Today's Liberal News

Bipartisanship at Whose Expense? Sen. Raphael Warnock Calls to End Filibuster, Pass Voting Rights Acts

Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia implored conservative members of his party to stop obstructing voting rights legislation in a powerful speech on the floor of the Senate Tuesday. While Warnock did not name Senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, the two have come out against doing away with the filibuster in order to allow Democrats to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.

Black Feminist bell hooks’s Trailblazing Critique of “Imperialist White Supremacist Heteropatriarchy”

We look at the life and legacy of trailblazing Black feminist scholar and activist bell hooks, who died at the age of 69 on Wednesday. We speak with her longtime colleague Beverly Guy-Sheftall, professor of women’s studies at Spelman College, who remembers her as “a person who would sit with young people and community people and students and help them understand this world in which we live, which is full of all kinds of domination.

“We Must See Action”: Police Killings Continue as George Floyd Justice in Policing Act Languishes

The county of Williamson, Texas, has announced a settlement of $5 million in the wrongful death of Javier Ambler II in 2019. The 40-year-old Black man died after being repeatedly tased by police during a traffic stop. Police bodycam footage showed Ambler telling officers, “I have congestive heart failure,” and “I can’t breathe,” as they continued to tase him.

“She Should Be Found Guilty”: Ben Crump on Trial of Ex-Cop Kim Potter for Killing Daunte Wright

The former Minnesota police officer Kim Potter, who faces manslaughter charges for fatally shooting 20-year-old Black man Daunte Wright during a traffic stop, is expected to take the stand in her own defense Friday. Potter claims she reached for her Taser and drew a pistol by mistake. “Black people should not be killed in America over misdemeanor, pretextual traffic stops,” says Benjamin Crump, attorney for Wright’s family.

Ben Crump: Derek Chauvin’s Guilty Plea of Violating George Floyd’s Civil Rights Sends Strong Message

Former police officer Derek Chauvin has pleaded guilty to violating George Floyd’s civil rights, marking the first time he publicly admitted to his role in Floyd’s death. Chauvin kneeled on Floyd’s neck for over nine minutes, killing him with the excessive use of force in 2019. Floyd’s dying words, “I can’t breathe,” became a rallying cry for social justice protests and calls to defund the police across the country.

News Roundup: Manchin tries to kill Biden infrastructure plan for good; omicron posing big new risks

In the news today: Sen. Joe Manchin faced harsh statements from the White House and fellow Democrats today after he appeared on Fox News to claim he now opposed the Build Back Better framework even though he had been negotiating with Joe Biden directly on its contents less than a week ago. The omicron variant of COVID-19 is here, and both the federal government and hospitals are preparing for another winter of mass casualties.

Celebrating the wins: Our team’s work to advocate for President Biden’s judicial nominees

Here at Daily Kos, we believe in fighting hard for what matters and celebrating the wins whenever possible. We’ve been through highs and lows, but when we win, we win big.

This year, the Daily Kos activism team launched a long-term campaign to confirm progressive, fair-minded federal judicial nominees who are committed to justice for all and represent all of America—not just the wealthy, white, and privileged.

Milwaukee prepares for 2022 special election to succeed its longtime mayor

The U.S. Senate on Thursday night confirmed Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett as ambassador to Luxembourg, a move that ensures there will be a 2022 special election to succeed him at home.

Barrett, who is a former Democratic congressman and three-time gubernatorial candidate, has not yet announced when he’ll officially resign from the job he’s held since 2004, but he indicated it would be before Dec. 28.

Columbia’s student workers union unveils the university’s hypocritical liberal persona

by Alexandra Martinez

This article was originally published at Prism

Six weeks after it began, the student workers’ unfair labor practices strike at Columbia University has become the largest ongoing labor strike in the nation. The union has been on strike since Nov. 3, with workers calling for higher wages and more protections for graduate and undergraduate student workers.

Liberian nationals and advocates call for extension to the LRIF program

by Alexandra Martinez

This article was originally published at Prism

The Liberian Refugee Immigration Fairness (LRIF) program is set to expire Dec. 20, leaving thousands of eligible Liberian nationals at risk of deportation by next summer when current Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) protections will also end. LRIF, which was passed in 2019 as part of the 2020 National Defense Authorization Act, provided permanent residency and deportation protection to Liberians in the U.S.

What Joe Manchin’s ‘No’ Means for Biden’s Agenda

The Build Back Better Act is dead. Long live the Build Back Better Act?With a few short sentences on Fox News, Senator Joe Manchin today dashed the dreams of Democrats by coming out firmly against President Joe Biden’s signature legislative proposal. “I’ve tried everything humanly possible. I can’t get there,” Manchin said of the $1.75 trillion bill that the House passed last month.

Don’t Panic About Omicron. But Don’t Be Indifferent, Either.

The Omicron wave is upon us, and the national conversation is vacillating between panic and indifference. Those who are near panic point to rapidly rising case counts and lockdowns in several European nations. Those who are indifferent lean into reports of Omicron being a milder coronavirus variant; after nearly two years of COVID, that can feel like reason enough to put the pandemic in the rear-view mirror and get on with their life.Both perspectives are understandable, but neither is helpful.

When Saturday Night Live Tried to Keep the Lights On

Saturday Night Live’s final episode before Christmas is usually a festive affair, and this year’s was supposed to be even more triumphant than usual. As the last show of 2021, it would’ve marked the end of a full year of uninterrupted programming, after the start of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 led to canceled episodes and remote sketches.

The Overlooked Factor in Biden’s Unpopularity

BROOKLYN—Outside the Park Slope Food Coop in one of America’s bluest bulwarks, masked shoppers still wait outside in socially distant lines. The 48-year-old co-op is perhaps the nation’s most political—and progressive—grocery store, but on a recent Friday afternoon, its members were not particularly eager to discuss the man nearly all of them voted for last year: President Joe Biden.

The Unspoken

If I’m honest, a foal pulled chest-level
close in the spring heat, his every-which-way
coat reverberating in the wind, feels
akin to what I imagine atonement might
feel like, or total absolution.