On today's BradCast, Democrats take Trump's bait after the Orlando Massacre and the fight for D.C. Statehood continues. [Link to complete audio is posted below.]

First up, more fallout following the worst mass shooting in U.S. history, as both President Obama and Hillary Clinton fall for Donald Trump's disingenuous distractions about "radical Islam". And, thus, the GOP's presumptive nominee succeeds, yet again, in hijacking the important conversation on how to curb the nation's mass shooting and gun violence epidemic, just as the NRA and GOP are likely hoping. We try to correct the record in response to a number of fresh Trump lies related to Orlando, even as we notice that, yes, Trump is now banning even more journalists from his events for reporting on actual facts. The growing list of media outlets being rejected for press credentials now even includes the Washington Post.

Then, as Democrats in D.C. head to the polls for the blessedly final Presidential Primary contest of the 2016 cycle today, we speak to Anise Jenkins of FreeDC.org on the continuing fight for Congressional representation and full statehood for residents of our nation's capital which has, ironically enough, suffered under the tyranny of "taxation without representation" for more than 200 years. "We had African-American slaves. We had women who had no rights. There were a lot of inequalities," at the founding of our country, Jenkins tells me. "Those things have ended, thank goodness, after struggling...and a Civil War. However, D.C. is still --- because of Article 1, Section 8, Paragraph 17 of the Constitution --- D.C. is still back in political slavery."

She goes on to explain how, despite paying more in taxes to the federal government than they take from it, all of the city's budgets and laws must still be approved by our dysfunctional U.S. Congress, where members --- often Republicans from far away states --- frequently abuse that power as a political bargaining chip or to just simply punish its residents.

So why have Democrats also failed to keep promises to pass legislation that would give autonomy to D.C., even when they've controlled both houses of Congress and the White House? Jenkins says she's been told it's "the four toos": "D.C. was too black, DC was too progressive --- or, they called it liberal at that time --- we were too urban, and we were too Democrat."

"The United States is the only country in the world that has a democratic form of government, where its residents of its capital have no vote or no local autonomy. The only one in the world," Jenkins says. "It's an international disgrace."

While Trump's multiple positions on statehood for D.C., as Jenkins details, should come as no surprise, even Obama, she says, has "been a huge disappointment" on this matter. When you stop to pay attention to it, which I hope you do, it's actually a remarkable discussion and an extraordinary ironic issue. All happening in the town that is the very seat of governance for a nation supposedly based on both individual freedom and representative democracy.

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Over the weekend, we saw the worst mass shooting in the history of the United States at an LGBT nightclub in Orlando.

Today on The BradCast, we discuss what happened, the reactions to it from President Obama and many others, including Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump (who lied about the tragedy to say that the alleged killer was a Muslim born overseas. He wasn't. He was born in New York. Like Trump.)

But, while we cover what we know about the tragedy, and the many reactions to it from a number of communities, we also discuss how it might never have happened in the first place had the terrorist-enabling National Rifle Association (NRA) and the Republican Party they support, not fought so hard to ensure that those suspected of involvement with extremist organizations still be allowed to easily and legally purchase all of the semi-automatic, military-style assault weapons and large capacity magazines they might need, in order to carry out the type of mass shooting we saw, yet again, over the weekend in Orlando.

More than 100 were shot at the Pulse nightclub alone, in the nation's worst-ever mass shooting. It was able to happen, thanks in no small part, to the millions of dollars spent over many years by the NRA and the GOP officials who have repeatedly voted to allow even those on the so-called "Terror Watch List" to easily buy weapons meant for nothing more than mass murder --- just as al-Qaeda and other extremist groups have long, publicly instructed their followers.

In the meantime, the NRA-owned GOP officials, including Trump, who proudly stand with the terrorist-supporting NRA, offer nothing more than lies and "thoughts and prayers" in response, as the gun violence epidemic and body count continues to grow in the face of inaction by lawmakers in these locked and loaded United States of America.

