Today's Liberal News

Man who tried to assassinate Nancy Pelosi is racist, transphobic, antisemitic conspiracy theorist

UPDATE: Friday, Oct 28, 2022 · 9:00:54 PM +00:00

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Mark Sumner

Depape had more than one blog page.

Posts on one of David Wayne Depape’s blogs show he was into QAnon conspiracy theories like Hilary Clinton eating babies and adrenchrome, as well as many conspiracy theories about Jewish people, black people and the Ukraine war. Some of them are so extreme I can’t really share. pic.twitter.

Putin’s Play for the Western Right

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.At his annual conference with foreign international-affairs experts, Vladimir Putin ranted about cancel culture and gay-pride parades. He’s trying to unite the global right.

January 6 Never Ended

On January 6, 2021, a mob of Donald Trump supporters ransacked the U.S. Capitol. They sought to prevent Congress from certifying his loss in the presidential election, but a few of them had even scarier ideas.

Rihanna Is Back in the Pop Game—On Her Own Terms

The loud hype that preceded Rihanna’s rather quiet new song offers a lesson in the power of expectations—especially expectations defied. At age 16, in 2005, the Barbados native Robyn Rihanna Fenty signed a record deal and embarked on one of hottest streaks in hitmaking history.

There May Be No Twitter Comeback for Trump

Given all the attention that Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter has drawn, one might forget how little it will affect most people. Although Musk fancies the platform “a common digital town square,” Twitter reports just 238 million daily active users in a world of nearly 8 billion. It just so happens, though, that there is a strong overlap among people who report the news, people who use Twitter, and people who are interested in Elon Musk.

Why Do We Keep Writing About Life After Death?

When the world is at war, and you’ve endured night after night of fires and bombs going off all around you, how do you make sense of your own survival? For the unnamed narrator of R. P. Lister’s short story “My Grandfather’s Ghost”—published in The Atlantic in 1960—the solution is to transform the experience into a sort of tall tale, playing up the comedic moments over the real fear, long after the danger has passed.

“American Democracy Hangs in the Balance”: Carol Anderson on Midterms, Georgia Races & Voting Rights

Former President Barack Obama is in Georgia Friday to campaign for Democrats in the closely watched Senate and gubernatorial races. This comes as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer was caught on a hot mic Thursday saying the race between Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock and Trump-backed anti-abortion Republican nominee Herschel Walker is “going downhill,” and recent polls show Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams is trailing Republican Governor Brian Kemp.

The 1950s question that is a key predictor of Trump/GOP supporters

Imagine waking up every morning and thinking, “If only it were 1952, things would be swell.”

Welcome to the world view of some two-thirds of Republicans. A new Public Religion Research Institute poll released Thursday added a twist to the right track/wrong track question, asking respondents whether they agreed with a clarifying follow-up: “Since the 1950’s, American culture and way of life has mostly changed for the worse.

Ukraine update: The idea that Ukraine has no choice but to take Kherson in a ‘great battle’ is wrong

It may be the oldest story in warfare. It’s certainly among the oldest that anyone ever bothered to record in songs, poems, or prose. Someone holds control over a city. Someone else wants it. Now what?

For a few days last week, hope was so thick you could practically walk on it. When word came of evacuations in Kherson, it really did look as if Russia meant to not just move out its officials and quislings, but its military.

Merrick Garland announces most progressive Department of Justice policy in decades

On Wednesday, hidden under the fog of traditional media outlets worrying about Democratic candidate John Fetterman’s post-stroke recovery, while accepting Mehmet Oz’s career of quackery, President Biden’s Department of Justice made a very important announcement. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland formally codified the FBI policy banning the use of subpoenas, search warrants, and other legal measures against news journalists in most circumstances.

Judge asks DOJ whether she should reveal how Trump has been preventing testimony from former aides

The chief judge of the District Court in Washington, D.C., is considering making documents concerning Donald Trump’s connections to Jan. 6 open to the public. In this case, the documents relate to how Trump has attempted to prevent former advisors and staff members from testifying before a grand jury hearing evidence related to Jan. 6.

When it comes to Trump and court battles, it can be difficult to keep up.

Rubio to hold event with coup plotter Trump, and Republicans are tittering about who’s not invited

Donald Trump, a traitor, will be holding a Miami rally for Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio on Nov. 6, just two days before Election Day. You might think that the biggest news here is that Marco Rubio remains so eager to ally with the orchestrator of a violent attempted coup against our government, a coup that led to deaths and could well have led to the deaths of many of Rubio’s own supposed colleagues.

Don’t Blame a Man for Midnights

It’s her; she’s the problem, Taylor Swift confesses on her new hit “Anti-Hero.” Yet listeners who have issues with her tenth original studio album, Midnights, are blaming someone else: Jack Antonoff, who co-wrote 12 of its 13 songs and co-produced all of them.

How to Stay Healthy This Cold-and-Flu Season

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.Cold-and-flu season is upon us, and COVID-19 is still here too.