Today's Liberal News

News Roundup: Trump’s accounting firm disavows their numbers; top Michigan Republican in big trouble

In the news today: Crimes. Lots and lots of crimes. The Michigan Republican Party is reeling after one of the state’s top Republicans, Lee Chatfield, had his home raided by police in the midst of campaign embezzlement and sexual assault accusations. Donald Trump’s longtime accounting firm has cut ties with him, writing that they can no longer stand behind ten years of financial numbers from the Trump Organization and that those documents “should not be relied upon.

Trump’s picture book memoir shows he really meant it when he said he was ‘writing like crazy’

Well, Donald Trump’s picture book memoir has finally come out. The Washington Post book critic Ron Charles begins his review as follows: “Last June, in a moment of unintentional honesty, Donald Trump said, ’I’m writing like crazy.’” And really that’s all you need to say about Trump’s 319-page “coffee table” monstrosity, Our Journey Together, available for the not-cheap price of $74.99 plus shipping; $229.

Marco Rubio proves he’s Trump’s pup with astonishingly hypocritical take on classified docs

The most shocking part about this story isn’t Marco Rubio’s hypocrisy. That’s a given, like Donald Trump’s slovenly ineptitude or early summer squalls that drop hailstones the size of Louie Gohmert’s head. No, the truly surprising part is that his hypocrisy was so incandescent it actually drew flak from Fox News.

Donald Trump has apparently run afoul of the law—again.

Following disturbing human rights report, advocates again urge deportation relief for Cameroonians

Affected individuals and advocates have in recent days renewed calls for the Biden administration to protect thousands of Cameroonian immigrants from deportation and imminent harm. While lawmakers led by Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Rep. Karen Bass urged the implementation of temporary protections last November, Cameroonians have not yet been able to access critical relief. Without protections, they risk being deported to imminent danger.

Democratic Rep. Kathleen Rice will retire after prominent career in Long Island politics

New York Rep. Kathleen Rice, a Long Island Democrat who spent years as an intra-party critic of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, declared Tuesday that she would not seek a fifth term representing the 4th Congressional District, which is entirely located in Nassau County. The decision was a surprise, as the congresswoman—who turned 57 the day she made her announcement—had given no obvious indication she was looking to leave the House.

The Inimitable P. J. O’Rourke

The journalist and political satirist P. J. O’Rourke, who died today, had a knack for making serious subjects funny. In 11 years of writing for The Atlantic, he covered bleakness—Enron, war memorials—with skepticism and a dash of absurdity. (Explaining his wariness of lawmakers, he wrote: “A chilling characteristic of politicians is that they’re not in it for the money.

Jerusalem Demsas Joins The Atlantic as a Staff Writer

Jerusalem Demsas will join The Atlantic’s editorial staff next month, when she will become a staff writer. Jerusalem is currently at Vox, where she has written extensively on America’s housing crisis and co-hosts The Weeds podcast.“Jerusalem is a force. She is extremely smart, creative, curious, and naturally drawn to counterintuitive ideas and arguments.

National Cuisine Is a Useful Illusion

My first daughter was born in a London hospital, but her surroundings soon felt very Palestinian. By 6 a.m. the morning after she arrived, my mother had brought ijjeh (a herb frittata often made for new mothers) stuffed inside a pita slathered with labneh (a strained yogurt) to my bedside. In the afternoon, she returned with hilbeh (a fenugreek-semolina cake), purported to improve milk supply.

An Off-Ramp from War? Russia Says It Pulled Back Some Troops from Ukraine Border as Talks Continue

Russia has announced plans to pull back some troops from the Ukrainian border in a possible effort to deescalate the standoff over Ukraine but still intends to continue with military exercises in Belarus and the Black Sea. This comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky indicated on Monday the country may drop its bid to join NATO and the U.S. continues to urge U.S. citizens to leave Ukraine, warning a Russian invasion could come as soon as Wednesday.

The Seven Habits of COVID-Resilient Nations

The tweet has stuck with me for months now: a chart of cumulative COVID-19 deaths per capita in the United States, the United Kingdom, and South Korea. The U.S. and U.K. lines rise up like mountains relative to the valley of South Korea below. Even as Omicron-related deaths have increased in South Korea more recently, the picture hasn’t changed much.