'BradCast' 4/17/2020 (Death Cult GOP)
On today's 'BradCast':\xa0 The U.S. saw a record 4,591 American deaths in a single 24-hour period attributed to COVID-19. The national death toll rose to 33,000 on Friday. We've been hearing a lot of references to the GOP as a 'death cult' of late.\xa0 It sounds like a partisan smear but the description is becoming more apt by the day, as Republicans clamor to end social distancing measures, contrary health experts' stark warnings. Texas Gov. Greg Abbot announced a plan to re-open the state for business, even though the state is not projected to reach its peak death rate for another two weeks. President Trump tweeted attacks at Democratic governors in several swing states that he needs to win re-election, attempting to foment civil unrest among his supporters, who subsequently endangered their own lives protesting their governors' stay-at-home directives. The Trump EPA issued another rollback of pollution regulations, gutting an Obama-era rule curbing toxic mercury emissions and other pollutants. It's the latest in a long list of public health standards that the Trump Administration is racing to withdraw, to benefit his corporate campaign contributors and to block use of a law that allows Congress to reverse them. Each of the repealed standards saves tens of thousands of American lives every year. While Democrats are trying to make voting during the pandemic safer, Republicans in GOP-controlled states are launching new voter suppression efforts, forcing voters to choose between risking their lives to vote in person during a pandemic, or losing their right to vote altogether. Kentucky lawmakers passed new, disenfranchising Photo ID voting restrictions, knowing all of the state's driver's license offices are closed. Plus: a funny review of this movie in which we all now live....