Today's Liberal News

Nevada Senate race called for Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto in huge win for Democrats

Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto was seen as one of the most endangered Democratic Senate incumbents this year, but after days of counting, she has pulled it out, with NBC and CNN projecting her as the winner after a ballot drop from Clark County put her ahead by almost 5,000 votes. The first Latina in the U.S. Senate has won a second term, and Democrats will hold the Senate.

Cortez Masto defeated Adam Laxalt after being endorsed by 14 members of his extended family.

Ukraine update: Celebrations continue in Kherson, as elsewhere the war goes on

UPDATE: Saturday, Nov 12, 2022 · 8:43:21 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

A lot of that Russian equipment at Chornobaivka, apparently never left Chornobaivka. 

Chornobaivka, Russian leftovers pic.twitter.com/FjnXOKCoMt— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) November 12, 2022

UPDATE: Saturday, Nov 12, 2022 · 7:32:27 PM +00:00 · Mark Sumner

Sad news on this otherwise joyous day.

Michigan, my Michigan: We won it all, so what’s next?

On Nov. 8, six years ago, I went to bed heartsick and devastated, knowing not only that Hillary Clinton had lost the Electoral College vote but that Michigan’s 16 votes would be allotted to her opponent. Our margin of defeat, a mere 10,704 votes, could have been made up through better turnout in my own county, where I was active in Democratic leadership. 

Thankfully, this Nov. 8, I went to sleep around midnight feeling more sanguine about our prospects.

Some wins and some losses on labor-related ballot measures, this week in the war on workers

They weren’t mostly the highest-profile things on the ballot on Tuesday, but this year’s elections did include a number of ballot measures relevant to workers. The outcomes were a mixed bag.

In Illinois, a workers’ rights amendment looks likely to pass. That measure would affirm the right to organize and ban any law that “interferes with, negates, or diminishes the right of employees to organize and bargain collectively.

Everything We Know About Dreams

This is an edition of The Wonder Reader, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a set of stories to spark your curiosity and fill you with delight. Sign up here to get it every Saturday morning.

The Exquisite Pain of Monogamous Life

Being really, honestly surprised, especially these days, can feel thrilling—which is what makes Mammals, the new Prime Video series from the Tony-winning playwright Jez Butterworth, so hard to write about. There’s a revelation at the very end that turns the entirety of what we’ve just seen on its head; rewatching the first few episodes after that, which I did, was a bracingly new experience.

Go Ahead, Joke About the Pandemic

Jokes are rich notions. The Black comedic and satirical traditions have for decades fascinated scholars and comedians, many of whom have converged on the idea that trauma is a defining feature of Black comedy. W. E. B Du Bois wrote in The Humor of Negroes that humor is partly “a defense mechanism; reaction from tragedy; oppositions set out in the face of hurt and insult.

The Petulant King

A difficult labor—30 hours!—and someone has to make the terrible decision. Right there in a Buckingham Palace bedroom, with mother and child etherized upon the table, deft hands make the cut, the unwilling baby is tugged out—and it’s done.A boy! Clever girl.To sleep, to sleep, to sleep.Posted on the gates of the palace, a handwritten announcement:Her Royal Highness the Princess Elizabeth Duchess of Edinburgh was safely delivered of a Prince at 9.

South Dakota votes to expand Medicaid

The Republican-controlled state, where lawmakers have long resisted Medicaid expansion, is the seventh in the last five years to do so at the ballot box — and likely the last to do so for some time.

The Story of Baby O: Rebecca Nagle on the Supreme Court Case That Could Gut Native Sovereignty

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in Haaland v. Brackeen, a case challenging the Indian Child Welfare Act and ultimately threatening the legal foundations of federal Indian law. ICWA was created in 1978 to address the systemic crisis of family separation in Native communities waged by the U.S. and requires the government to ensure foster children are adopted by members of their Indigenous tribes, as well as blood relatives, before being adopted by non-Indigenous parents.

Sen. Mark Kelly wins in Arizona, in key hold for Senate Democrats

Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly has defeated Republican Blake Masters in Arizona’s Senate race. Arizona has been one of the hardest-fought battlegrounds this year, after both Kelly and President Joe Biden won narrowly in 2020. That marked the first time the state had two Democratic senators since 1953 and just the second time a Democrat had won the state’s presidential election since 1948.

Ukraine update: Kherson is liberated

UPDATE: Friday, Nov 11, 2022 · 8:12:34 PM +00:00

·
Mark Sumner

Here’s a highlight for the captured equipment reel. 

“Some capture tanks – but we focus more on helicopters!” Hey, @MoD_Russia! You forgot something! #RussianArmy #RussiaIsLosing pic.twitter.

Republican Joe Lombardo unseats Democratic Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak

UPDATE: Saturday, Nov 12, 2022 · 2:18:08 AM +00:00 · Joan McCarter

Democrats will hold both chambers of the legislature, so Lombardo will definitely be checked by the legislative branch. 

Republican Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo has toppled incumbent Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, winning the Nevada governor’s office for Republicans.

AOC skillfully corrects Chris Wallace on who’s ‘extreme,’ citing Marjorie Taylor Greene, GOP

When it comes to defining extremist views, somehow, the Republican Party can’t bring itself to consider that the demon is actually inside its own house.

In a recent appearance on Chris Wallace’s series Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace on HBO Max, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) took no time to push back when Wallace asked if she would concede that “people want both parties to move from the fringes, from the extremes back to the center.

You Can Forget About Crypto Now

When I spoke with Sam Bankman-Fried three weeks ago, he was crypto’s golden boy. Worth about $15 billion, this quirky 30-year-old led one of the industry’s largest empires. Over the past few years, he’s palled around with Bill Clinton, graced the cover of Fortune magazine, and turned himself into a three-letter initialism: SBF. Toward the end of our rambling, 90-minute interview, Bankman-Fried dropped a casual hint at the state of his finances.

Is the Status Update Over?

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.This was probably the most chaotic week for the social-media business in years, maybe ever. I called my colleague Charlie Warzel, who has been tweeting (and writing) through it, for a recap and his prediction for what comes next.But first, here are three new stories from The Atlantic.