Today's Liberal News

The President Is Not Superman

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.America is facing an existential authoritarian threat from Donald Trump and the Republican Party in 2024, in part because voters have for too long thought of the presidency as an omnipotent throne.

George Santos promises ‘receipts’ of his fellow Republicans’ corruption

On Sunday, pathological backstory-fabricator George Santos granted an interview to a local CBS affiliate in New York. Appearing on “The Point with Marcia Kramer,” the ousted Congress member declared that he had learned from his mistakes and that he was going to atone by exposing all of the corruption he saw in Washington—and named fellow Republicans as some of the biggest offenders.

Fellow Republican Rep.

Trumpmentum in Iowa?

The Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll conducted by Selzer & Co. is just one poll, but it’s also the most trusted survey of the Hawkeye State, and the groups just dropped their final pre-Iowa caucus poll of the cycle.

Roughly a month out from the first-in-the-nation caucus on Jan. 15, the latest Selzer poll suggests Donald Trump, whose dominance was never in question, continues to consolidate the vote ahead of next month’s contest.

DeJoy’s US Postal Service leadership is deadly

On June 20, 2023, Eugene “Gino” Gates collapsed on the lawn of a house in an affluent Dallas, Texas, neighborhood and died. The 66-year-old military veteran was a mail carrier who died of heatstroke while on his route. A homeowner attempted CPR but failed to revive him. Gates’ body temperature at death was 104.6 degrees, and the temperature in Dallas that day was a humid 98 degrees.

ICYMI: Trump chickened out and Musk got owned

Donald Trump chickened out

Buk buk buk buk ba-gawk! Donald Trump spent much of last week furiously promising to show up to court on Monday to tell his side of the story, but when it came down to it, he was nowhere to be found. Instead, Trump released an all-caps screed that Daily Kos’ Mark Sumner cleverly deciphered for us all.  

Elon Musk gets owned by the X community

It was a drama-filled weekend over on the site formerly known as Twitter.

Please Stop Paying George Santos for Clout

This holiday season, why not give that special someone something truly timeless: a recording of a disgraced congressman performing for your ironic viewing pleasure. Thanks to the magic of Cameo, a video platform that allows users to pay celebrities for custom messages, and the indefatigable American spirit of grift, you can commission a 30-second video of the recently expelled Representative George Santos telling you to “let the haters hate.” It costs $500.

Democrat who once enabled Chris Christie launches 2025 bid to lead New Jersey

Former New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney on Monday launched his long-anticipated campaign to replace his fellow Democrat, termed-out Gov. Phil Murphy, in 2025.

Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, who entered the primary back in April, responded to the news by telling the Associated Press that Sweeney is a “conservative” who was “very, very close” to Chris Christie when the Republican was governor.

Harvard’s President Should Resign

Maresuke Nogi was always his own toughest critic. Emperor Meiji trusted him and appointed him to high military posts in Japan: general in the imperial army, governor-general of Taiwan. But we all make mistakes, and Nogi’s lapses gnawed at him. Twice he requested the emperor’s leave to commit ritual suicide. Each time, the emperor refused.

​​A Radical Idea to Break the Logic of Oil Drilling

In the climate-change era, everyone who has oil wants to be the last one to sell it. Oil-producing countries still plan to increase production in the near term, and very few economic incentives exist to press them in any other direction. As long as someone else still has oil, they’ll sell it to your customer in your stead. Oil-industry insiders have said this point-blank throughout this year’s United Nations climate talks in Dubai, which are scheduled to end tomorrow.

Science Is Becoming Less Human

This summer, a pill intended to treat a chronic, incurable lung disease entered mid-phase human trials. Previous studies have demonstrated that the drug is safe to swallow, although whether it will improve symptoms of the painful fibrosis that it targets remains unknown; this is what the current trial will determine, perhaps by next year.

“Please Stop This War Against Us”: Gaza Doctor Begs for World’s Help as Hunger & Disease Spread

We get an update from one of the few hospitals still operating in southern Gaza from Ahmed Moghrabi, a doctor at Nasser Hospital, who describes horrific conditions. “I’ve developed [a] psychological disorder,” says Moghrabi, who himself is barely surviving on little food and clean water. “Please stop this genocide against us. Stop this war. Please, please, I beg you.” We also speak with Dr.

U.S. Vetoes U.N. Gaza Ceasefire Again as Biden Veers Far from Global Consensus, Death Toll Tops 18,000

To discuss the shocking United States veto of a U.N. Security Council resolution requesting a Gaza ceasefire, we’re joined by Shibley Telhami, who says President Biden’s refusal to engage with popular calls for ceasefire is a shocking “personal decision” that will have negative consequences for U.S. foreign policy and “American standing” around the world.

State Dept. Whistleblower Blasts Blinken for Bypassing Congress to Send 14K Tank Munitions to Israel

The Biden administration has bypassed Congress to approve an “emergency” sale of over $100 million of tank ammunition to Israel. Congress was notified just hours after the United States vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a Gaza ceasefire. We get response from Josh Paul, former director of congressional and public affairs for the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, which oversees arms transfers to Israel and other nations.

Why Is Brazil Joining OPEC+ Oil Cartel, If Lula Is Committed to Phasing Out Fossil Fuels?

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is calling for phasing out fossil fuels but has alarmed many climate activists as Brazil moves to join the oil producer alliance OPEC+ as an observer state. Paula Vargas, director of the Brazil program at Amazon Watch, lays out Brazil’s environmental policy under Lula and Jair Bolsonaro’s legacy of impunity for those attacking environmental defenders.

COP28 Activists Say Palestine Solidarity Protests Calling for Ceasefire Face Severe Restrictions

At COP28 in Dubai, protests in solidarity with Palestine have faced severe restrictions. Asad Rehman, the lead spokesperson for the Climate Justice Coalition, joined with human rights groups at an unofficial media briefing to explain how climate summit officials have threatened to debadge participants for even wearing Palestinian colors or sporting visual depictions calling for a ceasefire. “This is probably the most restrictive we’ve seen,” Rehman said.

“We Want Freedom”: Refaat Alareer, Gaza Scholar & Activist Killed by Israeli Strike, in His Own Words

An Israeli airstrike in Gaza has killed the acclaimed Palestinian academic and activist Refaat Alareer, along with his brother, his sister and her four children. Alareer was just 44 years old. For more than 16 years, he worked as a professor of English literature at the Islamic University of Gaza and authored dozens of stories and poems about life under Israeli occupation in Gaza. “Whether it is my kids or any Palestinian kid or any Palestinian, no one is safe. No place is safe.