{"id":12633,"date":"2018-07-09T17:57:25","date_gmt":"2018-07-10T00:57:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bradblog.com\/?p=12633"},"modified":"2018-07-09T17:56:52","modified_gmt":"2018-07-10T00:56:52","slug":"while-we-were-out-record-heat-pruitt-dumped-and-things-get-still-worse-bradcast-792018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bbnewdb.webbyspice.com\/?p=12633","title":{"rendered":"While We Were Out: Record Heat, Pruitt Dumped, and Things Get Still Worse: &#8216;BradCast&#8217; 7\/9\/2018"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/BradBlog.com\/Images\/BradCast_WhileWeWereOut_070918.jpg\" hspace=\"6\" vspace=\"3\" border=\"0\" align=\"right\">A whole lotta stuff happened over the long holiday weekend, much of which the Trump Administration hopes you don&#8217;t notice at all. We try help you notice them on today&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/BradBlog.com\/BradCast\"><i>BradCast<\/i><\/a>. [<i>Audio link to full show is posted below.<\/i>]<\/p>\n<p>But we start with some of the very few bits of good news we could find, as November&#8217;s elections &#8212; and our only hope &#8212; loom large. First up: A petition drive in Michigan to place a host of election reforms on the ballot appears to have been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.freep.com\/story\/news\/local\/michigan\/2018\/07\/09\/signatures-michigan-voting-measure\/769754002\/\">successful<\/a>. With 430,000 signatures submitted (far more than the 316,000 required), it looks like Michiganders will be able to vote for automatic voter registration, same-day registration, no-fault absentee voting and much more this Fall.<\/p>\n<p>In Kansas, following a trial and federal court order, Kris Kobach, the state&#8217;s embarrassing Sec. of State, has <a href=\"https:\/\/herald-review.com\/news\/national\/govt-and-politics\/kansas-official-follows-order-registers-thousands-to-vote\/article_8093ffba-570f-57e5-aeba-d473375e86fa.html\">finally added<\/a> some 25,000 voters to the rolls who had been denied access for lack of &#8220;Proof of Citizenship&#8221; documents. The court struck down the state law requiring the documentation as unconstitutional after Kobach monumentally failed in his defense of the law during the recent trial on behalf of voters who had challenged it. That hasn&#8217;t stopped the GOP&#8217;s top &#8220;voter fraud&#8221; fraudster, however, from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kansascity.com\/opinion\/editorials\/article214228689.html\">claiming<\/a> &#8212; you guessed it &#8212; fraud during a recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kshb.com\/news\/local-news\/olathe-gop-straw-poll-touches-off-war-of-words-between-colyer-kobach\">GOP straw poll<\/a> in advance of the August primary in the state, where Kobach hopes to win the Republican nomination for Governor. (He lost the straw poll to Republican Gov. Jeff Colyer&#8230;by a <i>lot<\/i>.) <\/p>\n<p>In other (largely) good news, Starbucks <a href=\"https:\/\/talkingpointsmemo.com\/news\/starbucks-eliminates-plastic-straws\">says<\/a> they plan to do away with plastic straws to help save the planet (and comply with local governments who are banning them.)<\/p>\n<p>Then, to the much less good news, as all-time heat records were <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/nwslosangeles\/status\/1015396346038247425?s=21\">shattered<\/a>, by double-digits, here in Southern California over the holiday. Though the wildly corrupt fossil-fueled tool Scott Pruitt was finally <a href=\"http:\/\/fortune.com\/2018\/07\/06\/scott-pruitt-epa-fired-resigns-trump\/\">forced to resign<\/a> over the holiday weekend as chief of the Environmental Protection Agency (his <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/politics\/onpolitics\/2018\/07\/05\/scott-pruitt-resignation-letter\/761174002\/\">resignation letter<\/a> is amazingly creepy!), his second-in-command, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nrdc.org\/onearth\/who-andrew-wheeler-and-why-you-should-be-afraid-him\">Andrew Wheeler<\/a>, an actual <a href=\"http:\/\/www.chicagotribune.com\/news\/nationworld\/politics\/ct-epa-andrew-wheeler-lobbying-20180705-story.html\">coal industry lobbyist<\/a>, will now take over the EPA.<\/p>\n<p>Also in recent days, two issues that Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2018\/07\/07\/politics\/trump-claims-credit\/index.html\">claims<\/a> to have fixed (which he broke in the first place), have proven not to have been fixed at all. Despite Sec. of State Mike Pompeo describing recent &#8220;denuclearization&#8221; talks with North Korea as &#8220;productive&#8221;, the North&#8217;s Foreign Ministry <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/national-security\/north-korean-negotiator-teases-and-flatters-as-pompeo-enters-second-day-of-talks\/2018\/07\/07\/d2a06324-8175-4589-bf08-def6e56aa962_story.html?utm_term=.02b60cc591b9\">characterized<\/a> the U.S. attitude at negotiations as &#8220;gangster-like&#8221; and &#8220;cancerous&#8221; just after he left. That, after Donald Trump recently <a href=\"http:\/\/www.politifact.com\/truth-o-meter\/article\/2018\/jun\/13\/donald-trump-north-korea-no-longer-nuclear-threat\/\">declared<\/a>: &#8220;There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>And, the chaos continues as the Administration is <a href=\"https:\/\/mobile.nytimes.com\/2018\/07\/05\/us\/migrant-children-chaos-family-separation.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fus&#038;action=click&#038;contentCollection=us&#038;region=rank&#038;module=package&#038;version=highlights&#038;contentPlacement=5&#038;pgtype=sectionfront\">reportedly<\/a> nowhere near being able to reunite some 3,000 children with their parents, as required by a federal court order and deadlines, after they were separated at the southern border by Trump&#8217;s immigration goons.  