ... PLUS: In Ecuador’s Battle of Toad vs. Road, Toad Wins ... and much, MUCH more! ...

Today's BradCast was not the show I had hoped to do today. But, after a weekend of gut-wrenching violence around the globe and back here at home, including here in Los Angeles, I'm not sure what other show we could have done. [Audio link to full show follows this summary.]

Please forgive the technical snafus at our flagship station, Pacifica Radio's KPFK here in L.A. at the top of the show. (Even if they may provide the most "comedy" were were able to muster for today's program!)

Among the tragic incidents covered today, with callers ringing in at the end...

• Two U.S. service members and an American civilian translator were killed in Syria, supposedly by a member of ISIS, though that remains unclear.

• At least two were killed and nine wounded during a gun massacre at Brown University in Rhode Island. The shooter, despite being falsely identified by the FBI on Sunday (that man was later released) remains at large at this hour, three days later. For several of the students at Brown, shamefully, it was not the first school shooting they survived.

• At least 15 were killed and more than 40 wounded in an antisemitic gun massacre by two men, a father and son, during a celebration of the first night of Hanukah at Sydney, Australia's Bondi Beach on Sunday. The identities of the two shooters (one of whom was killed, the other is in the hospital) remain unknown. But a heroic fruit-vendor named Ahmed el Ahmed, managed to tackle and disarm one of the shooters. Following a very rare mass shooting in Australia, political leaders there vowed to enact still tougher gun laws in a nation that already has many strict ones in place.

• And on Sunday night, in heartbreaking news that has rocked Hollywood, the state of California, the nation and likely the world, we learned that iconic actor, director, writer, producer and political activist Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner were murdered at their Brentwood home yesterday afternoon. The couple's youngest son, who had a history of substance abuse, has been taken into custody by law enforcement following what is being described as a gruesome knife attack.

As you may guess, we've got a lot to say about all of the above. Particularly about the horrific death of the legendary Reiner; the horrific comments made about his murder by our psychologically twisted President of the United States; and the important role Reiner, a devoted liberal Democrat, has played over decades in both American and California politics.

Callers ring in...

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It's difficult to fathom. But, we've got hard evidence on today's BradCast that Congress was actually in session today. Both chambers! Doing oversight. Holding votes and stuff! And, when it comes to the Republicans who control those chambers, natch, voting against the best interests of their own constituents. All of that, as Trump continued to lose one battle after another today --- in the courts and even in the state Senate of a very Republican state. [Audio link to full show follows this summary.]

There was also quite a bit of breaking news both right before and during today's hour. Among the stuff we covered...

• Just before airtime, news broke that yet another federal grand jury has, for a second time, rejected an attempt by the Trump Administration's corrupt Dept. of Justice to revenge indict New York Attorney General Letitia James. If you're keeping score at home, that's one indictment tossed out by a federal judge, followed by two attempted indictments rejected by two different grand juries, against the woman who successfully held Donald Trump to account actual fraud to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars in both criminal and civil court last year.

• Also just before airtime, Republican lawmakers in the Indiana state Senate voted to reject a new U.S. House map that would have gerrymandered the Hoosier State's two remaining Democratic seats out of existence, defying Trump's orders, death threats from his supporters, threats to primary those Senators next year, and even his last minute message that he would cut off all federal funding to the state if they didn't obey! To their credit, the state Republicans did not!

• A federal judge on Thursday found that Kilmar Abrego Garcia was being held unlawfully held by ICE in immigration detention and ordered that he be freed immediately. Despite foot-stomping and promises by Trump's DoJ to appeal, Abrego Garcia was released before today's show ended. He is, of course, the Maryland resident, father and Salvadoran national who was wrongfully deported back to El Salvador earlier this year, before being ordered to be brought back to the U.S. by a federal judge. DoJ then indicted him on seemingly trumped-up charges, which he still faces, and ICE unlawfully tossed him into detention. Until today.