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On today's BradCast, while the Democratic Party and the mainstream corporate media may have moved on --- and Elizabeth Warren may feel ready to be Commander-in-Chief if tapped as Vice President --- there are millions of still-untallied ballots in the state of California. Meanwhile, in the key Presidential swing-state of Ohio, Democrats are being disproportionately purged from the voting rolls by state Republicans in advance of the 2016 general election. [Audio link posted below.]

Yes, democracy actually still matters, and that includes counting the ballots of all the legal voters who wish to vote, counting them accurately, and in a way that we can know they have been counted accurately. While we've been reporting this week, often exclusively, on the huge number of still untallied ballots --- both Provisional and Vote-by-Mail ballots --- here in Los Angeles County, ever since Tuesday's Presidential Primary, new data now reveals the totals are even higher than we've so far reported, both in L.A. and across the state. With some 3.5 million ballots now tallied in the Democratic Primary, and a 500,000 vote (appx. 13%) margin for Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders, there are still some 2.5 million ballots that have yet to be tallied at all. We discuss what that means and why it matters on today's program.

We also discuss the necessity of taking action on issues that effect elections before your candidate is announced as having lost one. While it's a message we've been shouting from the rooftops at BradBlog.com and on The BradCast for more years than we care to remember, perhaps Sanders supporters will now take note and action. And perhaps Clinton supporters will join them now, rather than waiting until the media declare President-elect Trump has sewn up the race. As one of the cell phone companies used to say: Can ya hear me now?

Speaking of taking action before it's too late, it appears that the state of Ohio is purging voters from the rolls at an alarming rate. Specifically, Democratic-leaning voters in urban areas won by Obama in 2008 and 2012 are being purged at a disproportionate rate to more Republican voters in suburban, whiter areas. To date, more Democratic-leaning voters have been removed in the state's three largest counties in OH than Obama's margin of victory in the state in 2012. Can ya hear me yet?

But, there is also some good news for voting rights and democracy advocates out of the Buckeye State on today's show, as a federal judge has found this week that a number of election reforms enacted by the Republican state legislature and signed by its Republican Gov. John Kasich in 2014 are unconstitutional. That good news, however, comes a bit too late for those voters who had their otherwise legitimate provisional ballots unconstitutionally rejected, thanks to those GOP provisions. Naturally, the state's Republican Sec. of State Jon Husted plans to appeal the federal court's ruling.

Finally today, Desi Doyen joins us with the latest Green News Report which, as luck would have it, includes a number of encouraging new laws passed this week to help save the environment, underscoring once again that, yes, elections really do matter. You can hear us now by simply clicking on one of the links below. Enjoy!

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On today's very busy, very lively BradCast (and extra, special, surprise, bonus hour of The BradCast!), we cover the results of the latest (and, thankfully, final for this cycle) 'Super Tuesday' primary contests in California, New Jersey, North Dakota, South Dakota, New Mexico and Montana yesterday. [Audio links to both hours posted below!]

After coverage of responses from all three remaining candidates (Trump, Clinton and Sanders) to last night's reported results, and where they will each go from here, we take a look at some of the reported problems that folks had casting their votes, particularly here in Los Angeles County (the nation's largest voting jurisdiction).

Are the problems being reported in California as "just chaos" (LATimes) and "mired in voting problems" (HuffPo) as bad as some are reporting them to be? The main concerns, at this hour, seem to involve failed electronic ballot readers at L.A. polling places (which don't actually tabulate votes anyway) and voters forced to cast Provisional Ballots (some 240k in LA County alone) for a variety of reasons, some legit, some a bit more troubling.

Both voters and poll workers --- lots of them! --- call in today to report on polling problems from Tuesday, views on the primary in general, on AP reporting the Democratic contest as over on Monday before voters even voted on Tuesday, and much much more on today's show. In fact, the phone lines were so busy, with so many callers, that KPFK asked us to continue on for an unprecedented second hour of our special coverage! Both of which are now posted below...

