Today's Liberal News

What Happened to Michael Flynn?

Michael Flynn faced the camera with brow creased and lips compressed. He hadn’t been born yesterday, his expression said. He was not going to fall for trick questions.“General Flynn, do you believe the violence on January 6 was justified?” Representative Liz Cheney asked him in a video teleconference deposition for the January 6 committee.Flynn’s lawyer pressed the mute button and switched off the camera. Ninety-six seconds passed.

Shinzo Abe Made the World Better

Updated at 12:54 p.m. ET on July 8, 2022The Japan That Can Say No was the title of a once-famous book by a once-rising Japanese politician.Shinzo Abe, the former Japanese prime minister who was assassinated earlier today, bequeaths a much prouder legacy: a Japan that can—and does—say yes.Abe was more than the longest-serving prime minister in Japanese democratic history.

U.S. Accused of Whitewashing Israel’s Killing of Shireen Abu Akleh Ahead of Biden’s Middle East Trip

The United States is facing accusations of whitewashing the killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh after concluding the bullet that killed her likely came from Israeli military gunfire, but stopping short of reaching a “definitive conclusion” in her killing. Abu Akleh was wearing a press uniform while reporting on an Israeli army raid in the occupied West Bank when she was fatally shot in the head on May 11.

News Roundup: Not even Herschel Walker’s campaign staff trusts him; IRS targeted two Trump enemies

In the news today: Herschel Walker’s campaign for the Senate continues to flounder, and that his own campaign staff doesn’t believe he’s up to the job won’t help. It turns out that two of Donald Trump’s most prominent supposed “enemies” both were targeted with super-rare, supposedly random IRS audits, and the chances that Trump allies did not intentionally target them both appear to be low.

James Caan passes away at the age of 82

James Caan, one of America’s great film actors, has passed away at the age of 82. His family used his popular Twitter account to announce the sad passing: “It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Jimmy on the evening of July 6.The family appreciates the outpouring of love and heartfelt condolences and asks that you continue to respect their privacy during this difficult time.

DACA recipients continue pushing for legislation as program goes before conservative appeals court

While the Supreme Court in June 2020 ruled against the previous administration’s attempt to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, it didn’t mark the end of GOP-led litigation against the popular and successful policy. Nearly a year ago, a notoriously anti-immigrant judge ruled against the program following a lawsuit from corrupt Texas attorney general Ken Paxton.

The Shameless Boris Johnson

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.Boris Johnson, like so many other populist charlatans, is a symbol of how much has changed in modern politics—for the worse.But first, here are three new stories from The Atlantic.
The most pathetic men in America
The great veterinary shortage
Take away the president’s immunity.

How to Hold a Charismatic Charlatan to Account

The head of government is caught in a series of scandals. The scandals are not necessarily so important in themselves. Many of them involve purely personal misconduct. But if exposed, they would shock public opinion and threaten the leader’s hold on power. So he lies and lies and lies again. He mobilizes his cabinet and staff to lie for him. And when the truth does finally catch up with him, he tries to brazen things out. The people voted for him. He has a mandate.

Coming Undone in the Age of Mass Shootings

You develop certain psychological reflexes to get you through the initial shock of the first push alert: Some number dead, others wounded in a mass shooting someplace in America. At this point we all know that the earliest reports are typically flawed, so you can suspend belief a degree or two, just for the time being. It’s summer; school’s out, which means they—the murdered, whoever they were—likely weren’t children, which means you can exhale a little, uneasily.

The Minions Are Good. I’m Serious.

Minions! You know them, even if you don’t want to. The banana-yellow, denim-clad, booger-shaped thingamabobs are so popular that they’ve overtaken the film franchise in which they originated. They’ve had their images stitched onto every piece of merchandise possible—sanctioned or not—and probably make up the bulk of those memes your one relative won’t stop posting on Facebook.