• Speaking of immigration, Dept. of Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem embarrassed herself and the Administration under questioning from Democrats in the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee on Thursday. We share some of the sharp questioning for DHS Barbie from Democratic Reps. Dan Goldman (NY) and Seth Magaziner (RI). Also testifying today was FBI Director of Operations Michael Glasheen who similarly embarrassed himself and the Administration when trying (and failing) to explain to the Committee's Democratic Ranking Member, Bennie Thompson (MS), why the non-existent "Antifa" organization is now absurdly regarded by the Bureau to be the nation's top domestic terror threat.

• Over in the U.S. Senate, Republicans blocked a Democratic bill to restore premium subsidies for more than 20 million Americans who receive access to health care via the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare). Monthly premiums are now almost certain to skyrocket for millions at years end, leaving many Americans without health care at all. Four Republicans joined the Democrats' attempt to restore the massive GOP cuts, but it wasn't enough to overcome a Republican filibuster. For their part, a ridiculous Republican bill to give Americans about $1,000 per year in a so-called Health Savings Account to somehow cover health care needs, went down in flames. Several pending discharge petitions in the House may force votes next week on the matter in the lower GOP-controlled chamber.

• "Catastrophic" flooding is forcing evacuations for as many as 100,000 residents in the Pacific Northwest over the next several days, following as much as 18 inches of rain over the past 72 hours in some areas. The Skagit River in Washington, which reaches major flood stage at 32 feet, is now expected to crest at a record 47 feet! All consequences of the climate change disaster which most Republicans pretend is not happening, and pretend to not be caused by the man-made burning of fossil fuels.

• With increasingly dangerous floods, droughts, storms, fires, etc., it is disappointing to learn that Zillow, the nation's largest real estate listing site, is removing a feature, added just last year, that allowed home buyers to learn about a property's exposure to the climate crisis. Making climate risk data more difficult to find and use, does not make its reality disappear, however. "The risk doesn’t go away,” says Matthew Eby, founder of the non-profit financial climate risk modeling site, First Street, which supplied the scientific data previously used for the Zillow feature. "It just moves from a pre-purchase decision into a post-purchase liability." Good luck, home buyers!

• Finally, Desi Doyen joins us for our latest Green News Report, on the U.S. seizure of an oil tanker near Venezuela; the Trump EPA's deletion from their website of humanity's roll in climate change; Exxon Mobil pleads for help from the corrupted SCOTUS Six; And a U.S. court strikes down Trump's Executive Order blocking wind energy projects...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: U.S. seizes sanctioned oil tanker off coast of Venezuela; Trump EPA deletes mentions about humanity's role in causing climate change; Oil giant Exxon asks U.S. Supreme Court to halt state-level climate liability lawsuits; PLUS: U.S. court strikes down Trump's Executive Order blocking wind energy... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Bill McKibben: A low point of human inaction on climate change? Not really; Deadly November Asian storms 'supercharged' by climate change: researchers; Chemicals in food system creating health burden of $2.2 trillion a year: report; Key Senate Democrats oppose permitting bill; Rising electric bills drive DIY solar in the US; What caused a massive die-off of penguins off the South African coast? ... PLUS: Greenpeace scrutinizes environmental record of the company that sued them... and much, MUCH more! ...

Tying up a few loose ends as another insane week wraps up on The BradCast today. But with a few laughs along the way and a song to help us over the finish line. [Audio link to full show follows this summary.]

Among our coverage today...

• Donald Trump's corrupted Dept. of Justice joined a federal lawsuit filed by the California Republican Party to block Prop 50 on Thursday. The statewide measure was approved by voters in a landslide just last week at the ballot box in response to Texas lawmakers' Trump-ordered gerrymander of their state's already gerrymandered U.S. House map. It is likely to result in five "red" seats in CA turned "blue" in next year's mid-year elections. But Trump's corrupt Attorney General, Pam Bondi, with the announcement of DOJ joining the suit, hilariously characterized the voter approved measure as "a brazen power grab that tramples on civil rights and mocks the democratic process." She is very concerned that it will "entrench one-party rule and silence millions of Californians". Specifically, white Californians. When the suit was originally filed last week, the response from Newsom's office: "Good luck, losers."