That, after identification documents for many of the children were reportedly lost or destroyed, and despite Trump signing an Executive Order two weeks ago which he said would solve the tragic separations that he caused in the first place. <\/p>\n<p>Finally today &#8212; along with a ton of phone calls from listeners on all of the above and much more throughout today&#8217;s show &#8212; a few words, and some personal remembrances, on the sad <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/07\/05\/obituaries\/ed-schultz-blunt-spoken-political-talk-show-host-dies-at-64.html\">passing<\/a> last week of progressive radio and television broadcaster, and workers&#8217; champion, Ed Schultz&#8230;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\".\/Images\/Speaker_Icon_24.png\" style=\"width: 24px; float: none; vertical-align: middle;\"><span style=\"font-size: 18px; line-height: 18px;\"> <b><i><a href=\"https:\/\/BradBlog.com\/audio\/BradCast_BradFriedman_WhileWeWereOut_PlasticStrawsStrawPollFinalStraw_Callers_070918.mp3\">CLICK TO LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD SHOW!&#8230;<\/a><\/i><\/b><br \/>\n[audio:http:\/\/bradblog.com\/audio\/BradCast_BradFriedman_WhileWeWereOut_PlasticStrawsStrawPollFinalStraw_Callers_070918.mp3]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><center><b>* * *<\/b><\/center><i>While we post <a href=\"https:\/\/BradBlog.com\/BradCast\"><\/i>The BradCast<i><\/a> here every day, and you can hear it across all of our great affiliate stations and websites, to automagically get new episodes as soon as they&#8217;re available sent right to your computer or personal device, subscribe for free at <a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/the-bradcast-w-brad-friedman\/id803467610\">iTunes<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/stitcher.com\/s\/player.php?fid=25838&#038;src=psl\">Stitcher<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/tunein.com\/radio\/The-BradCast-with-Brad-Friedman-p477565\/\">TuneIn<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/bradblog.com\/podcastgen\/bradcast\/feed.xml\">our native RSS feed<\/a>!<\/i><center><i><b>* * *<\/b><\/i><\/center><center><\/p>\n<table cellspacing=\"0\">\n<tr style=\"background: blue; color:white;\">\n<td width=\"50%\"><center><span class=\"footnote\"><b>MONTHLY BRAD BLOG SUBSCRIPTION<\/b><\/span><\/td>\n<td width=\"50%\"><center><span class=\"footnote\"><b>ONE-TIME DONATION<\/b><\/span><\/center><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid blue;\"><center><\/p>\n<form action=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/cgi-bin\/webscr\" method=\"post\" target=\"_top\" style=\"margin-top:-3em; margin-bottom:2em;text-align:center;\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"cmd\" value=\"_s-xclick\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"hosted_button_id\" value=\"9PMSTMCJK9B3E\"><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"on0\" value=\"Choose monthly amount...\">Choose monthly amount&#8230;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><select name=\"os0\"><option value=\"$10\">$10 : $10.00 USD &#8211; monthly<\/option><option value=\"$20\">$20 : $20.00 USD &#8211; monthly<\/option><option value=\"$50\">$50 : $50.00 USD &#8211; monthly<\/option><option value=\"$100\">$100 : $100.00 USD &#8211; monthly<\/option><\/select> <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<p><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"currency_code\" value=\"USD\"><input type=\"image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.paypalobjects.com\/en_US\/i\/btn\/btn_subscribe_LG.gif\" border=\"0\" name=\"submit\" alt=\"PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online!\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.paypalobjects.com\/en_US\/i\/scr\/pixel.gif\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\"><\/form>\n<p><\/center><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid blue;\"><center><\/p>\n<form action=\"https:\/\/www.paypal.com\/cgi-bin\/webscr\" method=\"post\" target=\"_top\" style=\"margin-top:0em; margin-bottom:2em;text-align:center;\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"cmd\" value=\"_s-xclick\"><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"hosted_button_id\" value=\"K5A5LX7J6WTHQ\"><input type=\"image\" src=\"https:\/\/www.paypalobjects.com\/en_US\/i\/btn\/btn_donateCC_LG.gif\" border=\"0\" name=\"submit\" alt=\"PayPal - The safer, easier way to pay online!\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/www.paypalobjects.com\/en_US\/i\/scr\/pixel.gif\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"footnote\">(Snail mail support to <b>&#8220;Brad Friedman, 7095 Hollywood Blvd., #594 Los Angeles, CA 90028<\/b>&#8221; always welcome too!)<\/div>\n<p><\/center><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A whole lotta stuff happened over the long holiday weekend, much of which the Trump Administration hopes you don&#8217;t notice at all. We try help you notice them on today&#8217;s BradCast. [Audio link to full show is posted below.] But we start with some of the very few bits of good news we could find, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1193,675,543,499,479,552,930,451,548,477,654,900],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-andrew-wheeler","category-bradcast","category-climate-change","category-coal","category-donald-trump","category-ed-schultz","category-election-2018","category-epa","category-extreme-weather","category-kpfk","category-kris-kobach","category-scott-pruitt"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbnewdb.webbyspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbnewdb.webbyspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbnewdb.webbyspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbnewdb.webbyspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbnewdb.webbyspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bbnewdb.webbyspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12633\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bbnewdb.webbyspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbnewdb.webbyspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bbnewdb.webbyspice.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}