Today's Liberal News

Ukraine update: Russia vs. Russia as Putin adds a host of paper soldiers

On Wednesday, as Ukraine marked its independence day, Vladimir Putin put his signature to an order officially increasing the number of slots in the Russian army to over 2 million. While that sounds impressive, it was clearly a declaration with only symbolic value, as the total number of people in the Russian army is currently well below 1 million. There are plenty of empty helmets to fill—assuming Russia can find the helmets.

It seems many of the 19 Floridians arrested by DeSantis’ election Gestapo were told they could vote

Earlier this month, Gov. Ron DeSantis held one of his patented one-way press conferences, where he channels Donald Trump’s blunt bullying style and declares he’s doing great things. It was during this press conference that he announced that his Gestapo-style election’s enforcement apparatus was already hard at work excising bad actors from the voter rolls.

Blake Masters is trying to disappear his extreme opposition to abortion

Blake Masters is feeling the heat on abortion. The Arizona Republican Senate nominee is frantically backing away from his very well-documented positions and trying to portray Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly as the extreme one. 

Masters has dramatically scrubbed his campaign website’s abortion policy page, as if someone wasn’t going to be right there with screenshots of the stuff he took out. NBC News has the goods.

Mark Meadows, come on down! A grand jury in Georgia would like to speak with you

If you thought the House Select Committee Investigating Jan. 6 was thorough, keep your eye on the Georgia special grand jury investigating the interference in the 2020 presidential election—Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is not playing around.

The special grand jury convened by Willis has asked for testimony from a slew of top Donald Trump associates, from his personal attorney Rudy Giuliani to Sen.

The Trouble With Boutique Colleges

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.President Joe Biden’s loan-forgiveness program will help a select group of people once, but nothing about the college-debt problem will actually improve until voters, students, and parents change how they think about college.But first, here are three new stories from The Atlantic.

What the Search-Warrant Affidavit Tells Us

As I reviewed the heavily redacted affidavit relating to the FBI’s warrant to search Mar-a-Lago earlier this month, after its release today, I was reminded of the phrase from the Apostle Paul in his first letter to the church in Corinth that “we see through a glass, darkly.” Yes, we are able to discern certain things, but the whole truth remains hidden; we must thus approach the matter with extreme caution.

A Democratic Economist’s Case Against Biden’s Student-Loan Plan

This week, President Joe Biden announced debt relief for as many as 43 million Americans with government-issued student loans. The government is erasing up to $20,000 in debt for Pell Grant recipients earning less than $125,000 a year, and up to $10,000 for individuals who did not receive Pell Grants. In addition, the White House is planning to cap monthly payments for undergraduate loans at 5 percent of a borrower’s discretionary income and forgive the balance after a decade.

Shadowland Documentary Series, Inspired by The Atlantic’s Reporting on the Power and Danger of Conspiracy, to Premiere on Peacock

The Atlantic’s groundbreaking and prescient editorial series “Shadowland”––which reported on the increasing hold that conspiracy theories have over Americans and the threats they pose to democracy––has inspired a documentary series of the same name that will premiere on Peacock next month.Peacock announced today that the six-part docuseries Shadowland will premiere Wednesday, September 21, with all six episodes available to watch immediately.

No One Knows What’s Inside the Smallpox Vaccine

At the heart of history’s most successful eradication campaign is a mystery. The smallpox vaccine—now also being deployed against monkeypox—contains a live virus that confers immunity against multiple poxviruses. But it is not smallpox or a weakened version thereof. Nor is it monkeypox. Nor is it cowpox, as suggested by the vaccine’s famous origin story involving pus taken from an infected milkmaid to immunize an 8-year-old boy.

Trigger Laws Make Abortion Off Limits for Millions; Patients Face “Intolerable” Risk & Uncertainty

Millions of pregnant people in the United States have now lost access to abortion in their state since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Anti-abortion “trigger laws” have gone into effect in numerous states across the country, including Texas, where it became a felony to perform an abortion starting Thursday,​​ punishable by up to life in prison. We speak to Dr.

‘They’re having a barbecue at the White House’ and only Republican hypocrites are invited

Everyone’s heard it and plenty of us have said it: Democrats need stronger messaging. Team Blue doesn’t often talk the same talk as those across the aisle and under that burning dumpster next to the manure pile. And while that’s not a bad thing—Republican rhetoric has led to appalling acts of violence, terrorism, and a whole-ass insurrection, after all—a bit of a stronger tone is sometimes warranted.

This is one of those times.

Ukraine update: Meanwhile, in Russia … Putin’s war brings a ‘catastrophically’ failing economy

Yesterday was Independence Day in Ukraine, which Russia appears to have celebrated mostly in the same way it has celebrated every day for months: with a reported 98 towns shelled, missiles falling in Ukrainian cities (including at least 65 civilian casualties at a train station in Chaplyne, 100 miles from the front), and with many, many failed attempts to capture Ukrainian towns and villages.

Reporter asks hack student loan question. Joe Biden surprises reporter with better question

On Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced his plan to relieve some of the student debt causing a trillion-dollar economic crisis for tens of millions of Americans—mostly the young, women, and people of color. The plan calls for canceling up to $10,000 in debt for student borrowers who make less than $125,000 a year and $20,000 in relief for Pell Grant recipients with similar incomes.