Today's Liberal News

Is Russian state TV souring on Trump? ‘We’ll have to think whether to reinstall him again’

The redoubtable, indefatigable, and gnarly rad Russian media monitor Julia Davis is back with another dispatch from the land of make-believe—otherwise known as Russian state TV. It’s a transcendently weird place where Vladimir Putin is doggedly de-Nazifying his Jewish-led neighbor and NATO somehow has reason to fear a Russian attack—even though Russia hasn’t been able to defeat its much-smaller non-NATO neighbor in four-plus months.

Bill O’Reilly throws racist fit over ‘minority gangs’ after white shooter kills 7 in Highland Park

A day following the mass shooting during a July 4th parade in Highland Park, Illinois, disgraced Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly went on an asinine and (even for him) deeply racist rant on his No Spin News and Analysis podcast in response to a recent press conference by Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker.

“There are no words for the kind of evil that turns a community celebration into a tragedy,” Pritzker said.

Are the Last Rational Republicans in Denial?

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.I wonder if the remaining sensible Republicans have accepted the irretrievable loss of the GOP they once knew.But first, here are three new stories from The Atlantic.
Let’s use Chicago rules to beat Russia.
Hybrid work is doomed.
Uber Pool is a zombie.

Stranger Things Isn’t TV. It’s Something Else.

This article contains light spoilers through the fourth season of Stranger Things.Somehow, even thousands of viewing minutes in, my synapses numbed by a cinematic universe so squelchy that it induces visceral anxiety, I still don’t really know how to feel about Stranger Things. It’s hard to even say exactly what it is. TV watchers today are accustomed to streaming works that coalesce, murkily, somewhere between film and television.

The Great Veterinary Shortage

When Michelle Stokes noticed a necrotic wound on her cat, Jellyfish, last July, she and her husband had to call about 50 vets before finding one that could squeeze them in.The local emergency animal hospital was so backed up that it said the wound—serious but not yet life-threatening—wasn’t really an emergency. Jellyfish didn’t have a regular vet, because Stokes and her husband had just moved to the Cleveland area.

College Football Is Cannibalizing Itself

College-sports traditionalists were appalled last week when the Big Ten athletic conference announced that it will add UCLA and the University of Southern California to its membership in 2024—creating a seismic shift in the college-sports landscape that will generate millions of dollars in revenue for the two California powerhouse programs.This reorganization is the strongest indicator yet that college sports is cannibalizing itself.

Judicial Coup? SCOTUS Gerrymandering Case May Let GOP State Legislatures Control Federal Elections

The U.S. Supreme Court announced Thursday it will hear oral arguments in a case experts warn could be one of the greatest threats to U.S. democracy since the deadly January 6 insurrection at the Capitol. In October, the court will hear Moore v. Harper — a case which seeks to reinstate gerrymandered congressional maps that were struck down by North Carolina’s highest court.

Highland Park Suspect Was in Online Communities Where People Are “Programming Themselves to Kill”

The death toll in Monday’s mass shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, has risen to seven after another victim died from their injuries. The suspect has been charged with seven counts of first-degree murder over the massacre that also left scores of people injured, including nine people who remain hospitalized. Police say he legally purchased five weapons, including the high-powered rifle used in the shooting, despite visiting his home in 2019 over threats of violence.

News Roundup: Sen. Lindsey Graham subpoenaed; still another mass shooting

Another holiday weekend is behind us, and with it another spate of mass shootings because that’s how America works now. A Georgia grand jury has now subpoenaed key allies of Donald Trump as part of an investigation into a potentially criminal effort by Trump and others to pressure state officials into altering vote totals on his behalf; one of those subpoenaed is Sen. Lindsey Graham, who made his own inquiries as to how vote totals might be changed.

Florida county slaps warning label on LGBTQ kids who join phys ed classes or overnight trips

It’s no wonder Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell won’t release a Republican policy platform for the midterms. Everything they do is awful. Their platform might as well say, “Eat shit, America. You’re stuck with us now.” 

After Cronenberg-ing our country to the point where 10-year-old rape victims are now forced to travel out of state to end their pregnancies, conservatives are putting the screws to LGBTQ kids in new and creative ways.

‘I don’t really give a s**t about it’: Star athlete refuses to talk soccer, focuses on gun violence

On Monday, Major League Soccer’s LA Galaxy faced off against CF Montreal. After the game, veteran Galaxy midfielder Sacha Kljestan came into the press room, sat down in front of the microphone, and said he would be keeping his comments and appearance “really brief” because he didn’t plan on answering any questions about the game. That elicited laughs from the reporters on hand, but the California-born Kljestan wasn’t making jokes.

Michigan police chief tries to explain department’s shooting ‘targets featuring Black people’

A police department located in a neighborhood just outside Detroit, Michigan, is in hot water after a Boy Scouts field trip to the department’s shooting range revealed officers are using photos of Black men holding guns as target practice.  

VICE News reports the Boy Scout troop discovered the targets while exploring the headquarters of the Farmington Hills Police Department in April.

The Game Is (Probably) Up for Boris Johnson

Don’t stop me just because you’ve heard this story before, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson is once again fighting for his political life. And once again, this time it might be the end. After yet another scandal, once again made worse by an absurdly stupid cover-up, two very senior members of Johnson’s government—his finance minister and his health minister—quit in disgust.Is the game really up, then? For anyone else, the answer would surely be yes.

Maybe Ridding the World of Superheroes Isn’t Such a Bad Idea

By far the most arresting character in Thor: Love and Thunder, the twenty-bajillionth Marvel movie, is the splendidly named villain Gorr the God Butcher. Bald, covered in scars, and draped in monklike robes, Gorr (played by Christian Bale) is a vengeful wraith who wields a mystical blade and has only one goal in mind: killing gods. Any deity he can get his hands on, no matter the faith or civilization they belong to.