We do our best on today’s BradCast to keep up with an insane amount of breaking news that continues to pour in today, from the Democratic ‘sit-in’ protest in the U.S. House to two major rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court to the British vote to leave the European Union to extreme weather in China and back to the U.S. again for even more still-breaking news. [Audio link to show is posted below.]
The Dems’ unprecedented ‘occupation’ of the U.S. House to force a vote on gun legislation came to an end — without the vote Democrats sought — earlier today after more than 25 hours, as Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan largely gave up by simply declaring the chaotic House in adjournment until after the July 4th holiday. But will it start all over again when Congress reconvenes? And will Democrats come to regret their popular upheaval the next time they are in the majority?
Meanwhile, constitutional law expert Ian Millhiser, author of Injustices: The Supreme Court’s History of Comforting the Comfortable and Afflicting the Afflicted
, joins us to explain the two major U.S. Supreme Court rulings handed down today, one is very bad news for the Obama Administration’s immigration policy and, the other, a very surprising decision on affirmative action admissions policy at public university and colleges.
“The good news” on the immigration ruling, he says, “is that because this is an even split, it means that’s there’s no precedential value to this. It means that when a ninth justice is confirmed [to fill the vacancy left by the late Justice Scalia], it can be re-litigated all over again. But the bad news is that until there’s that ninth justice, the program is at the mercy of some lower courts that are very hostile to immigration.” As to today’s other ruling, Millhiser explains: “People have thought that affirmative action was on its deathbed for a really long time. It had a series of near-death experiences. This case has been kicking around for something like eight years, and they finally get around to deciding it, and surprise, they don’t strike down the program. There was a lot of language in the opinion that I think is going to give a lot of heartburn to people who support affirmative action, but the punchline is affirmative action lives to see another day.”
But wait! There’s much more breaking news on today’s program: Yet another oil pipeline ruptures in Southern California; ‘Oil Bomb’ trains set to begin running again in Oregon just three weeks after fiery derailment; ‘Brexit’ voting in Great Britain ends amidst flash flooding that could effect turnout, as the ‘LEAVE’ coalition predicts defeat; Extreme weather, including a rare tornado, kills 78 in China; Volkswagen agrees to pay more than $10 billion to customers amidst emissions cheating scandal; and Desi Doyen joins us for our latest Green News Report with still more bad court news for the Obama Administration, this time on fracking rules, but some good news (at least for some of us) about the last remaining nuclear power plant in California.
Buckle up…
The respected media is going to be making barn houses of hay out of this hippie sit in for a long time. Decades of precedence. Might even save Rush Limbaugh’s career.
Occupy the media!
The NRA’s ahistorical definition of the Second Amendment must be challenged–patiently and repeatedly. That is not dramatic, but it would be far more effective. For once the public is informed, the fiction dies, and corrective action shall follow.”‹
“…(W)ill Democrats come to regret their popular upheaval the next time they are in the majority?”
Not if the Republicans continue dancing with two right feet. Did anyone else find it breathtaking that the Speaker could not call up a bill in response to the latest tragedy but, instead, called a vote on a measure to attempt to overturn an Obama Administration rule to stop the financial world from stealing people’s money? What a…diversion.