Arizona Republicans Censure Cindy McCain, GOP Governor
The censures of Sen. John McCain’s widow, former Sen. Jeff Flake and Gov. Doug Ducey are symbolic of the state party’s intense loyalty to Trump.
Today's Liberal News
Essential food workers strike over $1 in New York City, this week in the war on workers
Remember back in April when everyone suddenly realized that food chain workers are essential workers? A group of workers in the Bronx is trying to make good on that realization as they negotiate their next contract—and it’s led to a strike, as the bosses at the Hunts Point Produce Market refuse the workers’ call for a $1 an hour raise and added help with healthcare costs.
Community Spotlight: The fight sustained us during the last 4 years. What’s next?
The day before the inauguration, I pored over images of the 2017 Women’s March, and wept for the particular combo of horror and hope we expressed. That largest single-day demonstration in U.S. history, when 4.6 million people participated in Women’s Marches across the U.S., wasn’t billed as a protest against Trump.
Corrections Officer Charged In Riot Texted From Capitol: ‘We’re Inside Hahaha’
The New Jersey woman sent a number of incriminating texts and videos during and after the insurrection, the FBI said.
Spotlight on Green News & Views: Biden takes on climate crisis; Calif. drilling permits double
This is the 663rd edition of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue). Here is the Jan. 16 edition. Inclusion of a story in the Spotlight does not necessarily indicate my agreement with or endorsement of it.
OUTSTANDING GREEN STORIES
Mark Lippman writes—Ted Cruz tweets nonsense about the Paris Climate Agreement.
Cop’s Son Who Punched Officer In Capitol Attack Has A Brother In The Secret Service
Scott Fairlamb, a former ultimate fighter, got pulled into the “conspiracy theory vortex,” one associate said.
Man Arrested For Capitol Riot Involvement Threatened To ‘Assassinate’ Rep. Ocasio-Cortez
Garret Miller of Dallas, Texas, has been arrested and faces federal charges for allegedly participating in the Capitol attack, the Justice Department said.
TV Captured Trump by Looking Away
Paul Spella / HBO / Netflix / Getty / The AtlanticLate last year, at the end of my parental leave, I finally caught up with The Comey Rule, Showtime’s stolid adaptation of former FBI Director James Comey’s memoir about—among other things—being fired by Donald Trump.
Help! Should I Apologize Again to My Cousin for Sleeping With Her Husband?
I still feel guilty, four years later.
Amazon’s offering to help Biden’s vaccine push. There may be a reason why.
Amazon’s bid comes as Biden officials say they’re trying to repair the vaccine distribution system they inherited.
Why Israel’s Vaccine Success Might Be Hard to Replicate
One nation has already provided more than a quarter of its people with at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, outpacing every other country in the world and more than sextupling the percentage in the United States. During one recent three-day period, in fact, it administered a dose of the vaccine to a higher percentage of its population than the U.S. has altogether. Nearly three-fourths of those over age 60 have gotten their first shot.
The Forgotten People Fighting the Forever War
Both the Trump and Obama administrations relied heavily on highly trained Special Forces units to keep Afghanistan from collapse. The strategy has kept recent episodes of the 21-year Afghan War out of the public eye, but it is failing to stabilize the country and is straining the United States military’s elite troops, who serve back-to-back combat tours without an end in sight and disproportionately give their lives in service of a war the public knows almost nothing about.
Don’t Move On Just Yet
Until the day that a violent mob stormed the Capitol building, it seemed possible that Donald Trump would be able to shuffle into postpresidential life without facing any real consequences. President-elect Joe Biden had indicated his anxiety over a potential prosecution of the former president. Commentators muttered about the political divisiveness of pursuing Trump after he left office.
Joe Biden’s First COVID-Relief Bill Isn’t Screwing Around
He can’t possibly expect the GOP to go along with this—but that might be a good thing.
Biden’s Covid team grapples with a basic question: Where’s all the vaccine?
States are warning they’re running out of the vaccine, with little sense of when more will arrive.
Fauci: New Covid strains increase need for fast vaccination scheme
Speaking at a White House news briefing, the government’s top infectious disease expert warned that strains first identified in South Africa and Brazil could reduce the potency of the two vaccines now in use.
Ask a Teacher: I Have a Horrible Choice to Make About My Son, My Mom, and COVID
Should I send my son back to school?
U.S. jobless claims decline to a still-high 900,000
The government said that 5.1 million Americans are continuing to receive state jobless benefits, down from 5.2 million in the previous week.
30 Things Donald Trump Did as President You Might Have Missed
Trump’s presidency may be best remembered for its cataclysmic end. But his four years as president also changed real American policy in lasting ways, just more quietly. We asked POLITICO’s best-in-class policy reporters to recap some of the ways Trump changed the country while in office, for better or worse.
U.S. loses 140,000 jobs in first monthly loss since spring
At the same time, the unemployment rate stayed at 6.7%, the first time it hasn’t fallen since April.
How Biden’s dream of fighting income inequality runs through Georgia
The share of wealth controlled by the top 1 percent sits at levels not seen since the 1920s. Biden’s hopes for changing it rests on Senate control.
Trump backs down, signs stimulus package
A government shutdown was averted after the president approved the Covid relief package and annual spending bill.
“The Hill We Climb”: Watch Breathtaking Poem by Amanda Gorman, Youngest Inaugural Poet in U.S. History
One of the most remarkable moments from Wednesday’s inauguration ceremony came from poet Amanda Gorman, the youngest poet in U.S. history to speak at a presidential inauguration. The 22 year-old read “The Hill We Climb,” a poem she finished right after the riot at the Capitol earlier this month. We feature her full recitation and get reaction from scholar Cornel West and award-winning journalist Maria Hinojosa.
Trump plotted to toss the acting attorney general, insert a stooge, and block the electoral count
Donald Trump driving a crowd into a violent attack on the Capitol may be the defining image that will remain in the minds of most Americans. But that assault on Jan. 6 wasn’t the only coup Trump planned. After his ridiculous legal ploys had all floundered; after his attempts to strong arm governors and secretaries of state had failed; after he had wined and dined state legislators in an attempt to prevent the certification of votes … Trump had another scheme.
Friday Night Owls: How the ‘essential worker’ label is used to bolster an abusive social order
Night Owls is a themed open thread appearing at Daily Kos seven days a week.
Sarah Lazare at In These Times writes—The “Essential Worker” Swindle. How this label is used to justify a social order in which workers are abused, discarded and left to die:
Politicians, pundits, CEOs and think tank staffers have spent the past 10 months effusively praising the heroism and sacrifice of essential workers.
Kevin McCarthy: ‘Everybody Across This Country’ Is To Blame For Capitol Attack
Donald Trump is responsible for the Jan. 6 riot, but so are you, according to the House Republican leader.
Jen Psaki explains new normal in D.C.—Biden is president, and he’s a Democrat
In her second press briefing as White House press secretary, Jen Psaki was forced to explain a few basics about the new posture of the man now sitting in the Oval Office. Those basics included the fact that Joe Biden is a president who is demonstrating actual leadership in the White House, and he’s delivering on the campaign promises he made as a Democratic candidate.