Today's Liberal News

International flight forced to return to U.S. 500 miles into trip, thanks to anti-masker

News flash for the anti-maskers among us: Refusing to mask up on a crowded flight to London doesn’t make you Rosa Parks. It makes you an unbelievable asshole. This is not a hill worth dying on—though, come to think of it, you may very well die. Just not on a hill.

Not content to risk and/or ruin her own life, a woman who refused to wear a mask on a flight from Miami to London Wednesday night prompted the pilot to actually turn the plane around and head back home.

Czech folk singer and anti-vaxxer dies after purposefully exposing herself to COVID-19

Hana Horka was a well-regarded Czech folk singer. She was a member of one of the oldest Czech folk groups still active, Asonance. She died at the age of 57 from COVID-19.

According to her son Jan Rek (23), Horka had become influenced by the anti-vaxxer movement. Rek says that, because of her refusal to get vaccinated, she decided the best pathway to get a pass to travel and play at venues requiring proof of vaccination or recent infection was to catch the virus herself.

Nuts & Bolts—Inside a Democratic campaign: When is it ok to primary a fellow party member?

Welcome back to the weekly Nuts & Bolts Guide to small campaigns. A few years ago, one of the more controversial statements I made—whether in this series or on social media—was that there is nothing necessarily wrong with a primary campaign against a fellow party member. I said, and still believe, that there are times when primarying a fellow Democratic incumbent can be healthy for the campaign and for voter registration and energy.

COVID-19 is killing Trump supporters by the hundreds each day

Former New York Times journalist Donald G. McNeil Jr. wrote an article on Medium that stated what everyone with an ounce of intelligence already knows, but wouldn’t dare put in print: Not only is Donald Trump losing hundreds of voters each day to COVID-19, their deaths are already surpassing the margins the GOP can possibly hope to attain in the swing states.

Weird Is Exactly What SNL Needed

Before the former Saturday Night Live cast member Will Forte made his hosting debut on the show yesterday, one of the more memorable moments from his eight-year tenure circulated online. In a 2005 sketch, Forte played a timid, overwhelmed spelling-bee contestant. When asked to spell the word business, he produced a deadpan, 75-letter sequence of consonants. As would so often occur during his time on SNL, Forte bulldozed past absurdity to find fresh hilarity.

Invitation

My initials curled inside the oval like three robins  
crowding a tree hollow.The card stock was beveled, the envelopes lined in airy pink paper.My father was dying  quietly like the sound of his pen lifting  
then touching down again.Once, waking from a nap, he asked me, “Will I be okay?”
and I said, “Yes.”  Then it was time to chant Torah.

Only Putin Knows What Happens Next

If Russian President Vladimir Putin isn’t about to invade Ukraine—or, more accurately, isn’t about to expand his previous invasion—he’s certainly making a good show of it.Russian military forces have been moving into position for weeks. Russia and Belarus announced snap exercises that will continue for at least a month. President Joe Biden says he is expecting an invasion, and there are reports that the U.S.

When Your Doctor Is on TikTok

In the second week of March 2020, uncertainty ruled TikTok. Students shared clips of school PA systems announcing closures and cancellations. Travelers filmed their frantic efforts to return to the U.S. before President Donald Trump’s border restrictions went into effect. And yet many users speculated that warnings of a life-reordering pandemic were overblown. Comment sections seemed angsty, but conspiracies abounded, hinting at the diverging versions of reality that lay ahead.

Your Presidential Picks: Adam Silver, Tyler Cowen, Stacey Abrams

Sign up for Conor’s newsletter here.“You can appoint any American citizen to one term as president,” I wrote earlier this week, “so long as your choice has never run for president before. Who do you appoint to the White House and why?” Among politicians, Jared Polis, the governor of Colorado, was mentioned most. Former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels and former Georgia State Representative Stacey Abrams were tapped, too.

ACLU Lawyer: Biden Is “Hiding Behind CDC” to Keep Pushing Trump-Era Anti-Immigrant Title 42 Policy

As the Biden administration marks its first year in office this week, we look at the president’s ongoing defense of Trump-era anti-immigration policies. Department of Justice lawyers were in court Wednesday to defend the Trump-era order known as Title 42, which has been used to expel hundreds of thousands of migrants at the border without screening them for asylum.

Afghanistan Faces “Tsunami of Hunger” as U.S. Sanctions Crash Country’s Economy

The World Food Program has warned Afghanistan faces a “tsunami of hunger” as the economy continues to collapse, due in part to U.S. sanctions and the freezing of Afghan assets following the Taliban takeover of Kabul. Meanwhile, President Biden once again defended his decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan on Wednesday without acknowledging the humanitarian crisis that followed his exit.

“Davos Man”: How Billionaires Devour the World & Fuel Global Inequality, Prolonging the Pandemic

As many of the world’s wealthiest people wrap up virtual talks today at the World Economic Forum based in Davos, Switzerland, Oxfam reports the incomes of 99% of the world’s population dropped during the pandemic while the world’s 10 richest men saw their wealth double. Meanwhile, vaccine profits have minted at least nine new billionaires at Moderna, BioNTech and China’s CanSino, amassing a combined new wealth of over $19 billion.

Ralph Nader: Biden’s First Year Proves He Is Still a “Corporate Socialist” Beholden to Big Business

As President Biden marks one year in office, we speak with former four-time presidential candidate Ralph Nader and The Nation’s Katrina vanden Heuvel, who say Biden has failed so far to sell his agenda to the American people and bring about the transformative policy he campaigned on — from quelling the pandemic to passing his landmark Build Back Better legislation. The two also critique the U.S.