Today's Liberal News

Democrats May Be on the Verge of Climate Disaster

This is an excerpt from The Atlantic’s climate newsletter, The Weekly Planet. Subscribe today.I’m starting to become concerned about President Joe Biden’s ability to pass a climate bill. They’re speaking sotto voce, but still: In the past few days, Democrats on the party’s left and right flanks have started to hint that, well, in some circumstances, given some contingencies, they might prefer no bill to a negotiated compromise with the rival flank.

The Democrats’ Greatest Delusion

Democrats in Congress are divided on a slew of important issues right now, leaving President Joe Biden’s signature $3.5 trillion spending plan in jeopardy. What unites them is the illusion that the way they handle the plan will make or break the party’s fortunes in next year’s midterms.If only things worked that way. The election is almost certainly a lost cause for Democrats, and, if it’s not, it’s likely out of their control either way.

“We Are Troy Davis”: 10 Years After Georgia Execution That Galvanized Anti-Death Penalty Movement

Tuesday marks 10 years since the state of Georgia executed Troy Anthony Davis for a crime many believe he did not commit. He was put to death despite major doubts about evidence used to convict him of killing Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail, including the recantation of seven of the nine non-police witnesses at his trial. As the world watched to see whether Davis’s final appeal for a stay of execution would be granted by the U.S.

“We Need to Deliver”: Anger Grows at Sens. Manchin, Sinema over Obstruction of Democratic Priorities

Democrats are still divided over President Biden’s sweeping $3.5 trillion spending plan to expand the social safety net, increase taxes on the rich and corporations, improve worker rights and combat the climate crisis. Senate Democrats are hoping to use the budget reconciliation process to pass the bill, but this will only work if the entire Democratic caucus backs the deal, and conservative Democrats have balked at the price tag.

U.S. Allies Still Trust America

After the fall of Kabul last month, many observers of U.S. foreign policy concluded that America had lost interest in its allies, and that its allies had lost faith in America.An important development in Asia, however, serves as a powerful rebuttal of both arguments.The conventional wisdom in August was that Washington was no longer a reliable partner and that allies’ trust had been destroyed by the manner of its withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Portland protest pipe-bombing case moves forward when FBI becomes involved, witness steps up

It’s one of the lingering mysteries from 2020’s anti-police brutality protests: Who tossed a couple of pipe bombs at Portland, Oregon, protesters one night in a city park? Was an ex-Navy SEAL who provides the police with training materials involved? And was there any likelihood that the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) would seriously investigate the matter?

However, the FBI has now joined the investigation at PPB’s request, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.

Doctor defies restrictive Texas abortion law, says in op-ed he ‘had a duty of care’

As the fight to end Texas’ new restrictive abortion ban continues, a Texas doctor revealed Saturday that he violated the law by performing an abortion days after the law went into effect. The San Antonio doctor, identified as Dr. Alan Braid, shared his story in an op-ed published in The Washington Post titled “Why I violated Texas’s extreme abortion ban.” In it, he revealed that he’d given an abortion to a woman in her first trimester on Sept. 6.