Today's Liberal News

Thursday Night Owls: Kavanaugh and Barrett show they’re political operatives not impartial justices

Night Owls, a themed open thread, appears at Daily Kos seven days a week

Matt Ford at The New Republic writes—Brett Kavanaugh Will Have His Revenge on America. He and Amy Barrett have demonstrated this week that they should be thought of as political operatives, not justices: 

Two years ago, Justice Brett Kavanaugh appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee to defend himself against allegations of sexual misconduct.

Montana Democrat tricks Chris Christie into doing Cameo message trolling Republican Greg Gianforte

Cameo is an online service that allows you to get celebrities and other public people to record messages to send to friends and family. It’s used to send well wishes and birthday wishes, silly messages, and the like. Celebrities usually address their phone camera, for a price, and use the person’s first name.

Democratic candidate for governor of Montana Mike Cooney decided to take advantage of this service—in the service of his own campaign.

Coney Barrett confirmation stirs ‘sleeping giant’ pro-choice religious community

In the weeks leading up to Monday’s Supreme Court confirmation of Amy Coney Barrett, there was a slate of reporting about abortion and religious communities. Much of the reporting was ahistorical, inaccurate, and failed to convey that Coney Barrett was not confirmed despite her inexperience and extreme views, but because of her inexperience and extreme views.

Coalition sues Customs and Border Protection for records on agency’s role in suppressing protests

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) failed to disclose information as required by law regarding its deployment to national protests following the police killing of George Floyd earlier this year, so a coalition of leading civil and immigrants’ rights organizations have now sued the out-of-control federal immigration agency in order to force it to release the records.

COVID-19 Is Killing My People—And No One Seems to Care

At half past one on the morning of July 1, my 60th birthday, I awoke shivering. Since summertime chills are rare in South Texas, I immediately grew concerned. As the director of public affairs for Hidalgo County, just one county removed from the bottom of the state, I had been spending my days urging people to be on the lookout for symptoms that might indicate a COVID-19 infection. Chief among them were chills and a fever.

The Atlantic Daily: This Isn’t 2016

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.THE ATLANTIC1. This isn’t 2016. Democrats fear a repeat of last cycle’s polling mistakes. Our staff writer Derek Thompson offers five reasons why this election is different.2. Here’s what liberals don’t understand about pro-Trump Latinos.

The Rogue Planets That Wander the Galaxy Alone

The Milky Way is home to hundreds of billions of stars, and many more planets. Some come in sets, as in our own solar system. But not every planet orbits a star.Some planets actually wander the galaxy alone, untethered. They have no days or nights, and they exist in perpetual darkness. In a kitschy NASA collection of travel posters for destinations beyond Earth, one of these cold worlds is advertised with the motto: “Visit the planet with no star, where the nightlife never ends.

Pandemic Poverty: The CARES Act Kept Millions from Going Hungry. Why Won’t the Senate Renew It?

The massive $2 trillion CARES Act — which sent households one-time payments and boosted unemployment checks with an additional $600 a week through July — helped keep millions afloat, but more than 8 million people have been forced into poverty since the aid ended. “The relief was temporary, and much of it has now expired, so now we’re seeing poverty rise again,” says Megan Curran, a researcher at the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University.

Facebook Choked Traffic to Mother Jones & Other Sites While Amplifying Right-Wing Misinformation

Big Tech CEOs were grilled Wednesday about how they moderate election disinformation and extremist content, and were accused by Republicans of censoring conservatives. Overlooked were reports that Facebook designed changes to its news feed algorithm in 2017 to reduce the visibility of left-leaning news sites like Mother Jones. Mother Jones editors wrote in 2019 that the site had seen a sharp decline in its Facebook audience, which translated to a loss of around $600,000 over 18 months.

Is Republican Attack on Social Media Giants Part of an Effort to Invalidate Election Results?

Lawmakers grilled the chief executives of Facebook, Google and Twitter just days before Election Day on how they moderate hate speech, extremist content and election disinformation, including tweets from President Trump. Republicans have long accused Big Tech platforms of censoring conservative views, but tech policy expert Ramesh Srinivasan says the argument is shaped around talking points that are aimed at invalidating election results.