Today's Liberal News
There’s Just One Problem With Ford’s Electric F-150
Joe Biden says the pickup truck is fast. It’s heavy, too.
Ohio announces first $1M Vax-a-Million lottery winner
The prize drawing is meant to encourage vaccination.
Dems back growing calls for Congress to probe Covid lab leak theory
The ongoing discussions on Capitol Hill represent a remarkable bipartisan agreement that Congress should investigate the origins of a virus that has killed 3.5 million people worldwide.
Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine appears safe and powerfully effective in teens
The finding could pave the way for the shot to become the second authorized in the U.S. for use in teens.
A Biden-friendly economist is creating a big headache for president’s spending plans
The study adds fuel to an intense national debate about what is behind a suspected worker shortage and what policy changes are needed to accelerate Americans’ return to work as the pandemic subsides.
Tax the rich? Executives predict Biden’s big plans will flop
Corporate executives and lobbyists say they are confident they can kill almost all of these tax hikes by pressuring moderate Democrats in the House and Senate.
Biden pressed to send clear message on economy as warning signs flash
The White House’s reaction to unexpected jobs and price data has opened the administration up to GOP attacks.
Lockdown mentality still holding the economy back, banking official says
Neel Kashkari of the Minneapolis Fed says things should get better as people overcome fears related to the pandemic.
Mark Carney on Canada’s economic growth: ‘It’s going to take more than one budget’
“There were elements of growth in the balance from what I can see and understand,” Carney said in a long response that didn’t directly answer the question.
Marcus Smith “Died Like an Animal” When Cops Hogtied Him. Police Have Known for Decades It Can Kill
Despite decades of warnings against the practice, police departments across the country continue to hogtie people during arrests, sometimes with fatal results. On September 8, 2018, Marcus Smith, a 38-year-old homeless Black man in Greensboro, North Carolina, was facing a mental health crisis and asked police officers for help. Instead, eight white officers brutally and fatally hogtied him.
“America on Fire”: Historian Elizabeth Hinton on George Floyd, Policing & Black Rebellion
Protests and vigils were held across the U.S. to mark one year since the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Floyd’s death sparked a national uprising and global movement against systemic racism and police brutality.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski Says Mitch McConnell Is Blocking Jan. 6 Commission For Political Gain
“Is that really what this is about, one election cycle after another?” the Alaska Republican said.
News Roundup: Republican filibuster; ‘infrastructure’ still stalled; Texas deaths
In the news today: As of this writing, the Senate had not yet voted on the creation of an independent probe into the January 6 insurrection—a probe that Republicans are promising to filibuster, and one that several of the voting Republican senators would likely be asked to testify in. “Bipartisan” infrastructure plans continue to go nowhere.
Running for Virginia governor: Not even a near-death experience could stop this candidate
This is the fourth in a series of interviews with Democratic candidates for statewide office in Virginia.
I don’t think I have to remind anyone here what 2017 was like for those of us in the Netroots. I’d argue the majority of us immediately understood the systemic threat represented by Donald Trump and became determined to do whatever it took to keep our democracy alive.
There is perhaps no better example of that than Virginia in 2017.
Poll finds 40% of Americans who get their news from OANN believe in devil-worshipping conspiracy
When I was a younger man, I would walk through the store and laugh as the tabloids featured stories about “Bat Boy” and “Devil Child,” or stories about Bill Clinton being a secret alien, Ronald Reagan having been cloned, or George Bush Sr. conducting his own military runs in planes during the Gulf War. The Weekly World News and all the garbage fodder of the time period represented a more laid back era when people would laugh at the madness.
This Week in Statehouse Action: Permanent Vacation edition
Happy almost-Memorial Day!
The unofficial start of summer is nigh (technically it doesn’t start until the solstice on June 20), but if you think that means Republicans are hitting pause on their awful statehouse antics, I’ve got some bad news for you.
The Dakota Access Pipeline is a stark violation of Indigenous sovereignty
This story was originally published at Prism.
By Kailea Frederick
For many, myself included, 2016 was a pivotal year. In a moment that will be forever marked in our minds, the rise at Standing Rock against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) created a resurgence in the modern-day Indigenous people’s movements.
Matt Gaetz Says He’s Considering A Presidential Run And Twitter Has Thoughts
“If Trump doesn’t run, I’m sure I could defeat whatever remains of Joe Biden by 2024,” the Florida congressman told the New York Post.
Idaho’s Lt. Governor Bans Mask Mandates While Governor Is Away On Business
Gov. Brad Little’s office said he was not informed that his second-in-command would be making the proclamation.
Podcast: It’s Time to Tango
Now that Jim’s “Quite Possibly Wonderful Summer” is coming to fruition, a lot of listeners have been considering the present and future. Can you go to a tango festival? What should parents be watching for? And why, exactly, is the surgeon general wearing that uniform? Hit play for answers and a short history lesson from Ruth Fairbanks, a listener and history professor, in conversation with hosts James Hamblin and Maeve Higgins.
The Feds Asked The Public For This Capitol Rioter’s Name. He’d Already Given It To Them.
The FBI asked for help IDing a man who sprayed cops with a fire extinguisher. But police body camera footage shows Nicholas Brockhoff naming himself.
The Government Might Borrow a Move From Amazon to Turn More Cities Into Seattle
Get ready for HQ2, uh, part two.
An Interview With the Man Who Waited Five Years to Open a Mysterious Safe—and Found the Weirdest Thing Possible Inside
Yes, as in the 2002 feature starring Vin Diesel.
The Most Spectacular Corrections From the New York Times’ Weddings Column
There were how many diamonds on the ring? The groom has been married how many times?
Joe Biden Calls Out Republicans Who Voted Against Stimulus But Tout Its Benefits
“Some people have no shame,” the president joked.
What Breakthrough Infections Can Tell Us
With 165 million people and counting inoculated in the United States, vaccines have, at long last, tamped the pandemic’s blaze down to a relative smolder in this part of the world. But the protection that vaccines offer is more like a coat of flame retardant than an impenetrable firewall. SARS-CoV-2 can, very rarely, still set up shop in people who are more than two weeks out from their last COVID-19 shot.These rare breakthroughs, as I’ve written before, are no cause for alarm.
The Man I Just Dated Kept a “Horrible” Secret From Me. I Want Him to Know What He Did.
I tried to sic my doctor on him, but she declined to get involved.
Is Self-Help Advice Doomed to Be Conservative?
A “bootstraps” approach to life’s challenges can’t be all there is.