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On today's BradCast, denial, denial, denial. It's not just a river in Egypt. Though, if it were, that river would likely be either drying up about now or rising at a record pace and threatening the lives of everyone who lives near it. [Audio link for show posted below.]

First on today's program, a word or two about the violence outside (and inside) Donald Trump's rally on Thursday in San Jose, CA, and about the anti-American freedom of the press denied reporters covering his campaign.

Then, speaking of denial, the planet's climate crisis continues to worsen and the body count continues to mount from Houston to Fort Hood to Paris and beyond. But, while GOPers continue to pretend that climate science is a "hoax" or "pseudoscience", at least the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office is finally warning about the increasing costs of federal spending that it will cause. Will Republicans bother to listen now?

And, while we're at it, GOPers continue to deny the voter suppression they are working very hard to carry out in 2016, even if it requires them to make a fraudulent case about 'voter fraud', as Tom Mechler, the Chair of the Republican Party of Texas, did this week, when he used cases of absentee fraud to fraudulently make the case for polling place Photo ID restrictions in the Lone Star State. He's hardly alone, however. GOP Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell also recently lied about voter suppression, telling USA Today: "There are no serious barriers to voting anymore anywhere in America."

Really, Senator? Hope you'll let the disenfranchised Native Americans in North Dakota and elsewhere know about that before this Tuesday's primary --- not to the mention the millions of Americans who do not have the very specific type of Photo ID now required to vote at the polling place in many states controlled by Republicans. As the Brennan Center for Justice notes, some 17 states have made it more difficult for legal (disproportionately Democratic-leaning) voters to cast their legal vote since the last Presidential election, many of those states passing new restrictions on voting since the U.S. Supreme Court gutted the most important section of the Voting Rights Act in 2013. (But, if all goes well, at least registering to vote may soon become a bit easier in Illinois. Maybe. If their Republican Governor plays along.)

Finally on today's BradCast, another oil train derails and explodes in Oregon, and the massive wildfire in the tar sands oil region of Alberta, Canada continues to burn nearly a month after record hot and dry conditions initially sparked the blaze that sent tens of thousands of residents of Fort McMurray scrambling for their lives. Now, some relief has finally arrived, at least in Canada, where 300 South African firefighters have made a 24-hour flight to Edmonton to give exhausted firefighters there a bit of a break. But will the residents of Fort McMurray, a town built to support the tar sands oil industry, continue to deny the damage they have helped cause to their own town and planet?

All of that and much more on today's BradCast...

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On today's BradCast, Paul Ryan gets on board the 'Trump Train', polls remain tight before the California Primary (and continue to give a big edge to Sanders against The Donald), and sudden changes to public policy by both Democratic and Republican elected officials continue to undermine the otherwise booming rooftop solar market across the country. [Audio link to show posted at end of article.]

First up: It's official! U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan is now all in on the 'Trump Train' after weeks of pretending that maybe he wouldn't be. Then, still more polls in California show Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders virtually tied in the state in advance of next Tuesday's Primary, while the same polls continue to show Sanders doing far better against Donald Trump than Clinton does.

Next, after an electric utilities district in the desert near Palm Springs suddenly closed off an important 'net metering' program for new residential rooftop solar customers (which had allowed those residents to recoup their investment by selling back unused clean energy to the utility company), CA Democrats in the state Assembly quietly kill a bill that would have corrected the problem. There is still no explanation from Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego), the Appropriations Committee Chair, as to why she shelved AB 2329 last Friday before the holiday weekend, despite the problem which has left some residents on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars in solar investments.

But a similar problem is happening in states all over the country, as utility companies begin to freak out at the plummetting cost and growing popularity of residential rooftop solar energy. We're joined today by the Brookings Institution's Mark Muro, whose new report finds that, despite utility company and fossil fuel industry claims to the contrary, "the economic benefits of net metering actually outweigh the costs and impose no significant cost increase for non-solar customers."

"We do think it is a canard to say there is this huge shift of costs to non-solar people," Muro tells me. "If anything, solar households are benefiting the grid."