• The longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history is now over. At least until the end of January. We detail all the loose ends, takeaways as we head into another election year, and how the Congressional Democrats' fight to restore massive Trump/GOP cuts to health care that will spike costs for tens of millions of Americans by January 1 is continuing.

• All of that, as Trump's approval numbers continue to plummet. Now, even among Republicans, as just 33% of Americans approve of Trump's management of the federal government.

• In one election from last week that couldn't be called until today, progressive, self-declared democratic socialist Katie Wilson, a community organizer and first-time candidate, appears to have narrowly won the race to become Seattle's next Mayor. She defeated the Democratic establishment supported incumbent Bruce Harrell while running on an affordability agenda being compared to Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's in NYC. The contest foretells the fascinating battle emerging between the younger, more progressive and older, more centrist wings of the Democratic Party as we move into another critical election year.

• Finally, Desi Doyen is here with our latest Green News Report, with news on the ongoing U.N. climate summit in Brazil (which the U.S. isn't even attending); Trump's newly reported plan to drill for oil off the coast of California (which Gov. Newsom describes as "dead on arrival"), and the 50-year anniversary of the tragic 1975 wreck of the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald, which inspired major, life-saving changes by NOAA (which Trump is decimating) and a haunting hit song by Gordon Lightfoot which also has a fascinating history that we discuss at the end of today's eclectic program...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Trump's Border Patrol agents arrest fire fighting crewmembers battling Washington wildfire; Judge orders closure of federal detention camp in protected Florida Everglades for violating environmental laws; Extreme heat ages the body faster, new study finds; Europe's 2025 wildfire season officially the most destructive ever recorded; PLUS: Trump escalates his War on Wind, even as extreme heat pushes U.S. electricity demand to record highs... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): National Weather Service applicants must explain how they agree with Trump; Labor Day swimmers face fecal contamination along US coastline; Shrinking post-Katrina levees need $1B In upgrades; Climate change is severely impacting corn crops; Trump plans to cancel another offshore wind project... PLUS: Africa diverting from the fossil fuel addiction... and much, MUCH more! ...

Today on The BradCast: The corporate capitulation is worse than you think. And it strikes right at the heart of what this nation's founders saw as perhaps the most important protection for freedom from monarchs and tyrants. Ya know, like the one we ended up with anyway. [Audio link to full show follows this summary.]

First up, a few interesting results reported today from both special elections and primaries held on Tuesday in a number of local jurisdictions across the country, including Detroit, Seattle, Delaware and Rhode Island. In short, the news, as we have seen in elections virtually everywhere so far this year, was largely very good for both Democrats and democracy.

The news was less good out of D.C. last night, where the nation's embarrassing Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. --- a man with no professional background in either science or medicine --- announced the Department is now cutting $500 million in grants for the development of new mRNA vaccines of the type that recently, arguably miraculously, helped the planet emerge from the most deadly pandemic in a century.

Of course, if you either didn't hear about that disturbing news from HHS or had no idea how many people are now likely to die unnecessarily because of it, you may have your own favorite corporate media outlet to blame.

Following Donald Trump's gutting of the 80-year old Voice of America earlier this year, his and the Republican Congress' ending of federal funding for NPR and PBS a week or so ago, and the absurd $16 million dollar settlements of ridiculous defamation lawsuits filed by Trump against the corporate owners of Disney/ABC and Paramount/CBS, the largest media conglomerates in the nation continue to rollover in fear, in hopes of placating and/or currying favor with our press-freedom hating, tyrannical man-baby President.

All of that in strict contradiction with the intentions of the U.S. Constitution's framers, who specifically wrote protections into our founding document for just one industry: a free press. All of that is detailed in a new report published last week by FreePress.net entitled "A More Perfect Media: Saving America’s Fourth Estate from Billionaires, Broligarchy and Trump".

