Out d’Coup | Mueller Speaks; Dem Leadership Bent on Failure; More Abortion Bans; Severe Weather; Sunrise Movement; Hburg Teacher Strike Threat; Lego Lunar Lander; Free Will Releases; Poured in PA Doc

Robert Mueller speaks! He must have been listening to our special Tuesday edition of the podcast this week. Mueller basically made is crystal clear that the ball is in the hands of the Democratic Party majority in the House. Impeachment is the Constitutionally available next step. But that will require the Democrats to actually exercise their power - not something they have a recent history of doing.

Black voters in Philadelphia and around the country begin to make demands on House members to move forward with impeachment, according to a New York Times article published yesterday. As 60-year-old Philadelphia florist shop owner Paulette Beale-Harris put it, “It’s time for Congress to do something. It’s time for them to stop being afraid to do what has to be done for the country.”

Apparently, Bernie Sanders finally heard the message, too. Speaking at a town hall in Nevada, Sanders explicitly called for impeachment hearings to begin. Nancy Pelosi and Jerry Nadler, the Chair of the Judiciary Committee who would need to call for an impeachment inquiry, are still messaging “all options are still on the table.” We’ll talk a bit about Democrats fear of their own power.  

Huge developments in Supreme Court case about Trump administration’s move to put a citizenship question on the 2020 census. It probably won’t be too much of a surprise to you that the real reason for the question was to dilute the Hispanic vote and give more weight to white voters. But now, thanks to the estranged daughter of the GOP’s “Michelangelo of gerrymandering,” Thomas Hofeller, there is documentary proof. Not only may this affect the Supreme Court case, but we may have more proof of Trump administration officials lying to Congress.

Louisiana passes radical “fetal heartbeat” abortion ban, becoming the latest addition to the right-wing moves to bring a case against Roe v. Wade to the Supreme Court. The state’s Democratic Governor, John Bel Edwards, says he’ll be thrilled to sign it.

After Missouri’s Republican Governor signed that state’s extreme abortion ban into law last week, the state’s last remaining clinic offering abortion may be shut down today. That depends on the outcome Planned Parenthood’s lawsuit currently before a judge. It’s not clear when the judge will issue a ruling. Supreme Court takes a pass on Indiana’s extreme anti-abortion bill that would have banned abortion motivated by race, gender, or disability such as Down syndrome. We’re sure that Mike Turzai is throwing a hissy fit right about now.

The Midwest continues to be ravaged by massive floods, tornados, and severe weather in a picture of our climate future. Even USA Today is headlining articles about the relationship between severe weather and climate change after this week’s weather.

U.S. Department of Energy decides to change the image of oil and gas. No longer fossil fuels; now it’s “freedom gas” and “molecules of freedom.” Can’t make this shit up. The Department of Energy was promoting the expansion of liquified natural gas at a Texas facility. Assistant Secretary for Fossil Energy Steven Winberg, said he was "pleased that the Department of Energy is doing what it can to promote an efficient regulatory system that allows for molecules of U.S. freedom to be exported to the world."

The Sunrise Movement calls for mass protests this summer at the second Democratic debate in Detroit. The Sunrise Movement hopes to mobilize tens of thousands of young people to travel time Detroit for the July 30th debate to pressure Democratic presidential candidates to make 2020 a referendum on climate action. The UK-based Extinction Rebellion is planning to shut down Heathrow Airport with drones and road closures to demand immediate climate action and to stop the construction of yet another runway at the nation’s busiest airport.

California Assembly passes a bill to reclassify Uber drivers and other “gig economy” workers as actual employees, not independent contractors. If the bill passes the Senate and is signed into law, it will represent the first major push back to the gig economy.

New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern announces the world’s first “wellbeing budget.” The new budget will shift priorities away from “growth” to the wellbeing of the most vulnerable and New Zealand society as a whole.

Mitch McConnell still an asshole.

Pennsylvania saw days of severe weather, including multiple tornados and significant flooding over the past few days. Pennsylvania averages about 17 tornados a year, but this year we are already up to at least 22.

Harrisburg Teachers, who have been working without a contract or a raise for over a year, were set to go on a one-day strike today because of how the administration was trying to use the district’s recovery plan to force a bad contract onto the union.  The teachers’ strike threat had overwhelming support from the community and it forced the administration to withdraw those plans and brought them back to the bargaining table.

The things you learn working the polls for a local school board election. Kevin worked the polls for the Pennridge school board elections last week and now has more questions about what the hell is going on around here.

Remember those Proud Boys and alt-right activists from the Sports, Beer, and Politics?  Well, they’re now getting involved in local Philadelphia politics. Vico Bertogli made is a Republican nominee for the Abington School Board and Charles Matthis, a Philly GOP Committee person who provided security for these rallies is running the campaign for Philadelphia Republican At-Large candidate Matt Wolfe.  

The main news out of Japan this week was the White House ordering the Navy to cover John McCain’s name on the destroyer named for him and his father ahead of Trump’s visit. So, you might have missed the fact that the U.S. will now partner with Japan in landing humans back on the moon and establishing a permanent presence. Japanese companies have ramped up their play to be major players in the commercial space sector, including developing commercial lunar landers.

Lego is releasing a special 1087 piece model of the Apollo 11 Lunar Lander tomorrow. The release is Lego’s way of celebrating the 50th anniversary of the first humans to visit the moon. One giant step.

Two big releases at Free Will Brewing tomorrow.

• Double Race Against Time - brewed in collaboration with our friends at Chatty Monks Brewing this Double IPA was made with oats, oranges, vanilla, and milk sugar. 8.5% ABV
• Saison 1387. It’s a collaboration with Platform Beer Co. Filled with peach aromatics, and tasting notes of pineapple and lemon custard, with a dry and refreshing finish. 6.3% ABV

And a new documentary focusing on PA’s craft brewing industry was released this week. “Poured in PA,” is a two-year journey two visiting more than 50 Pennsylvania breweries. The film is a production of Harrisburg-based GK visual and you can stream it now on Amazon Prime, even if Dick Yuengling is in the film.