So, did anything of note happen over the past week or so while we were taking a holiday break from The BradCast? [Audio link to full show follows this summary.]
As I’ve come to learn, a few things of note did happen. In fact, it was almost like coming back to a different nation today, largely thanks to the corrupt, radical, extremist, not-conservative-in-the-least U.S. Supreme Court’s rightwing majority which invented new clauses in the Constitution out of whole cloth to appall the Founders by declaring Presidents to be Kings. I have a feeling we’ll be catching up with the remarkable past 10 days or so for quite a while around here.
Today, however, at the top of the show, we first touch on a few of those news items of note from the past week, including, perhaps most notably for the immediate moment in history, remarkable pushback at the polls from the left in France, UK and even Iran against rising Rightwing fascism. Stunning democratic victories in all three nations serve as a valuable lesson in this country, at this time, particularly from France, where a broad coalition on the left came together to issue a surprise, blistering electoral upset to Marine LePen‘s far-right nationalist party which had been expected to win on Sunday.
That, it turns out, is helpful — and hopeful — context as we turn our focus today to the most immediate concern here: legitimate questions about the reelection candidacy of President Biden, one of the most effective (and, yes, progressive) Presidents in U.S. history, following his disastrous debate performance just after we signed off air before our holiday break about ten days ago.
With much of his party seemingly rallying behind him in Congress a week later, even as a number of noteworthy elected Democrats are calling for him to drop out — and polling that is offering mixed messages — we open the phones to our listeners today to learn where they are on this matter.
Should Biden stay in or drop out? And, if he drops out, who should replace him and how? All questions of great import given that, no matter who runs against Donald Trump this year, it is far more than a battle between Republicans and Democrats. It is now very clearly a battle between Fascism and Democracy, particularly after the corrupted Court has now horrified the Founders to decree that Presidents are above the law in virtually any action they choose to take while in office.
The Democratic National Convention begins in just over a month. Early voting begins for the November 5 election in about 90 days.
Needless to say, our phone lines lit up. To my surprise — especially among our mostly progressive, live Southern California listeners — they were almost all of a very similar mind. Truly. I would not have predicted the response.
You can listen to it in today’s very lively BradCast linked below…
(Snail mail support to “Brad Friedman, 7095 Hollywood Blvd., #594 Los Angeles, CA 90028” always welcome too!)
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The fact that media polling both in the US and France predicted rightwing victory hints at rigging favoring the political right, IMO. Apparently, they do it THERE too?
In America, remember the big “Red Wave” that never materialized?
Some say it is driven by profits and media desiring a “horse-race”, but I suspect OWNERSHIP just might have a little something to do with it.
Let’s face it——-ALL MAJOR MEDIA is owned by very wealthy people (the biggest stockholders/shareholders/CEOs). This includes, FOX/CNN/ABC/CBS/MSNBC/Breitbart/OAN, etc etc etc.
ALL of ’em!
Whether on the perceived “right”, or “left”.
Regular people have little if any actual ownership, via stock, of ANY significant media outlet.
It is the top 1/100th or so of America’s 1 percent who basically own our major media. It is surely similar in Europe.
These upper-crusty Ownership folks are nearly all uniformly conservative on all economic and regulatory issues. It goes with their social class.
They just make damn sure the networks they own don’t betray their most important priorities.
IMO, they are, especially lately, careful to avoid giving poll advantages to the left, whenever they can assure it.
They’re doing it here, IMO, and they are doing it in Europe.
Maybe fascism is really doing that well in US polls.
Maybe Trump is really that strong.
But if Biden and/or the DEMS shock everybody and win big in November, it will be time to throw out corporate network polling, once and for all.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has presented a significant body of evidence demonstrating that SCOTUS is now dominated by 6 “corrupt and captured” right-wing ideologues.
In 3 cases the supermajority: (1) invented a need for enabling legislation before an “oath-breaking insurrectionist” can be banned from holding office — this despite a disqualification mandated by the express and unambiguous provisions of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment; (2) judicially usurped executive branch administrative decision-making and expertise by overruling the Chevron doctrine, and (3) rewrote the constitution to turn presidents into unaccountable kings — the very thing the framers fought a bloody revolution to end.
Perhaps it would be more accurate to refer to the “corrupt and captured” SCOTUS 6 as seditionists-in-robes.
JMO, but Sheldon Whitehouse would make a great VP on the ticket with Harris, should Biden withdraw.
They could name their campaign:
The Prosecution Tour.