Every weekday evening, our editors guide you through the biggest stories of the day, help you discover new ideas, and surprise you with moments of delight. Subscribe to get this delivered to your inbox.In a slog of a year, new releases brought structure to the calendar. (Remember the Tiger King phase of quarantine? Or the Folklore one?)But what projects stood out the most? The critics on our Culture team are busy recapping 2020’s best works.
President Donald Trump’s pardons include military contractors who killed children, law enforcement officers who violated civil rights and, of course, his allies.
President Donald Trump uses his pardon power as an instrument of personal ambition. He pardons people who have lied to protect him, and people who have expressed loyalty to him. Yesterday, he pardoned Charles Kushner, whose son is married to one of Trump’s daughters. More Trump-family pardons may soon be coming.Public-spirited citizens are understandably angry about these abuses.
The president has thrown the fate of the bill into jeopardy.
Editor’s Note: The Atlantic is making vital coverage of the coronavirus available to all readers. Find the collection here. We’ll begin with the good news: In every midwestern state—and in several others—COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are declining. Elsewhere, however, the picture is mixed.
No, of course the past few weeks—like the past few months, and the past few years—of Brexit drama have not made much sense. In economic terms, not a lot about Brexit ever has.Britain and the European Union have in recent days been locked in talks to conclude one of the most important trade agreements ever negotiated.
Trump demanded Congress increase direct payments in the COVID-19 relief bill from $600 to $2,000. Speaker Pelosi happily obliged. Republicans blocked it.
“The pardons from this President are what you would expect to get if you gave the pardon power to a mob boss…”
The United States has become the first nation in the world to recognize Morocco’s annexation of Western Sahara. The Trump administration announced the major policy shift on December 10 — International Human Rights Day — as part of a deal that saw Morocco become the fourth Arab nation to normalize ties to Israel in recent months.
So much is still unknown about pregnancy and COVID-19. We do know that contracting the disease comes with increased risk of severe illness, and a higher risk of preterm birth. But how an infection affects a person at different stages of pregnancy? Or a developing fetus? No one knows for sure. Would vaccination help mitigate these risks? The vaccines were never tested on pregnant people.
We make compromises, then she moves the goal posts.
The only way my son does his schoolwork is if I sit by his side.
“It’s not as easy as the census,” said one CEO of a Chicago nonprofit. “It’s a deeper conversation.
Boosted unemployment insurance? Check. A continued eviction moratorium? Check. Checks? Check. But there’s still much more that we need.
It’ll only be enough if the vaccination effort doesn’t blow it.
The White House coronavirus response coordinator says she will stay on as long as needed and will then step back.
European officials have said the variant could be up to 70 percent more transmissible than other varieties.
Congress curbed the central bank’s emergency lending despite the economy’s continuing struggles.
Biden added that the appointees have “broad viewpoints on how to build a stronger and more inclusive middle class.
Officials said they expect the U.S. economy to shrink by 2.4 percent this year, a brighter forecast than they offered just three months ago.
Vaccine euphoria is giving economic forecasters hope for a blockbuster 2021 and stretching stock market valuations to historic highs. It’s a setup that leaves no room for error.
A former high-level employee at Heather Boushey’s think tank publicly aired the accusations on Tuesday night.
As President Trump continues to look for ways to overturn the 2020 election, he has also continued to raise massive sums of money — over half a billion dollars since mid-October, including more than $250 million since Election Day. The New York Times reports more than $60 million of what Trump raised has gone to a new political action committee that he will control after he leaves office, an unprecedented war chest for an outgoing president.
Trump pardoned son-in-law Jared Kushner’s father, whose crimes included hiring a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law, filming it and giving it to his sister.
Night Owls, a themed open thread, appears at Daily Kos seven days a week
28 DAYS UNTIL JOE BIDEN AND KAMALA HARRIS TAKE THE OATH OF OFFICE
Jared Keller at Task & Purpose writes—Do Americans really care about war crimes? Trump’s pardoning of four Blackwater contractors underscores America’s apathy towards war crimes committed abroad:
[…] Unfortunately, the average American appears to have a relatively high tolerance for war crimes abroad.
Paul Manafort came of age in New Britain, Connecticut. His father, the garrulous mayor of that decaying factory town, taught him how to cobble together an electoral coalition, passing down the tricks of the trade that became the basis for the son’s lucrative career as a political consultant. But as the local hardware manufacturers fled to foreign shores, the Mafia moved into town.
The men who plotted to invade the state Capitol in Lansing, Michigan, and murder state officials this year were members of a militia group. Those “III Percenters” who have been showing up to urban street demonstrations in camo body armor and toting AR-15s organize themselves into militias.
