The BradCast w/ Brad Friedman

'BradCast' 5/8/2020 (Guest: Slate's Dahlia Lithwick on SCOTUS oral arguments and 'Freedom to' vs. 'Freedom for')

05.09.2020 - By Brad FriedmanPlay

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On today's 'BradCast':  The Republicans' stolen U.S. Supreme Court took a huge step toward public transparency by livestreaming oral arguments for the first time in history. Slate's Supreme Court expert and justice reporter DAHLIA LITHWICK joins us to discuss how the encouraging step toward transparency changed the nature of the proceedings and the infamous toilet flush heard during one of the hearings.  Lithwick also explains the most recent health scare of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and the substance of the cases heard this week, including whether religious groups and even private businesses are having their religious rights infringed by being allowed to opt out of the contraception mandate of the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare. (Yes, plaintiffs in this case argue that being allowed to opt out of having their insurance provider offer contraceptive care to employees by itself somehow violates their religious and "moral" freedoms.)  We also delve into how rightwingers seem to misunderstand the actual meaning of the words "freedom" and "liberty" invoked by the founders in our Constitution, and the concept of the long-standing difference between core notions of 'freedom to' and 'freedom from.'  Also today:  the coronavirus is working its way into the White House, as Donald Trump's personal valet and Mike Pence's press secretary, Katie Miller (married to Trump's Senior Advisor Stephen Miller), have tested positive. Arizona's Health Department has reversed itself and reinstated an independent virus modeling team. Plus a note from a listener who says he is retiring early from the US Postal Service because of the waves of "hatred" directed at his staff "by the segment of our town who watch Fox News," yelling and screaming at postal workers for wearing masks...

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