It's our last BradCast before we head off for a 4th of July respite next week. Which means we're trying to fit in a whole bunch of stuff into one single show today before we go. Which means we call in two of our (and your) fave guests to help us out before hitting the road. [Audio link to full story follows this summary.]
Longtime OG blogger friends --- HEATHER DIGBY PARTON of Salon and Digby's Hullabaloo and 'DRIFTGLASS' of his eponymous blog and the Professional Left Podcast --- are back with us today as we wrap up another absurdly overstuffed news week, on another absurdly busy news day.
The top story we tackle with Digby and Driftglass today is the remarkable news and various fallout following 33-year old Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani's upset defeat of New York's disgraced former Governor Andrew Cuomo to win this week's Democratic Mayoral election in NYC.
Digby describes Mamdani, who ran a relentless campaign focused on affordability issues for New Yorkers, as "a real generational talent". Driftglass agrees, saying he represents "a generational change" for the party, even as older establishment Dems have issued bizarre broadsides since the Tuesday election, while Republicans have turned to outright ugly attacks, including on his Muslim background and a call from a member of Congress for the 33-year old Ugandan-born, naturalized citizen and likely next mayor of NYC to be stripped of his citizenship and deported!
But, it's the calls coming from inside the house that may be the most peculiar. "Dudes, he did what you're telling everyone to do. 'It's the economy, stupid,'" Parton pushes back at the establishment types now wringing hands and clutching pearls since Mamdani's victory. "He talked about that incessantly. And now you're saying that was the wrong message for America? Give me a break. Make up your mind."
Driftglass concurs. "He ran an exemplary campaign. He checks every box that all of these worrywart centrists say you have to check. He did exactly what people asked and they are terrified of him," he explains today. "He won by coalition-building. By being smart, articulate and naming his enemies. The next hurdle is going to to be your own party."
That's just a taste. We've got much more today on that and what Mamdani's Primary win means for the party going forward into next year and beyond. But, we've also got more today with Digby and Driftglass on Donald Trump's weekend bombing of Iran and his twisted behavior since; his terrorizing the U.S. with ICE assaults on migrants across the country; and whether Republicans will actually be able to pass their "One Big Beautiful Bill" --- which steals trillions from the poor to give tax cuts to the rich --- before (or even after!) July 4, as Trump has demanded.
Also, Desi Doyen closes with our latest Green News Report with both good and bad news for forests and other public lands amid a record sweltering week for the much of the nation, as we considering skipping the fireworks this year, given how many we have to deal with every day just to produce The BradCast during the ongoing, nightmarish, seemingly unending Trump Era...
(Snail mail support to "Brad Friedman, 7095 Hollywood Blvd., #594 Los Angeles, CA 90028" always welcome too!)
|