We covered some similar territory on The BradCast in January, after "catastrophic" new fees on solar owners, levied by Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval's appointees on the state's Public Utilities Commission, crushed the industry and killed hundreds of jobs there. Brookings' reports solar installations have "plunged 92 percent in Nevada in the first quarter of 2016," thanks to the sudden policy change after remarkably booming growth in sunny Nevada's market in the years prior.

"The uncertainty created by the Nevada decision absolutely shut down solar installation in Nevada," Muro explains. "But it's also been part of a chilling nationally. In the first quarter of this year, there's been, for no apparent reason, a massive slowdown in permitting and installation. I think the uncertainty that's been created here --- and especially the retroactive effect in Nevada --- has created a real question mark nationally for homeowners. So, I think we do have a problem. Installation depends on stable policy, and now policy is looking unstable."

We discuss what and who may be behind this "chill throughout the entire system" and what residents and voters can do to help restore stabilitity to the politics and policy currently harming an otherwise booming residential solar market amidst our planet's worsening climate crisis.

Finally, Desi Doyen joins us for our latest Green News Report, with coverage of Donald Trump's recent, amazing, "everything but the unicorns" energy speech and his remarkable explanation for why he believes there's not really a drought at all in the state of California...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: It's Donald Trump vs. reality in energy and water speeches in California; Activist shareholders fail to get oil companies to address climate change; Record rains and flash floods in Houston; Good news for fish in the Arctic; PLUS: New record low for Las Vegas' water supply... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

Got comments, tips, love letters, hate mail? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Scientists Find Still More Antarctic Ice That May Be In Trouble; Enviros Reject Rep. Smith's Request For Info On Exxon Climate Case; Nuclear Plants, Despite Safety Concerns, Gain Support as Clean Energy; Canada, U.S. Warn of Eight Chemicals in Great Lakes; Can US Protect The Salamander And Its Essential Role In The Food Chain?; U.S. Top Court Backs Property Owners Over Wetlands Permits; African Women Are Breaking Their Backs To Get Water For Their Families...PLUS: Sanders Challenges White House and DNC Over Fracking...and much, MUCH more! ...

On today's BradCast, I'm back! My huge thanks to both Angie Coiro of In Deep Radio and Peter B. Collins of The Peter B. Collins Show for filling in for me while I was on the road for a few days!

After the bad news (for you) of my return is out of the way on today's show, we get caught back up with late developments before next week's big Primary Elections in California (and New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana), as the polls for both the Primary and General elections continue to tighten; some Republicans continue to scramble for a Trump alternative; voters continue to try and oversee their own public elections; and listeners call in with their closing arguments for their favored candidate before next Tuesday's last big primary day of the 2016 Presidential cycle.

While it's "last call" before the California (and New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota and Montana) Primary on June 7, and some voters are already facing confusion (and error) in the Golden State with CA's absurdly confusing multi-party primary system. Documentary filmmaker and VideoTheVote.org co-creator John Wellington Ennis joins us to discuss efforts to recruit volunteers to oversee the polls in Los Angeles at SaveOurElections.org to document whatever happens next Tuesday.

Then, we go to the phones to hear from tons of listeners on who they will support next Tuesday (and beyond) and why. Lots of great calls with voices and opinions not usually heard, if ever, on our corporatized mainstream public airwaves!

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On today's BradCast, guest hosted by Peter B. Collins of The Peter B. Collins Show, the opener is a news and comment report on President Obama's historic visit to Hiroshima, offering good optics, but rhetoric similar to his pro-war acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize. As anti-war author David Swanson points out, with the President's plans for a $1 trillion update to our nuclear program, coupled with the news that the US nuke arsenal has barely declined during his tenure, Obama's actions don't seem to match his words.

