Like the news cycle, we’re all over the place on today’s BradCast with politics, accountability and corruption news, democracy and voting news, green news and court news and much much more. [Audio link to show follows below.]
Among the many stories covered today…Some Democratic Senators are now refusing to meet with Donald Trump’s U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, following the convictions of Trump’s campaign chair Paul Manafort and the guilty pleas of his personal lawyer/fixer Michael Cohen, implicating the President himself in a conspiracy to commit serious criminal campaign finance felonies.
On related fronts today: Trump has now finally admitted (after years of lies about it by him and his staff) that he did, in fact, make hush-money payouts to women before the 2016 election; Cohen’s lawyer Lanny Davis offers more details on what his client may know regarding Trump’s early knowledge of hacked DNC emails before they were released in 2016; and Trump’s longtime friend David Pecker [pictured above], who runs the National Enquirer and helped kill stories about Trump’s mistresses, is reportedly now cooperating with Special Counsel Robert Mueller after being granted an immunity deal.
Also, a Trump-supporting juror from the first Manafort trial says there was only one person on the jury who prevented him from being found guilty on all 18 counts of tax and bank fraud, versus the 8 on which he was found guilty. A mistrial was declared on the 10 other counts.
A new Reuters poll today finds that more than 70% of Americans now support a “Medicare for All” styled universal healthcare program, including a majority of Republicans. And a new poll from Fox “News” offers an avalanche of bad news for Trump and Republicans in advance of the 2018 midterm elections. (For example, Mueller is more popular than Trump by double-digits, and other numbers that may spell trouble in November.)
Speaking of which, following a public outcry, Randolph County, Georgia, whose two-person Board of Elections is set to vote on a proposal to close 7 of 9 polling places before the November election in the majority African-American county, now admits it has no evidence to support the claim that those precincts need to be closed due to violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Moreover, it has now fired the consultant — hired on the recommendation of GA Sec. of State Brian Kemp (the Republican nominee for Governor this year) — who urged the poll closures at, what he initially said, had been Kemp’s recommendation.
Finally, Desi Doyen joins us for our latest Green News Report on the Trump EPA’s deadly new proposed rule to replace Obama’s landmark “Clean Power Plan”, the Administration’s spate of recent court failures blocking their attempts to overturn environmental protections, and the latest news on Hurricane Lane which is bearing down on Hawaii and threatening record rainfall among other potential dangers which, the Governor warns, could cripple the island for several weeks…
Here’s a great quote for you, Brad:
***”Anything computerized can be attacked.”***
Quote is from Lindsay Graham, interviewed on Vice News (thursday Aug 23rd show) along with Sheldon Whitehouse, in response to questioning about the Russian “attack” on the 2016 Election.
Quote occurs somewhere around 7:20 or so into the interview.
Mt response to Graham might perhaps be similar to yours:
Yeah, ya’ think, Senator?
Okole definition:
https://en.oxforddictionaries.c...finition/okole
You’re welcome, Brad!
Talk about a “Democracy Deficit“. Even though 52% of Republicans now support Medicare for All, 90% of Republicans support a man who’s repeal and replace efforts, had they succeeded, would have added 32 million Americans to the ranks of the uninsured.
Trump CFO is helping the criminal investigation now.
Weasel Burg …
I think “Dredd” may have coined a new phrase for the Trumpian Swamp…
Or, maybe for that small town’s worth of cooperators with the investigation…
Or, for the whole special-interest infrastructure that moves government institutions to serve the interests of the boss-and-ownership class…