That report is meant as a companion to the nonprofit media watchdog's newly released "Media Capitulation Index", grading the independence --- or, far more often, lack thereof --- of the nation's 35 largest corporate media conglomerates.

We're joined today to discuss both reports and the chilling state of our formerly free press, by TIMOTHY KARR, Senior Director of Strategy and Communications at Free Press. We've got a lot to dig into, including how we might finally dig our way out of this disaster.

His group's Media Capitulation Index, amusingly, scores each of the 35 American media conglomerates examined by Karr's group from 1 to 5 Chickens, rating them from "vulnerable" to "compromising" to "capitulating" to "obeying" to "propaganda," respectively. There is one other possible score, a single Star representing "independent". Remarkably, only two of the 35 media giants examined received a Star. For the rest? A whooole lotta Chickens.

So, what distinguishes what we are seeing now under Trump from what we've seen these companies do in years past in hopes of currying favor with previous Presidents of both major parties? Karr explains that what we are witnessing now is of an entirely "different order" than anything we have ever seen in our nation's nearly 250-year history.

"Wealthy media companies were aligning themselves with an authoritarian-minded leader who had little regard for the First Amendment --- that he swore on the Bible to uphold and defend --- on January 20th," observes Karr. "This is capitulation of a different order. It's not a bending to prevailing political winds. It's a complete caving to an authoritarian, and abdicating their responsibility --- the responsibility protected under the First Amendment --- to act as a check against abuses of power, to speak truth to power. That has pretty dangerous consequences for democracy."

As we are now seeing those dangerous consequences play out, we've got a lot to discuss along that score, along with how might eventually emerge from this long national nightmare with even stronger protections for a free press. Perhaps even, with news organizations that might not find it necessary to bend over in order for their corporate owners to receive government approval in completely different industries in which the owner is massively invested. (Hint: Look to the states, not the federal government...for now.)

Anyway, far too much in our conversation today to adequately summarize here. So, I won't even try to go much further. I will urge you, however, to tune in to today's show if you value a truly independent media, and appreciate --- as our founders did --- how crucial that idea is in preventing the rise of a monarch of the very type they were hoping to break free from. (And, how did that work out?...)

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Today on The BradCast: As it turns out, Americans who voted for Trump because they supported his promise of mass deportation and detention of "the worst of the worst", don't like what that actually looks like now that it is happening --- especially now that they see that those being rounded up are usually anything but the "worst of the worst". They are often people they live and work with. And, in more and more cases, actually U.S. citizens. [Audio link to full show follows below this summary.]

Among today's coverage...

• New polling from Gallup finds support for immigration skyrocketing to a near 25-year high, with almost 80% of Americans now seeing it as a "good thing" for the country. That's a 15-point increase in support from from just one year ago, when anti-immigrant sentiment helped put Donald Trump back in office with a vote by a minority of Americans. Just 2 in 10 Americans now see immigration as a bad thing, down 32% since last year. The changes in outlook are almost entirely due to shifting support from Republicans and independent voters whose views have changed along with the violent, indiscriminate ICE round-up tactics by the Administration.

• Tossing U.S. citizen children into detention lock-up for weeks at a time --- in violation of federal policy --- probably doesn't help either. That includes, California to Florida are now condemning the Trump Administration tactics and standing with their terrified immigrant communities. Ya know, like Jesus would.

• All of that comes on the heels of a U.S. District Court in Southern California on Friday issuing a ruling meant to block the "roving patrols" being carried out by ICE, with arrests often based on little more than physical appearance, the language that targets speak, or the jobs they hold (at car-washes, farms and day laborers in Home Depot parking lots). Targeting suspected unlawful migrants without "reasonable suspicion" must temporarily stop in seven counties in and around Los Angeles, the judge ruled. The White House, of course, condemned the ruling and, naturally, has vowed to to appeal.