Kevin Zeese recently co-authored an essay at Truthdig arguing that Bernie Sanders should switch the the Green Party and run with Jill Stein in November. Since the Democratic leadership is loyal to Hillary Clinton, Zeese argues that Sanders could hold on to many Democratic voters who supported him in the primary, while attracting independent and Green voters who could defeat Donald Trump and Clinton. (Brad's recent interview with candidate Stein, in which she discusses these points, among many others, is posted here.)

Bob Fitrakis and Cliff Arnebeck have questions about the Democratic primary results which, they believe, differ from exit polls in 12 out of 26 states, while Republican exit polling agreed with officially reported results in almost every primary. Fitrakis is a professor, attorney, founder of the Columbus (OH) Free Press, and co-author, with Harvey Wasserman, of the new book, The Strip & Flip Selection of 2016; Arnebeck is an attorney who has handled many cases related to election manipulation.

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On today's BradCast, guest hosted by Angie Coiro of In Deep Radio, we look into new experiments with basic minimum income; find agreement between a liberal economic analyst and Larry Summers(!); then ask two historians if there's anything to to all those Trump/Hitler analogies (hint: yes).

Dave Johnson from Campaign for America's Future and Seeing the Forest explains Finland and Ontario's experiments with a universal (aka "basic") minimum income and discusses how it might (or might not), be possible for the U.S. But the real surprise comes when we move on to discussion of funding infrastructure improvements, and he - gasp! - finds common ground with former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers.

Then we hear from Professors Edith Sheffer of Stanford, and San Francisco State University's Charles Postel. In excerpts from a live In Deep Radio event taped in March, the historians take on the oft-heard comparisons of Donald Trump to Adolph Hitler. Turns out, when you strip away the typical Godwin's Law detritus, there's really a there there.

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On today's BradCast, the Bernie Sanders campaign files for a 'recanvass' of Kentucky's exceedingly close May 17th Democratic Primary; Some very good news for voters out of a federal court in Ohio; And an explanation for why Democrats in California should be thanking the Vermont Senator for staying in the race through the Golden State's Presidential Primary on June 7th. [Audio link to show is posted below.]

First up, as Washington state Republicans hold their Primary today (with no surprises expected, even as we explain how one could occur), we report on the breaking news of Sanders' request for a "recanvass" in Kentucky, where Hillary Clinton reportedly defeated him by just 1,924 votes --- less than one-half of 1% out of nearly half a million votes cast --- last week, according to the computer-tallied results. We explain how a "recanvass" is decidedly different from a "recount", and how it remains the case that, thanks to the number of votes cast in the Bluegrass State on 100% unverifiable touch-screen voting systems, we can never actually know who the voters really preferred there. The "recanvass", scheduled for this Thursday, is unlikely to change that or the reported results, as it will largely be little more than a review of the already-existing electronic tally.

Then, a federal court in Ohio finds the shortening of the Early Voting period and "Golden Week" (a period of time when Buckeye State voters used to be able to both register to vote and cast a ballot on the same day) by state Republicans, is in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act as well as the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The U.S. District Court has ordered those days to be restored for the General Election, even as this case and a number of others filed by Democrats and voting rights advocates around the country may be headed to the U.S. Supreme Court, where the vacancy that Republicans refuse to fill is likely to result in continuing chaos and confusion over U.S. voting rights.

Next, I'm joined by David Atkins of Washington Monthly, to discuss at least two reasons why, despite so much whining from Democratic Party establishment apparatchiks, it remains very important for Democrats, both in California and nationally, that Sanders remains in the Presidential race at least through the party's Primary on June 7. Atkins explains how the contest has helped lead to skyrocketing voter registrations for Democrats out here and, as importantly, how the state's "Top Two" primary system could results in disaster for a number of U.S. House races if Dem turnout is depressed. Sanders, Atkins argues, is doing the party a tremendous favor by staying in and continuing to fight the good fight.

He also goes on to ring in on the internecine battle between Sanders and Clinton supporters and on whether he believes the party will ever be able to survive its latest outbreak of (sometimes "messy") democracy.

