Today's Liberal News

“This Is Not a Climate Bill”: Leah Stokes on Why Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal Doesn’t Go Far Enough

Senate Democrats have announced that they have joined with 17 Republicans to vote in favor of taking up a $1.2 trillion infrastructure deal. The plan includes new spending on climate and environment measures, but critics say it falls far short of what is needed. Democrats say they hope to include additional climate measures in a $3.5 trillion reconciliation package that could advance without being blocked by a Republican filibuster if it is backed by all 50 Democrats.

House Goober Gang, including Greene and Gaetz, run off by protesters during cynical publicity stunt

In a cynical attempt at counterprogramming the Jan. 6 House Select Committee hearings, the 4G Goober Gang—Marjorie Taylor Greene, Matt Gaetz, Louie Gohmert, and Paul Gosar—sought to draw attention to the wretched state of the “political prisoners” who were arrested in the wake of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, many of whom remain in stir.

It didn’t go quite as planned.

‘We’ll handle it internally’: Texas deputy attorney general pays the price for mocking Simone Biles

Americans and gymnastics fans alike were shocked this Tuesday at the news that Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles opted to withdraw from an event after failing to land a challenging vault. Biles’ announcement came as a shock because many saw her as the American face of the Tokyo Olympics; however, while some were disappointed, others applauded Biles for her courage to stand up for herself and put her health above the sport.

Civiqs poll: 80% of Republicans believe election was stolen from Trump

A steady stream of polls from multiple outlets have shown that a shocking number of Republican voters believe the election was somehow stolen from Donald Trump, and/or that Joe Biden is not the legitimate president.

But new Daily Kos/Civiqs polling finds an even more eye-popping number: 80% of GOP voters “agree with former President Donald Trump’s claim that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.

Cheers and Jeers: Rum and Shots in Arms FRIDAY!

Late Night Snark: 2009 Wayback Machine Edition

The late-night hosts are off this week, so we thought it’d be fun to see what the hell was going on in our world when President Obama reached his six-month mark, as his former VP/current POTUS did ten days ago. Some one-liners from July, 2009, when we were still using Oxy10 by the gallon and our voices were just starting to change:

“Dick Cheney is writing his memoir.

It’s Almost Impossible to Be a Running Fan

Professional runners have to endure extraordinary deprivation, pain, and pressure to reach the Olympics. Professional-running fans, meanwhile, have to endure the question of which athletes actually deserve to be there. This summer, before the U.S. trials for the Tokyo Olympics had even finished, fans were forced to digest the fact that two of America’s track-and-field athletes most likely to medal wouldn’t be headed to the Games.

‘I Would Go Tomorrow to Get the Third Shot’

And just like that, it’s Groundhog Day. The news from the CDC is bad. Yes, we have vaccines—and they are miraculously effective at preventing serious illness and death from COVID-19. Thank goodness for that. But the CDC now says that when vaccinated people are infected, they may spread the coronavirus just as easily as the unvaccinated do. On top of that, the Delta variant is tremendously contagious, much more so than the original strain of the virus.

The Insurrection Was Just Part of the Plot

For raw emotional content, Tuesday’s hearing of the new House select committee to investigate the January 6 insurrection was nonpareil. Four police officers who fought to hold back armed hordes seeking to disrupt Congress told stories of physical injury, racist abuse, and post-traumatic distress. Even for Americans who paid close attention to the crisis, these stories added new texture and horror.