Desi and I are back on today’s BradCast, after an unscheduled month-long hiatus as my otherwise very healthy 80-year old dad suffered a sudden and major stroke in mid-September before ultimately passing away a few weeks later. [That’s him on the left with me in the photo. Audio for today’s program is posted below.]
We share a few memories of Harvey Friedman at the top of today’s show (there are many more here) and a couple of very important lessons learned both before and after his death that will almost certainly be of use to you and your family! The two booklets I mentioned on air today are Five Wishes (available via AgingWithDignity.org) and the Advance Health Care Directive (available via PrepareForYourCare.org). Both are likely to be wildly helpul to your family, should you or they find themselves in a similar situation. Please consider clicking on those links when you find some time.
Then, we’re joined by the great NICOLE SANDLER of The Nicole Sandler Show who filled in for us, with absolutely no notice, over the past month (with some occasional help from Angie Coiro along the way) even as she did her own show as well nearly every damned day! Desi and I cannot thank her enough. Though we try to today.
Since Nicole filled in for us during what was clearly a very very slow news month, she gets us caught up on what we missed while we were “gone”, from the Impeachment process now under way in the House in response to Trump’s strong-arming of the Ukrainian President for (apparently false) dirt on Joe Biden and the 2016 election; to Trump’s disturbing sudden withdraw of U.S. troops in the Kurdish-controlled areas of northern Syria (and the death and chaos and escaped ISIS detainees and new deal cut between our previously-allied and now-abandoned Kurds and the Russian-supported Syrians in its wake); to the corporate media still falling for Trump’s B.S. on everything from his “new impeachment attorney”, former Rep. Trey Gowdy (who doesn’t appear to have been hired after all) to his new trade deal with China (which may not be a deal after all); to the latest in the 2020 race for the Democratic Presidential nomination.
After a month off the grid, we’re wading gently back in today and this week with a little help from our friends. My thanks to so many of you for your kind words while we were gone, and our thanks to all of our listeners and affiliate stations for tolerating our unexpected and unprecedented absence! Hope you’ll enjoy today’s program as we gently get back into the swing of things…
Haven’t listened yet, but good to have you back, Brad!
Welcome back, Brad. I hope that the adaptation to your father’s passing is easy for your family members.
I come from a large family, with strong personalities who don’t get along. Each time I lost a parent, the truce crumbled and the warfare resumed. While you were gone, I had a brother die. He ran the family business of which I am an impecunious part owner. The rest of my siblings are lining up to battle over taking the business over. The war is about to resume. I’m very glad for you that you have never gone through such an experience. It can cause PTSD.
But enough about me. You asked Nicole about why Nancy Pelosi finally allowed the impeachment of Trump. What you didn’t even touch on was Trump throwing mud all over Joe Biden and his son over their lucrative involvement with the Ukrainian government. Biden creates enough problems for himself, but the slime Trump threw appears to have had an effect on Biden’s presidential prospects.
It is my opinion that the Party isn’t happy that Biden was damaged in a way they can’t sweep under the carpet. They needed a powerful counter punch to throw at Trump, and as consequent events have shown, this one landed. It gave Biden enough room to push Trump back a bit, but Biden might well have begun his process toward dropping out. With the rise of Elizabeth Warren into the front runner role, it looks to me that his support among Party elites and donors is weakening.
I would be completely OK with this if Warren wasn’t doing some strange things where big donor money is concerned.
I’m sure you will have much to say about these things as you re-establish your routine, so I will stop here.
My continued condolences on your loss.
Welcome back, Brad and Desi!!
Onward to the voting machine mysteries and the quisling Whut House mysteries.