Today's Liberal News

“House of Absolute Horrors”: Mary Trump’s Book Reveals How Trump Family Gave Rise to a “Sociopath”

In a new book, Mary Trump — the president’s niece — describes Donald Trump as a “sociopath” who grew up in a dysfunctional family that fostered his greed and cruelty. Donald Trump’s younger brother, Robert, is seeking to block the sale of the book on the grounds that it violates a confidentiality agreement, but publisher Simon & Schuster says 600,000 copies of the book have already been distributed ahead of its July 14 publishing date.

Supreme Court Rules Trump Is Not Above the Law, But Public Unlikely to See Tax Returns by Election

In a pair of 7-2 rulings, the Supreme Court rejected President Trump’s claim of absolute immunity under the law. The court ruled a Manhattan grand jury could have access to the president’s tax returns, but it remains unlikely any of Trump’s tax records will be seen before the election. “Legally, Trump had a big loss,” says investigative reporter David Cay Johnston, founder and editor of DCReport.org. “Politically, he got a big win out of this court.

COVID Exposes “Significant Racial Health Inequities” as Black, Brown & Indigenous People Suffer Most

The coronavirus continues to hit communities of color the hardest, with federal data showing African American and Latinx people are nearly three times more likely to be infected and twice as likely to die from the virus compared to their white neighbors. There were “pretty significant racial health disparities” even before COVID-19 ravaged the country, says Dr.

If Democratic fundraising dollars could talk, they’d speak of massive hate for Mitch McConnell

If fundraising translates into votes, Mitch McConnell’s Senate majority is toast. Okay, we all know that it doesn’t work that way, but fundraising translates to enthusiasm and enthusiasm can definitely translate to votes. So, yes, Majority Leader McConnell’s freak-out over the filibuster is well-founded, and will be intensified now that fundraising information for the second quarter has been released.

P.S. Senate Republicans: We’re coming for you

“Someday soon, the time of Trump will pass,” promises a new ad from the anti-Trump Lincoln Project that absolutely skewers Senate Republicans. 

And when “this circus of incompetence, corruption, and cruelty” ends, notes the ad, GOP lawmakers who empowered Trump will tell you they can help repair and rebuild the damage he’s inflicted on the party and the nation.

This Week in Statehouse Action: What a Fool Believes edition

Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh.

(Sigh or scream? Up to you!)

We’ve almost made it through another week!

But before the weekend, a quick update on what’s shaking in the states:

Fool’s Gold: If you’ve been enjoying my takes and enduring my bad puns and such for, say, about two years or more, you may recall the long-ago time of late 2018, when Wisconsin Republican lawmakers were mourning Scott Walker’s loss of the governorship to Democrat Tony Evers.

Trump’s under-attended rally directly connected to surge in COVID-19 cases in Tulsa area

The debate over what it takes to be safe during the COVID-19 pandemic continues, with many researchers worried that the social distancing guidelines now in place are insufficient in light of  evidence the disease can be spread by smaller aerosol particles. But as experts debate the relative safety of various locations and activities, one things has remained clear: The absolute worst situation is a large number of people, for a sustained period of time, in an indoor location.

Throwing a sandwich ends in death for Black teen restrained until he lost consciousness

Security surveillance video released Tuesday showed a 16-year-old boy who threw a sandwich at another teen being restrained until he lost consciousness at a Michigan youth facility. That child, Cornelius Fredericks, died May 1, two days after the incident at Lakeside Academy, a facility that houses children in foster care or the juvenile justice system, according to NBC News.