Today's Liberal News
Sunday Night Owls: Replacing the gasoline tax with something that makes 21st Century sense
Night Owls is a themed open thread appearing at Daily Kos seven days a week.
Gabrielle Gurley at The American Prospect writes—The Long and Winding Road to Replacing the Gas Tax. Can Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg convince Congress that road user fees are the next big revenue thing?
Pete Buttigieg has parachuted in for a soft landing at the Department of Transportation. There were no Betsy DeVos-esque moments at the Rhodes Scholar’s confirmation hearing.
Peter Navarro Says Trump’s AG Bill Barr Was Part Of ‘Deep State Coup’ Against Him
Navarro claimed Barr was essentially Joe Biden’s “first attorney general.” (He wasn’t.
U.S. To Rejoin U.N. Human Rights Council, Reversing Trump’s Withdrawal
The Biden administration is set to reengage with the agency three years after the Trump administration dropped out due to its disproportionate focus on Israel.
‘Princess Bride’ actor unleashes his inner Dread Pirate Roberts on Sen. Ted Cruz
Ted Cruz and I share exactly two things in common. We both convert oxygen to carbon dioxide and we both love The Princess Bride. I’m not happy about it, and more than once it’s forced me to question my life choices. If I share that with Cruz, what else might we have in common? Did my dad help kill JFK, too? I shudder to think.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley Describes Image That Still Haunts Her From Capitol Siege
“We have been cleaning up after violent, white supremacist mobs for generations and it must end,” the Massachusetts lawmaker said.
One month after Capitol police officer killed in riot, and still no named suspects
While Black Lives Matter protesters experienced a downpour of immediate arrests in Minnesota following the death of George Floyd, the mostly white crowd that ascended on the U.S. Capitol on January 6 experienced something more akin to a sprinkle.
Nuts & Bolts inside the Democratic Party: You don’t have to be the big game in town
It’s another Sunday, so for those who tune in, welcome to another discussion of the Nuts & Bolts of a Democratic campaign. If you’ve missed out, you can catch up any time: Just visit our group or follow the Nuts & Bolts Guide. Every week I try to tackle issues I’ve been asked about. With the help of other campaign workers and notes, we address how to improve and build better campaigns, or explain issues that impact our party.
Lindsey Graham Says Trump Will Get ‘Blame’ For Capitol Riot, Dismisses Impeachment
The Republican senator said Trump will “get his share of blame in history” for the Jan. 6 insurrection, but stopped short of supporting his impeachment trial.
The consequences of an absence of trust with the COVID-19 vaccine
Why can’t we get some people to believe in universal healthcare, a Green New Deal, or the power of communities working together to effect change? We can’t even a good number of the population to trust their government to deliver a vaccine to help them. I work in healthcare, and when the COVID-19 vaccine rollout was announced under the Trump administration last year, I absolutely debated whether or not to get it, at first.
South Africa suspends AstraZeneca vaccine drive
“The AstraZeneca vaccine appeared effective against the original strain, but not against the variant,” an official said.
Kevin McCarthy Pushed Liz Cheney To Apologize For Impeachment Vote: Reports
Cheney reportedly refused the request from McCarthy, the top Republican in the House.
Fauci looking ahead to more vaccines in March, April
The director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases says the current supply shortage will be overcome.
A Super Bowl Ad That the Biden Presidency Made Possible
1. Here is what happens in the ad that General Motors will air during the Super Bowl: Standing in a garage inspired half by the storage unit in True Detective and half by the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia conspiracy meme, Will Ferrell announces that the United States has not adopted electric cars as quickly as Norway. He punches a globe. He fetches his friends Kenan Thompson and Awkwafina (he is on a first-name basis with both, as celebrities always are); they set off for Norway.
SNL Is Breaking With Its Old Patterns
Saturday Night Live wants you to know that it’s still fun. “Trust me when I say this: It has only been good here at SNL,” the host, Schitt’s Creek’s Dan Levy, said in his monologue, without a hint of irony. Given the state of the world, that’s a dangerous statement to make: The show has been through a turbulent year of struggling to find humor in definitively not-good times, Dan Levy.
Superb Owl Sunday V
A special Sunday event: our fifth annual photographic essay celebrating these magnificent birds of prey. These nocturnal hunters hail from Europe, Asia, North America, and South America, and are captured here in photos from recent years. If you have some time today before the big game (or are skipping the event entirely), I invite you to take a look; as always, it was a hoot to put this together.
Deciduous
Speak plainly, said November to the maples, say
what you mean now, nowthat summer’s lush declensions lie like the lies
they were at your feet. Haven’twe praised you? Haven’t we summer after summer
put our faith in augmentation.
Tom Stoppard’s Double Life
This article was published online on February 7, 2021.In a short book about biography, Hermione Lee, literary life-writer par excellence, offered two metaphors for the art at which she excels. One was an autopsy. The other was a portrait. “Whereas autopsy suggests clinical investigation and, even, violation,” she wrote, “portrait suggests empathy, bringing to life, capturing the character.” She argued that these contrasting approaches had something in common.
Help! My Wife No Longer Likes Sex After Her Mastectomy. So I Cheated. With a Man.
Advice about marriage, parenting, and relationships.
Dear Care and Feeding: My Cousin’s Wife Has Inexplicably Cut Him Off From Our Family
Parenting advice on estrangement, transphobia, and dating after a spouse’s death.
Biden’s vaccine ad campaign hits roadblock: Not enough doses
Administration officials are wary of launching a promised campaign promoting vaccination while doses are still in limited supply.
‘The Democratic version of John McCain’
As the critical swing vote in a 50-50 Senate, Joe Manchin has emerged as the most powerful man in Washington.
Larry Summers Has Some Weird Fears About the Biden Relief Plan
He doesn’t fully spell out why he thinks Congress shouldn’t spend too much, because that would undermine his weird point.
Is Biden’s Relief Plan Too Big? Maybe. Is the Republican Plan Too Small? Definitely.
But if you’re still not convinced, look at these charts.
Everything Is Gambling Now
The GameStop surge was just one of the ways Americans have renewed their love of betting.
So, When Are the New Stimulus Checks Coming?
There are a lot of bizarre, self-imposed congressional limits that may delay final passage until March.
Somehow WeWork—WeWork!—Is on the Cusp of Thriving
The troubled startup was primed to fail in a pandemic. Here’s how it survived.
Biden administration deploys more than 1,000 active-duty troops to aid vaccination efforts
Some of the military members will arrive for deployment in California within the next 10 days.
Johnson & Johnson files for emergency use of Covid-19 shot
The vaccine is a single dose shot that experts say is key to vaccinating vulnerable, hard-to-reach and even skeptical people.