Today's Liberal News

Don’t Be a Schmuck. Put on a Mask.

Earlier this week, I delivered a simple message: There is a virus here. It kills people. The only way you can prevent it is to get vaccinated, wear masks, and do social distancing.Some people are complaining, “Well, my freedom is being kind of disturbed here.” Well, I told them, “Screw your freedom.” You have the freedom to wear no mask. But if you exercise that freedom, you’re a schmuck—because you’re supposed to protect your fellow Americans.

“Not Going Quietly”: Paralyzed with ALS, Ady Barkan Continues Fighting for Medicare for All

We speak with healthcare activist Ady Barkan, the 37-year-old lawyer and father who, since his ALS diagnosis in 2016, has devoted his life to campaigning for universal healthcare. He has continued to speak out even after losing his voice and now uses a computerized system that converts his eye movements to speech. Barkan is the subject of “Not Going Quietly,” a new documentary following his cross-country activism.

Afghan Journalist: Only a Political Compromise Can Stop Taliban’s Military Takeover of Afghanistan

The Taliban claim to have seized 17 provincial capitals across Afghanistan, including Kandahar and Herat, the country’s second- and third-largest cities, as the group continues its sweep through the country. The Taliban now have almost full control of the south, west and north of Afghanistan and are advancing on the capital Kabul, where the United States is preparing to evacuate its embassy in case of a Taliban defeat of the Afghan government.

Vaccines Are Like Sunscreen … No, Wait, Airbags … No, Wait …

This is, in some ways, a mea culpa.For the past year or so, I’ve been reporting on the COVID-19 vaccines, a job that’s required me to convey, again and again, how inoculations work to boost immunity and why. The shots are new, and immunology is complex. So I, like so many others in journalism and science, turned to analogies to help make the ideas of disease prevention and public health tangible.

Taliban’s Sweeping Offensive in Afghanistan Was “Inevitable” and Stems from Brutal U.S. War

The Taliban have continued to seize territory in Afghanistan as the U.S. completes its withdrawal of ground troops from the country, with the militant group now controlling a majority of Afghanistan’s districts and a quarter of provincial capitals. The strength of the Taliban offensive in recent weeks has put the future of Afghanistan’s government in doubt. “This kind of a crisis was inevitable whenever the U.S.

News Roundup: New coup details; Republicans issue new debt ceiling threat

In the news today: There’s now confirmation that former U.S. attorney Byung Pak resigned his post after refusing to go along with Trump team demands that supported Trump’s claims of election “fraud” in Georgia. Trump also intended to fire and replace the acting U.S. attorney general for not supporting the scheme. Republicans lawmakers are again threatening to hold the nation’s finances hostage rather than agree to an increase of the “debt ceiling.

‘There is no moral and economic recovery without including immigrants,’ 50 groups tell Congress

Following the advancement early Monday of an ambitious and historic budget resolution that includes funding for a pathway to citizenship for undocumented communities, dozens of leading organizations—including the American Federation of Teachers, MoveOn, and the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund—are calling on legislators to remain firm and ensure legalization is passed through the reconciliation process.

Newly uncovered text messages shed additional light on Gaetzgate

Sometimes when I wake up in the morning feeling a bit down, and life seems like little more than a small service to the strange, twisted course of the universe, I think, “Well, it could be worse. I could be Matt Gaetz.” And then I think, “Nah. Impossible. If I were Matt Gaetz, I’d be wearing Donald Trump Underoos.” Then I go back to sleep, wondering when our country will return to any semblance of sanity.

This Week in Statehouse Action: Hold the Line edition

Welp, y’all, it’s time.

With the Census Bureau’s release of redistricting data this week, the drawing of new congressional and state legislative maps can finally begin.

But … oh, it’s going to be bad.

So bad.

Here’s how, and here’s why.

Hero Texas Democrat delays voter suppression bill, but can’t stop it on her own

For 15 hours overnight Wednesday into Thursday, Texas state Sen. Carol Alvarado stood and talked on the Senate floor. She could not break for a drink of water. She couldn’t sit. She couldn’t even lean against her desk. For 15 hours, she stood in the senate chamber in the Austin statehouse and fought Senate Bill 1, a voter restrictions bill that is the companion to the one that Texas House Democrats have blocked by leaving the state, denying the body a quorum.

What We Got Wrong in Afghanistan

Watching the rapid deterioration of the security situation in Afghanistan—the Taliban have captured a third of the country’s provincial capitals in the weeks since the U.S. military pulled its troops out—has evoked a feeling of déjà vu for me.In 2005, I was an adviser to an Iraqi infantry battalion conducting counterinsurgency operations in and around Baghdad, one of the most violent parts of Iraq during one of the most violent periods in that conflict.

The Vaccine Scientist Spreading Vaccine Misinformation

Robert Malone—a medical doctor and an infectious-disease researcher—recently suggested that the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines might actually make COVID-19 infections worse. He chuckled as he imagined Anthony Fauci announcing that the vaccination campaign was all a big mistake (“Oh darn, I was wrong!”) and would need to be abandoned.

Reservation Dogs Is as Fresh as It Gets

Reservation Dogs wears its pop-culture influences proudly, and not just in its title. FX’s new comedy series abounds with cinephilic homages: A paintball shoot-out in the pilot ends with an absurd remake of a scene from Platoon. The four teenage protagonists suit up like the thieves in Reservoir Dogs, their gang’s namesake. One of the characters is even named Elora Danan, after the baby in the cult fantasy film Willow.

‘Everybody I Know Is Pissed Off’

The vaccinated, across party lines, have kind of had it with the unvaccinated, an array of new polls suggests.While most state and national GOP leaders are focused on defending the rights of unvaccinated Americans, new polling shows that the large majority of vaccinated adults—including a substantial portion of Republicans—support tougher measures against those who have refused COVID-19 shots.