Then, we open up the phones to callers with some good thoughts and excellent questions about all of that; about the Trump Administration's about-face on releasing "The Epstein Files"; and more...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Deadly flooding strikes West Virginia and Texas, as Trump cancels flood control upgrades; Administration scraps settlement to restore salmon in Columbia River; PLUS: U.N. Oceans Summit calls for end to ocean 'plunder,' as 'ticking timebomb' of ocean acidification reaches critical levels... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): David Attenborough’s ‘Ocean’ is a brutal, beautiful wake-up call from the sea; Popular NOAA climate website will be hobbled after Trump cuts entire staff; Climate worsens Rio Grande water war; Study says clean energy rollbacks will cost economy $1.1 trillion by 2035... PLUS: Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee proposes sale of more than 2 million acres of US lands... and much, MUCH more! ...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Back-to-back major storms slam the Pacific Northwest; Climate change intensified every hurricane in 2024, new study finds; US has huge cache of rare earth elements buried within its coal ash waste dumps; PLUS: NY Gov. revives congestion pricing to rein in traffic and air pollution in New York City... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Parts of Great Barrier Reef dying at record rate, alarmed researchers say; "worst fears" confirmed; China's soaring emissions are upending climate politics; Fossil fuel transition talks rescued from brink of collapse at COP29; Super Typhoon Man-yi devastates Philippines, 6th typhoon to hit country in 4 weeks; Beekeeper mourns millions of bees killed in Mountain fire; FEMA worker tells of avoiding MAGA homes due to threats of violence... PLUS: Giraffes are up next on the endangered species list... and much, MUCH more! ...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Trump selects anti-environment former congressman to lead E.P.A.; 2024 will be the hottest year on record, U.N. weather agency confirms; PLUS: State ballot measures were a bright spot for the climate in last week's otherwise grim elections... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): The world isn't spending nearly enough to adapt to climate shocks; Climate change has dangerously supercharged extreme weather imapcts - why didn't it come up more in the presidential campaign?; With ready orders and an energy czar, Trump pivots to fossil fuels; Mass deportations would disrupt the food chain': CA warns of threat; Republicans sweep key utility regulator races in AZ and LA; Climate change identified as main driver of worsening drought in U.S. West... PLUS: Is a 'green revolution' --- burning trash for electricity --- poisoning India’s capital?... and much, MUCH more! ...

We do our best to avoid being Pollyanna-ish on The BradCast. But not everything that happened on Tuesday (or since) has been terrible. Just a lot of it. But, in fact, some of it was quite good and worth taking notice! [Audio link to full show follows below this summary.]

Among our many stories today...both good, bad and otherwise...

• A quickly moving wildfire exploded northwest of Los Angeles on Wednesday, fueled by dry brush and wind gusts up to 80mph. As of Thursday afternoon it had scorched some 14,000 acres, burned through several homes, mansions, ranches and agricultural areas and threatens another 3,500 other structures in the suburban community. 10,000 residents have been evacuated. The so-called "Mountain Fire" was 0% contained at air time. "It's like trying to put out a blowtorch with a squirt gun," said a Ventura County Fire Dept. official in a climate changed wildfire season that has, so far, burned three times as much land as last year at this time.

• Speaking of California and climate, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday called an emergency special state legislative session beginning next month "to protect our state against any unlawful actions by the incoming Trump Administration." He declared on Twitter that "California is ready to fight. Whether it be our fundamental civil rights, reproductive freedom, or climate action --- we refuse to turn back the clock and allow our values and laws to be attacked."

• AP announced late this afternoon that carpet-bagging hedge-fund billionaire and Pennsylvania's Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dave McCormick had defeated three-term Democratic Sen. Bob Casey on Tuesday, adding yet another pick up for Republicans in next year's U.S. Senate, where they are already set to take back majority control. (After we got off air, however, Democratic election attorney Marc Elias countered, "The Pennsylvania Senate race is not over," citing a statement from PA's Republican Sec. of the Commonwealth estimating another 100,000 ballots remain to be adjudicated in the race where McCormick currently leads by a reported 32,000 votes over Casey.)

