It’s a tough call on today’s BradCast as far as which is worse: the stupidity or the outrage in response. (It’s the stupidity, stupid.) But we report, you decide. [Audio link to full show follows this summary.]
Donald Trump‘s many wars on America, Americans, American democracy, American values and the rest of the world, including livability on the planet itself, continued this week, as one of this nation’s greatest accomplishments turns 60 years old, even as it founders under years-long GOP assault. And, coincidentally, the state of Texas plays a part in just about every one of our stories today…
- We kick things off with some goodish news. Following the unspeakable tragedy last month when at least 135 people, including dozens of camping school children, were killed during flash flooding on the banks of the Guadalupe River in Texas Hill Country, the Trump Administration is finally allowing the National Weather Service to hire new meteorologists and other critical staffers. That, after Trump’s DOGE scam resulted in the firing and early retirement of hundreds at the now hollowed-out NWS.
- As another heat wave broils much of Texas this week, cheap, clean, renewable energy — including wind and solar (as well as battery storage for when it’s dark or the wind isn’t blowing) — has helped prevent collapse of the state’s grid under extraordinary demand, even as some of its coal and gas plants were taken off line due to the climate change-intensified heat.
- Nonetheless, the Trump Administration has been doubling down this week on its war against cheap, clean, renewable energy, such as wind and solar, on behalf of the fossil fuel industry which has captured it. Former fracking CEO turned Trump’s Energy Secretary Chris Wright was making the media rounds this week, attempting to justify the Administration’s Orwellian removal of Congressionally mandated National Climate Assessments from government websites. He told CNN it’s simply an effort to “fix” the science contained in those reports, released every four years after being compiled, peer-reviewed and fact-checked multiple times over several years prior to publication by hundreds of scientists and more than a dozen federal agencies. Wright is hoping to counter the peer-reviewed science on climate change in those landmark quadrennial reviews with a “report” released by the Dept. of Energy last week, as authored in two-months time by five notorious climate science deniers hand-picked by the former fracking executive. Wright’s denialist, AI-assisted slop is now being used as the basis for the Administration’s effort to scrap every federal climate change-related regulation enacted since 2009.
- Meanwhile, the GOP’s War on Democracy continued on Thursday, as Texas state lawmakers remained in other states to try and save it. They are breaking quorum in the Lone Star State’s House of Representatives in order to prevent passage of a new U.S. House map, ordered by Gov. Greg Abbott at the direction of Donald Trump, which would steal five seats currently held by Democrats in majority minority districts in next year’s midterms. Republican state officials — from its Governor to its corrupt Attorney General to its U.S. Senator to its Republican House Speaker — are hoping to enlist Trump’s FBI to hunt down, round up and arrest the fleeing Dems in other states, despite no criminal charges against them and a state Constitution that allows them to break quorum (according to the state’s all-Republican Supreme Court.) That, as California advances its own effort — to be placed before voters this Fall — to counter Texas’ attempted mid-decade gerrymander. We get you all caught up with the latest in this harrowing ongoing saga today.
- The Republican attack on democracy — including on U.S. House districts drawn by federal court order to correct Texas districts found in violation of the Voting Rights Act — comes on the very same week that the landmark Act, which added tens of millions to to the voting rolls since its passage, turns 60 years old. The VRA has been under successful attack by Republicans in recent years. But today we mark the law’s 60th anniversary with some of the remarks upon its signing by heroic President Lyndon Baines Johnson…of Texas.
- Finally, born and bred Texan Desi Doyen joins us for our latest Green News Report, detailing some of the remarkable actions taken this week by the Trump Administration — remarkably, as energy costs and demand are quickly rising — to roll back successful efforts to incentivize cheap, clean, renewable energy. Among the new fronts in his war this week: An absurd “energy density” requirement for power sources; an attempt to rescind $7 billion appropriated by Congress during the Biden era to help defray the cost of residential rooftop solar in low- and middle-income communities; orders to shut down on-going wind energy projects; and Trump’s ridiculous mandate that wind farms may no longer be built any closer than a mile from roads and railways…
The BradCast
with Brad Friedman
8/7/2025
Trump’s Wars Against Clean, Renewable Energy and American Democracy on VRA’s 60th Anniv: ‘BradCast’ 8/7/2025 | For better or worse (mostly worse), Texas plays a role in almost every story we cover today... · · · · · Trump’s Wars Against Clean, Renewable Energy and American Democracy on VRA’s 60th Anniv: ‘BradCast’ 8/7/2025 | For better or worse (mostly worse), Texas plays a role in almost every story we cover today...
