In the news today: Republican-held states like Texas and Alabama continue their attacks on democracy with new restrictions intended to make voting more difficult, more time consuming, and (during a pandemic) more dangerous. And an anti-vaccine shop owner in Nashville has gotten a blistering national response for comparing pandemic vaccination programs to … the Holocaust. Really.
As the country deals with continuing controversies over gun-related violence, racial divisions tied to police actions, and bigotry against members of Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, the embrace of firearms and rationalizations of killing people in the street by some is tied to power narratives that have long, deep roots in American culture. The fear of being a victim of crime drives people to accept some truly awful ideas as truth.
All Republicans are awful. They are greedy, selfish, death-worshipping assholes. Let’s just stipulate that because it’s objectively true—it’s no accident that while they were happy to toss aside their supposed fealty to “family values” and “national security” during the Trump years, the one thing they got accomplished was tax cuts for the über-wealthy. Their priorities have always been clear.
And Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg will “flip” on Trump to save his sons, spilled Jennifer Weisselberg.
Welcome back to Nuts & Bolts! This guide, published weekly, covers campaigning from a small campaign to a large campaign and looks into our national party to help make it easier to understand how the organization of the Democratic Party functions. If you’ve missed or want to look back at the last decade of Nuts & Bolts, feel free to visit our group or follow the Nuts & Bolts Guide.
Through what the Texas Tribune described as “closed-door negotiations” between the state House and Senate, Texas Republicans worked late into the night on Saturday to pass sweeping legislation to cut early voting hours and increase access for “partisan poll watchers,” the newspaper reported.
“Common sense tells us” that the new gun measure is “ridiculous,” said Art Acevedo, the former Houston police chief.
Republican Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas accused China of engaging in “the worst cover-up in human history.
The president last week ordered a 90-day investigation into claims the virus was spread by a lab accident in China.
This post-pandemic summer is evidently expected to be one long orgiastic reunion, after which, once that’s out of our system, it’s back to work, back to school, to what we used to call “normal.” And if the pandemic had ended, say, last June, after a couple months of lockdown, we probably would’ve returned to our lives with relief and jubilation.
As the coronavirus pandemic took hold last spring and people around the world went into lockdown, a certain type of news story started to spring up—the idea that, in the absence of people, nature was returning to a healthier, more pristine state. There were viral (and fake) reports of dolphins in the canals of Venice, Italy, and pumas in the streets in Santiago, Chile.
Is it crazy to throw away our whole relationship?
Federal and state consent laws factor in whether at-risk youths will gain access to the shots.
Parenting advice on being home with the kids, quality time, and sisterhood.
During Operation Desert Storm, after Iraq’s Republican Guard had been forced out of Kuwait, my brigade set up a checkpoint on the only highway from Kuwait to Baghdad. We established a medical treatment facility and raised the American flag. It was a signal to the oppressed population of southern Iraq. Dozens of Iraqis came to the facility each day, assured by the flag that they would be safe. I kept that flag, and today it hangs in my office, framed with a photograph of the checkpoint.
Back when most people made their clothes, one swatch could carry many stories.
Get ready for HQ2, uh, part two.
Years ago, I pleaded with him to get health insurance. Now I’m being ostracized due to his carelessness.
Joe Biden says the pickup truck is fast. It’s heavy, too.
Businesses can continue to require customers and employees to wear coverings, the governor said.
Omitting traditional anti-abortion provisions from his budget proposal could be his strongest statement yet on the issue.
The prize drawing is meant to encourage vaccination.
The ongoing discussions on Capitol Hill represent a remarkable bipartisan agreement that Congress should investigate the origins of a virus that has killed 3.5 million people worldwide.
Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.Memorial Day weekend typically serves up a cocktail of sun and fruit, burgers and fun, giving Americans their first taste of summer. This year’s celebrations may bring extra relief as the country emerges from a particularly tough and burdensome winter.
Netflix’s history of Black American food serves up the shock of the familiar.
Gifts for history buffs, foodies, gardeners, music lovers, travelers, and more.
Parenting advice on new boyfriends, money from exes, and raising anti-racists.
It involves Vin Diesel, a condom, and a mostly forgotten movie.
Some analysts suggested that the administration is essentially admitting that its proposed surge in federal spending won’t actually boost the economy much at all.