• This morning, President Joe Biden took to the Rose Garden to offer his first public remarks since Election Day, following Kamala Harris' apparent loss to the lawless former President, noting, "You can't love your country only when you win,". By way of contrast to Trump, Biden vowed a peaceful transfer of power, lauded Harris' run, discussed the importance of democracy (even when ya lose) and offered encouragement to staffers and supporters by telling them that "setbacks are unavoidable, giving up is unforgivable." We share his brief remarks today in full.

• Protecting and/or expanding reproductive freedoms was on the ballot in 10 different states on Tuesday. Abortion rights won in seven of them, including Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, and New York. In fact, otherwise "deep red" MO became the first state in the union, since Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, to reverse a near-total abortion ban and enshrine reproductive rights into the state's constitution!

  Similar initiatives failed, however, in three states: Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota and for various reasons in each, which we discuss today. Most notably, in FL, the measure to restore freedoms and repeal the state's Big Government six-week ban was supported by a healthy 57% to 43% majority of voters. But the state mandates a 60% supermajority for adoption of Constitutional ballot amendments and, at the same time, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis applied state muscle and seemingly unlawful measures to prevent passage.

  Politico's longtime Capitol Hill heath care reporter ALICE MIRANDA OLLSTEIN joins us today to break down what happened in each state, and where the never-ending battle for and against reproductive freedoms goes from here.

• In other good ballot measure news, voters in Washington state overwhelmingly rejected an attempt to repeal the state's landmark climate law, adopted two years ago under outgoing Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee. The new law slashes dangerous carbon emissions by charging fossil fuel polluters for their pollution. The law has already brought in some $4 billion for habitat restoration and hardening the state against the worsening ravages of climate change. Voters reportedly voted by a 24-point margin to keep the law in place!

• Finally, Desi Doyen is here with our first post-election Green News Report, with details on the troubling worldwide implications for climate under the incoming Trump Administration, as environmental groups vow to press forward. Also, details on both the wildfires in Los Angeles and the rare, late-season Hurricane Rafael which has knocked out power to Cuba (again) and is making its way into record warm Gulf of Mexico waters...

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On today's BradCast: Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein would be weeping in their graves --- but they're still alive and joining many of us in calling out WaPo's cowardly billionaire owner today for kowtowing to a wannabe dictator who's not even in office yet. Thus is the shameful price --- and cost to American democracy and Freedom of the Press --- of American Oligarchy, 2024-style. [Audio link to full show follows below.]

Among our stories today, before opening up our phone lines for listeners to "endorse" the Presidential candidate of their choosing, just one week before Election Day in arguably one of the most critical elections in U.S. history...

• Last week, more than 20 absentee ballots were burned in an apparent case of arson inside of a U.S. Postal Service collection box in Phoenix, in the battleground state of Arizona. Today, hundreds of ballots were burned in a ballot drop-box in Democratic-leaning Vancouver, Washington as well as Democratic-leaning Portland, Oregon. The FBI is investigating and local law enforcement report they have identified a "suspect vehicle" thought to be connected to the incendiary devices used in both cases in the early A.M. hours on Monday.

• Last week, Donald Trump-supporting billionaire Elon Musk, the richest many on Earth, kicked off a "lottery" where registered voters in battleground states who sign his pledge would become eligible for a one million dollar give-away each day before next Tuesday's Election Day. The DoJ subsequently warned Musk that the stunt was likely an unlawful vote-buying scheme under federal law. On Monday, the Philadelphia District Attorney sued Musk for running what he is describing as an unlawful lottery in violation of Pennsylvania law.