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When are we going to realize that it takes a “village” to raise a dictator (Beware of the Sycophant Epidemic)?
I can’t find article that said app that the democratic party uses to contact, organize its own voters, performed badly. Sorry. If some democrat techie could research to help improve tech, this seems necessary.
Also, Democrats didn’t control the oversight of money as they should have:
https://data4democracy.substack...-investigation
The Mothership Vortex: An Investigation Into the Firm at the Heart of the Democratic Spam Machine
How a single consulting firm extracted $282 million from a network of spam PACs while delivering just $11 million to actual campaigns.
Adam Bonica
…………….
https://open.substack.com/pub/t...ecret-playbook
Reprogrammed Truth: The Secret Playbook Behind Algorithmic Capture (This is Dark)
Inside the invisible algorithm war that’s bending truth without a single post deleted. Why your feed feels normal while dissenting voices quietly disappear.
Jack Hopkins
https://www.jackhopkinsnow.com/...room-they-cant
The Political War Room They Can’t Shut Down”¦And …the One They’ve Already Shown…They Can
How Democrats Can Build a Social Media Fortress in 12″“18 Months…and Why We Could Be Screwed…If They Don’t.
Jack Hopkins
………….
Craig Unger says he is being shadow banned even on bluesky.
Please, someone needs to tell Jack Hopkins about this:
Supported by Cory Doctorow, Carole Cadwalladr, Shoshana Zuboff and others
https://freeourfeeds.com/
A campaign to keep social media open, people-powered, and billionaire-proof.
I bet Brad has already written about this. Sorry if redundant:
https://bsky.app/profile/thegod.../3lvo4sydr7222
God
@thegodpodcast.com
The Republicans are replacing all voting machines with new ones approved solely by Trump.
Damn The Evil Prick Who Rigs Voting Machines Because He Knows He Will Lose
He is the antichrist.
http://www.thegodpodcast.com
August 5, 2025 at 11:27 AM
“¦”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦”¦..
https://www.brennancenter.org/
https://www.brennancenter.org/o...-next-election
The Trump Administration’s Campaign to Undermine the Next Election
The executive branch is interfering in U.S. elections in unprecedented ways.
Jasleen Singh
Oh, I forgot to add that someone please tell the Democratic Party about this people-powered effort to have a working social media network for progressive, democratic voices, and not just tell Jack Hopkins.
It would cost so little compared to vast amounts of money given by even poor people, but taken by democratic consultants.
This network is supported by Cory Doctorow, Carole Cadwalladr, Shoshana Zuboff and others
https://freeourfeeds.com/
A campaign to keep social media open, people-powered, and billionaire-proof.
The Shapeshifters of Bullshitistan, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27
Bev @3, wrote:
I bet Brad has already written about this. Sorry if redundant:
God
@thegodpodcast.com
The Republicans are replacing all voting machines with new ones approved solely by Trump.
Damn The Evil Prick Who Rigs Voting Machines Because He Knows He Will Lose
He is the antichrist.
http://www.thegodpodcast.com
August 5, 2025 at 11:27 AM
NONE OF THAT IS TRUE. The argument appears to be based on an Executive Order from Trump, ordering a whole a bunch of things having to do with elections that he has no actual jurisdiction over. Several courts have already blocked a number of the provisions in that EO, and there are a number of other legal challenges to it that have yet to be adjudicated.
While Trump has no authority over the Election Assistance Commission (EAC), in his EO, Trump essentially CALLS ON them to do some things they do not have jurisdiction to do either.
Voting systems are selected by states (and/or counties). Not by the federal government. There is a federal testing/certification program, though only 11 states, as I recall (it may now be even less), require their voting systems to meet those federal standards. The rest do their own certification, which may or may not take some of the federal standards into consideration.
The federal standards are woefully out of date. A new set of VOLUNTARY standards has been created, though only one system has been subjected to testing under that regime, as I understand it.
I *think* Trump’s EO may have called for all systems to be certified under the new regime. But that would take years to redesign all of those systems, and would have no effect on states that do not follow federal protocols for Voting System Guidelines.
In short, the interpretation of all of that as “The Republicans are replacing all voting machines with new ones approved solely by Trump.” is entirely bogus and any source that reports on that matter in that way should be discredited and ignored from top to bottom.
We’ve got VERY real problems in this country — including with our voting systems — false and misleading and purposefully inflammatory arguments like the one presented in the The God Podcast (haven’t heard it, I’m just basing this on what they and you wrote in their teaser for it), should be roundly discredited and ignored. They are WILDLY unhelpful.