Today's Liberal News

“Let the People Pick the President”: The Case for Abolishing the Electoral College

As Donald Trump and Joe Biden make their final campaign pushes in battleground states that could decide the election, we speak with author and journalist Jesse Wegmen about the case for abolishing the Electoral College system altogether and moving toward a national popular vote for electing the president. Two of the last three presidents — George W. Bush and Donald Trump — came to office after losing the popular vote.

Native American Voters Could Decide Key Senate Races While Battling Intense Voter Suppression

Native American voters could sway key Senate races in next week’s election in Montana, North Carolina, Arizona and Maine. Investigative journalist Jenni Monet says that for many tribal citizens, the contest is not just about Democrats and Republicans. These voters “support those who understand their sovereignty,” says Monet, who writes the newsletter “Indigenously.” She is a tribal citizen of the Pueblo of Laguna.

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.

Saturday Night Owls: AOC, Tlaib introduce bill to spur creation of public banks across America

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

Jessica Corbett at Common Dreams writes—’Banking for the People’: Tlaib and Ocasio-Cortez Unveil Bill to Foster Creation of Public Banks Across US:

“It’s long past time to open doors for people who have been systematically shut out and provide a better option for those grappling with the costs of simply trying to participate in an economy they have every right to—but has

As Black horror rises in popularity, horror writers discuss its evolution

Horror films are created with a goal of eliciting fright and angst from the audience by evoking their worst fears, nightmares, or playing out worst-case-scenarios. One commonality exists within all horror stories: an outside element or villain—whether it be a clown, a shark, a vampire, a monster, or something supernatural—coming to cause mayhem, death, and wreak havoc on peoples’ lives. When it comes to Black horror, however, the villain is oftentimes more recognizable.

COVID-19 Casualties: The jobs that may never return

The Trump administration’s failure to respond to the health crisis has led to job losses that could take decades to rebuild.

By Mark Kreidler for Capital and Main

As anyone who drove past a darkened restaurant, empty hotel, or shuttered stadium over the summer knows, the pandemic has been calamitous for the food service industry.

Texas ‘Trump Train’ of flag-bearing pickups ambushes, harasses Biden-Harris campaign bus

A caravan of Donald Trump supporters driving dozens of mostly banner-festooned pickup trucks and SUVs deliberately ambushed a Biden-Harris campaign bus traveling to Austin and other parts of Texas on Thursday, harassing them constantly en route, forcing Democrats to cancel at least two campaign events out of concern for public safety. The participants, however, all proudly boasted about the harassment on social media, and police made no arrests.

As early voting winds down across the country, voters are more determined to cast ballots than ever

Last Saturday was Vote Early Day, a joyful celebration of the great right and responsibility to shape the direction of this nation. The dispatches from Vote Early Day featured singing, dancing, laughter, and other forms of joy. 

The dispatches since are a bit more somber. Sure, folks are celebrating submitting their ballots—I did, after I voted on Tuesday—but most folks’ focus is on getting others to vote.

Let the Incarcerated Vote

On the morning of Election Day in 2018, I went to vote at my local polling site in Maryland and then drove down to the D.C. Central Detention Facility, where I taught creative-writing workshops with a group of 18-to-24-year-old incarcerated young men. I parked, turned off the engine, and felt the soft vibration of the car come to a stop. I sat there and looked down at the I VOTED sticker in my hand—its adhesive clinging to my finger, its waxy paper catching the light through my windows.

25 Feel-Good Films You’ll Want to Watch Again—and Again

Over the course of 2020, I’ve compiled several movie-recommendation lists for viewers who are at once in desperate need of distraction and yet never able to fully escape the year’s pressing realities. A global pandemic. Economic turmoil. An impending election showdown. Natural disasters. Police killings and unrelenting national protests.

The YouTuber Who Treats the Inner City Like a Safari

Video above: A snippet from the YouTube video by Charlie Moore, a.k.a. CharlieBo313, titled “SAN FRANCISCO WORST HOUSING PROJECTS / HOOD INTERVIEW”Charlie Moore shoots hood safaris. For years, he’s filmed visits to the most impoverished neighborhoods in cities across the United States for his CharlieBo313 YouTube channel, which has almost 350,000 subscribers.

Trump’s Pathology Is Now Clear

The human brain makes decisions in two basic modes. One is analytic, which involves carefully weighing costs and benefits and choosing the best option. The other mode is intuitive: doing what feels right. Both have their merits. Intuitive thinking allows us to make split-second decisions. It helps guide our romantic lives and our lunchtime sandwich choices. But it is not the mode that should inform a strategic response to a pandemic.

Beware False Endings

Earlier this week, a striking thing happened at the Supreme Court: A justice inserted several errors into the record. The mistakes came as the Court was making last-minute decisions about the precise time span of an election that has been taking place for weeks. The errors were products, as The New York Times put it, of “the court’s fast pace in handling recent challenges to voting rules.