• On Friday, the Washington Post --- with the now-laughable tagline "Democracy Dies in Darkness" --- announced it would not be making an endorsement in the Presidential race for the first time in nearly 50 years. It's billionaire owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos --- whose space travel company has billions of dollars of contracts with the federal government --- was reportedly behind the decision that undercut the legendary Watergate paper's own Editorial Board that was set to endorse Kamala Harris. The decision came just after the billionaire owner of the Los Angeles Times --- who happens to be a close friend of Elon Musk --- forced that paper to do the same. It is what noted U.S. fascism expert Timothy Snyder describes in his landmark 2017 book, On Tyranny, as "obeying in advance," which he strongly warns against as "Lesson One" when fascists threaten to take power. Will Bunch of the Philadelphia Inquirer also has a few thoughts in response about the "billionaire cowards" at the two papers who are already "showing what life under a dictator is really like", even before Donald Trump's becomes President again (if he ever does.)

• With all of that in mind --- and a few more stories of note here or there --- we open up our phones for listeners to make their own endorsements today on air in this year's election. That, because The BradCast and our many affiliate stations --- many associated with the Pacifica Radio Network, founded in 1946 to, specifically, stand up against then-rising fascism --- are not owned, run or controlled in any way by billionaires or their corporations. The result: a lot of calls today, with endorsements for Harris, Trump and --- because our live-listener base largely draws from KPFK, our very left-ish flagship station here in Los Angeles --- for the Green Party's Jill Stein, as a protest vote against the Biden-Harris Administration's position on Israel. (Never mind how much worse a Trump Administration would be on the same issue...which leads to a few very lively conversations with listeners today!) Please tune in!...

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We've been telling you for months on The BradCast that it was likely to be a very bumpy road to Election Day ... and likely beyond it, depending on how things go. We are now on that road. Lots of bumps, as predicted, but still plenty of hope to help us all stay positive in the closing days. [Audio link to full show follows this summary.]

Among our occasionally bumpy, occasionally hopeful coverage on today's program...

• We open with some encouraging listener mail from a family of democracy champions, and their recommendation to help you stay engaged and hopeful and helpful above and beyond voting, by checking out the very cool Markers for Democracy, "Saving our democracy, one postcard at a time."

• A U.S. Postal Service mailbox with a number of mailed absentee ballots in it, was set ablaze overnight at a post office in Phoenix, Arizona. Authorities are investigating the likely case of arson in the battleground state, and a USPS spokesperson suggests that, if you use a mailbox for your absentee ballot, try to drop it in "before the last collection time each day." Good advice. Better advice: Deliver that ballot in person to a precinct, voting center or town/county election headquarters, as allowed in your jurisdiction.

• Also in Phoenix, Arizona today, details on charges filed against a 60-year old man suspected of shooting at the windows of a Democratic National Committee field office for Kamala Harris in Tempe, three times times over the past several weeks. Law enforcement officials say the man, now in custody, was found to have more than 120 guns and 250,000 rounds of ammo at his home, and a machine gun in the car he was driving. They say he appeared to be planning "a mass casualty event". No one was injured in the shootings, but the Harris field office was eventually closed. He has been charged with seven counts related to terrorism. He is also accused of hanging hand-made political signs critical of Harris and Democrats, lined with razor blades and a substance labeled as "biohazard" in a Democratic-leaning Phoenix suburb.

• Given the disturbing allegations this week by Donald Trump's longest-serving White House Chief of Staff, retired 4-star U.S. Marine General John Kelly, describing his former boss as a "fascist", a fan of Hitler, and an opponent of the Constitution, rule of law and military vets injured or killed in the line of duty, Kamala Harris is leaning on a strong anti-fascism message in her closing argument, just over a week out from Election Day. We share both her initial response to Kelly's remarks yesterday in D.C., as well as those from a CNN town hall last night where she made no bones about her answer when asked if she believed the disgraced former President was, indeed, a fascist.