Finally, Desi Doyen joins us for the latest Green News Report, which includes, among much more, evidence that, while Donald Trump claims to believe climate change is a "hoax", his very own companies believe otherwise...

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IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: In wake of massive Fort McMurray wildfire, Canada's insurance industry calls for national strategy to prepare for climate change losses; Pakistan digs mass graves in advance of heat wave; India breaks national temperature record; Portugal breaks world renewable energy record; Exxon Mobil developed and squashed patents for electric cars; PLUS: Donald Trump denies climate change, but not at his own golf course... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

Got comments, tips, love letters, hate mail? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Exxon Investors Seek Assurance as Climate Shifts, Along With Attitudes; It's possible to charge electrical devices without wires. Soon it may even be practical; Science Education: Portland Does the Right Thing. The Right Freaks Out; Wildfire contaminants could sully Fort McMurray water supply; The Glaciers Will Melt, The Sea Will Rise Up; People may be breathing in microplastics, health expert warns; Al Gore: Donald Trump's position on climate change 'should concern everyone'... PLUS: Fate Of Poland's Primeval Forest In Balance As Poland Plans Logging... and much, MUCH more! ...

On today's BradCast, long time Bernie Sanders supporter Harold Meyerson, a former Washington Post columnist and now Executive Editor of The American Prospect magazine, argues Bernie Sanders supporters would betray both their candidate and history by staying home this November (or voting third-party or, worse, for Donald Trump) if their preferred candidate fails to win the Democratic nomination. [Audio link to complete show is below.]

Meyerson, who quips that there was a time decades ago when Sanders and he were the only "out-of-the-closet" Democratic Socialists in D.C., offers two historic parallels to the current divide seen in today's Democratic Party during its contentious nominating contest between Sanders and Clinton. One concerns the Democratic Party's fate after the 1968 convention and the other, perhaps more disturbing and enlightening, concerns Germany in 1932, as described in his recent American Prospect column headlined "How the Bros Are Undermining Bernie".

"What's really crucial," Meyerson tells me on today's program, "is that the forces [Sanders] has put into action continue to operate --- and continue to push the limits of the possible in the United States --- once his campaign is over, whether that is in July or in November."

"I would hope that the Sanders campaign generates a lot of people who want a more democratic, equitable economy and society, and stick around after the Sanders campaign is over this year," he says. "But it takes staying power. You don't change a political party by coming in and then going out."

Meyerson is optimistic, however, that so-called "Bernie or Bust" folks will eventually come to see that they have far more to gain from Hillary in the White House than they do if Trump wins this November. "I think the number of Sanders supporters who ultimately will not vote for Hillary, if she's the nominee and it comes down to her vs. Trump, is a lot smaller than we're seeing now. Confronting the reality of a Trump presidency will concentrate the mind."

"We need to remember the greater goal and the greater narrative, of really changing economic and political power in this country, and that's the main goal here. While there are legitimate distinctions between the Sanders and the Clinton camps, we should also remember there are a lot of lefties in the Clinton camp, too," he adds, citing, for example, progressive Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA)'s inclusion on the DNC Platform Committee, along with a number of other progressives just named this afternoon.

Also on today's BradCast: A host of new polls from major news outlets suggest, once again, that Clinton is likely to have a very tough time against Trump this November if she wins the nomination; Anti-Trumpers continue coming around to him on the GOP side; Bad news for the fight against Photo ID voting restrictions in VA, and even more potential bad news for the state's Democratic Governor; Plus: Climate change related extreme weather kills scores in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka over the weekend, as the planet's climate crisis continues to worsen and the U.S. corporate mainstream media continue to ignore it...

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We're happy to keep informing the electorate, one important fact, data-point and reality-based story at a time, so that we might all be better prepared to do our job as voters. That, even as one young woman heard on today's show charges, correctly, that so much of what is going in our country of late "reflects back on our nation and makes us look ridiculous."

With all of that in mind, among the many reality-based stories covered on today's BradCast [Audio link for the full show posted below.]...

