Today's Liberal News

Democracy Dies in Silence

The state of Florida is silencing those opposing its efforts to disenfranchise its own citizens.A lawsuit filed by a coalition of civil-rights groups contends that Florida’s Republican-controlled government has repeatedly attempted to restrict the franchise, including curtailing third-party registration campaigns, cutting early voting, and imposing an onerous poll tax on formerly incarcerated Floridians after the state voted overwhelmingly to restore their rights.

They Printed in the Medical History

Translated by Ilya Kaminsky and Katie FarrisThey printed in the medical history:
There was no Holodomor.
It was the stable delusion of Anna Mikhailenko,
a teacher of Ukrainian literature.
For seven years she was in a special psychiatric hospital.
It was a hybrid hospital—
a madhouse and a prison.
It was a time of hybrid hospitals. Now is a time of hybrid war.
Seven years is a biblical phrase.
And Jacob served Laban seven years for Rachel.
Because he loved her.
Seven. Seven years.

American Parents Don’t Get How Much Life Is About to Improve

Denver Post via Getty
In 1971, the United States came within a pen stroke of having a functional child-care system. With bipartisan support, Congress passed the Comprehensive Child Development Act—which would have created a publicly funded, state-run program with parent payments on a sliding scale of affordability—but President Richard Nixon vetoed it. Almost exactly 50 years later, the nation once again stands on the precipice of revolutionizing its child-care system.

Why Never Trumpers Should Bet on DeSantis Now

Donald Trump is trying to hang on as the doddering boss of the Republican Party. Earlier this month, he threatened that his supporters may stay home in 2022 and 2024 unless others in the GOP validate his delusion that he beat Joe Biden.Were the GOP base less easily duped, it would move on, as when George H. W. Bush, John McCain, and Mitt Romney lost White House bids. As president, Trump failed to build his border wall or bring home the troops.

The Atlantic Daily: Five Halloween Movies for Scaredy Cats and Hard-Core-Horror Fans

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.The scariest weekend of the year is here. I asked our critic David Sims to select a few movies to get you in the Halloween mood.David’s five picks span the universe of spook to fulfill the needs of wannabe witches, little pumpkins, and hard-core-horror fans alike.

A Tiny Outrage Machine, Sucking the Exhaust From a Giant One

Frances Haugen, a former Facebook data scientist, copied thousands of pages of internal documents and webpages before she left the company. Then she shared those materials with The Wall Street Journal, which began publishing stories about them last month under the heading “The Facebook Files.” Weeks later, she began to parcel the materials out to a consortium of news organizations, including The Atlantic.

Democrats Need to Count Up, Not Down

With the finish line in sight (if still stubbornly out of reach) for the Democrats’ massive social-programs and economic development bill, the party now faces the challenge of focusing the attention of its key constituencies and the public on what remains in the package, not on what was cut in the exhausting legislative maneuvering.

“A Pivotal Change”: Economist Darrick Hamilton on What the Build Back Better Act Could Accomplish

Democrats in Washington remain divided over two key bills at the center of President Biden’s domestic agenda: a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and the $1.85 trillion Build Back Better plan, which has been cut down from $3.5 trillion. Even though Biden’s latest framework is almost half the size of the original proposal, conservative Democratic Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona are still refusing to commit to its passage.