• In case you are still unclear about what Donald Trump will do if he is elected again and how he will continue to undermine the rule of law, he said on a radio show this morning that he plans to "fire" Special Counsel Jack Smith "within two seconds" after taking office. "He'll be one of the first things addressed." Never mind that Trump wouldn't actually have the legal authority to do so. Smith, of course, has filed felony charges against Trump in D.C. for his many failed attempts to steal the 2020 election, and in Florida for having stolen thousands of pages of highly classified national security documents upon leaving the White House and refusing to return them to the federal government.

• And, in case you're confused about who Donald Trump is referring to when he vows "retribution" against "the enemies within", it is you. E&E News has a new report out today detailing how Trump, when he was last allowed to be President, withheld FEMA aid following natural disasters in several states --- Washington, California, Georgia, Utah and Maryland --- due to political disagreements he had with their Governors following his election loss in November of 2020.

• Desi Doyen joins us today for our latest Green News Report, tracking record heat, drought and wildfires in the U.S. Northeast; the U.S. Senate races which could determine who wins the majority in the upper chamber this year, and how that is likely to affect action on our climate crisis; and the Biden Administration's race to get climate and infrastructure funding out the door before next year's changing of the guard.

• Finally, since it has been --- and will continue to be --- a bumpy ride between now and Election Day (and, likely beyond), we close today with some hopeful words of encouragement from our current, unflagging Vice President and, perhaps, next President of United States...

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"Thank you, Madame Vice President, for the trust you put in me," he said as he began his remarks during their first public appearance together as running mates on the 2024 Democratic ticket. "But, maybe more so, thank you for bringing back the joy." We send our thanks in return on today's BradCast. [Audio link to full show follows below this summary.]

But, very quickly before we get there today, we've got a few of the noteworthy reported results from Tuesday's largely problem-free (so far) Congressional and state primary elections in Michigan, Missouri, Kansas and Washington state. And a few thoughts on Donald Trump's latest pathetic attempt to remain relevant by endorsing more than one --- sometimes all of the top contenders --- in the same Republican primary race. What a loser.

THEN... it's on to our roundtable guests today, who seem to be in a very good mood for some reason, after the Democrats' now official 2024 Presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, tapped Minnesota's progressive Governor Tim Walz as her VP candidate on Tuesday.

Walz, as we discuss, has a life and political biography that, if he was a fictional character in a political miniseries, you'd think the writers had laid it on a little thick. But, sure enough, Walz' extraordinary career and accomplishments --- born in rural Nebraska; 24 years of decorated service in the Army National Guard; 20 years as a high school teacher and state champion football coach; 12 years in the U.S. House; and two wildly effective terms as MN Governor, including the passage of a slew of popular progressive priorities --- all seem quite real. AND, it has all been carried out, it seems, with much of the same "joy" he thanked Harris for "bringing back" during their first joint appearance on Tuesday in Philadelphia.

Now, as the Dem ticket's poll numbers continue to surge, the pair is off and running with joint appearances in at least five battleground states this week, while Trump is set to appear in, well, just Montana for some reason.

We're joined again today for another one of our weekly roundtables with two very smart and fellow old school bloggers, HEATHER DIGBY PARTON of Salon and Hullabaloo, and 'DRIFTGLASS' of The Pro Left Podcast. They were last on the show together just three weeks ago. But, boy howdy, was that a different world, as Dems were still trying to figure out how to survive with Joe Biden at the top of their ticket following his disastrous late-June debate performance. What a difference three weeks makes.

Today, we are focused on the selection of Walz as VP and what all of that means for both the electrified Dem and seemingly stultified GOP tickets. By way of just a quick sample from our conversation today, from both guests in response to Harris' selection of Walz...

There is much more where all of that comes from today, on how the progressive AOC and rightwing Joe Manchin are actually in agreement that Walz is an "excellent decision" and "the real deal"; on Team Trump's hilariously flatfooted response; on the one option the GOP could (but won't) deploy to turn things around; on "mind[ing] your own damn business"; on Minnesota/San Francisco/American values; on whether Trump could ever dump Vance; on whether the Dem momentum can continue for another 90 days; on Trump's bizarre post-Walz meltdown; and much more...

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