• Thanks to some excellent reporting by the LA Times, tens of thousands of CA voters who might not have been able to cast a ballot in the party primary of their choosing on June 7th, will now be able to do so;
• Donald Trump is endorsed by the terrorist-supporting NRA, lies about Hillary Clinton, and vows no more "gun-free zones" (even though his own major properties are "gun-free zones");
• Republican voters, party leaders and major funders continue to coalesce behind the presumptive GOP nominee;
• Clinton continues to struggle in still more state and national polls against Trump, even as Sanders continues to outperform her against Trump in the same polls;
• Revisiting some of Clinton's reasons from 2008 for staying in the race against then-Senator Obama, long after it was clear she was unlikely to win the Presidential nomination;
• Oklahoma's GOP governor vetoes a bill that would have criminalized abortions, even as her Republican state legislature passes an "emergency" anti-LGBT bathroom bill;
• A brilliant Connecticut woman smacks down anti-LGBT laws and hate, after she is harassed in a public restroom for being transgender (which she isn't);
• And, our latest Green News Report with a startling number of victories this week for environmental champions...

Enjoy!...

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[Update 5/31/2016: A text transcript of my interview with Stein from the show posted below has now been published here by Salon...]

In advance of Monday's deadline for registering to vote or changing party affiliation before California's June 7th Presidential Primary, I'm happy to be joined on today's BradCast by Dr. Jill Stein, the 2012 Green Party nominee and 2016 candidate for President. [Audio link to complete interview below.]

In our wide-ranging conversation, Stein offers her case for why voters in both CA and around the country should vote Green this year, explains what she sees as the problem with the Democratic Party (as well as the Republican and Libertarian Parties), offers details on her recent invitation to Bernie Sanders to join forces, given what she describes as a "smear campaign" being run against him by the DNC, and responds to questions about being a "spoiler" in both the CA primary, as well as the November General Election.

"The guys running the show in the Democratic Party are basically the funders --- and that's predatory banks, fossil fuel giants, war profiteers, and insurance companies," Stein tells me. "With the Democratic Party you see basically a 'fake left-go right' situation, where they allow principled, inspired campaigns to stand up and be seen, but they sabotage them when push comes to shove. That, unfortunately, is what we see go on right now with the Sanders campaign, which is making a valiant effort here to do the right thing and change the party."

Alluding to the moment when media used a rallying cry from 2004 Democratic Presidential candidate Howard Dean in order to undermine his campaign, Stein charges a similar "smear campaign" is now being run against Sanders by the Democratic establishment in the wake of last weekend's raucus Nevada state Democratic Convention in Las Vegas. "I think what we're seeing now is the Dean Scream of 2016," she says. "This is the sabotage of the Sanders' campaign, being conducted by the Democrats."

Stein also responds to my questions about why, after arguing for a more inclusive (small "d") democratic process, her own Green Party will be holding a closed primary --- open to affiliated party members only --- in CA on June 7th, as well as on the charge that she might serve as a "spoiler" this November.

"This politics of fear that tells you you have to vote against what you're afraid of, instead of for what you believe in --- the politics of fear has a track record. It has delivered everything we were afraid of. All of the things you were told you had to bite your tongue and let the 'lesser evil' speak for you --- we've gotten all those things, by the droves. The expanding wars, the meltdown of the climate, the offshoring of our jobs, the attack on immigrants. We've gotten all of that." Stein says. "Not that there aren't some differences between the two parties, but they're not enough to save your life, to save your job, or to save your planet. This is a race to the bottom between the two sold-out corporate parties."

Okay. But if a vote for her might actually result in a President Donald Trump, does she really believe it's smarter to vote Green this Fall? Tune in for her answer.

And speaking of that "smear campaign" against Sanders that has, indeed, followed last Saturday's Democratic state convention in Nevada, with repeated charges made by media and top party officials, such as DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz, that there was "violence" at the event by Sanders supporters, we join NPR in doing a bit of fact-checking on the evidence said to support those very serious allegations.

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