Today's Liberal News

The Real Hot Vax Summer Is Coming

Call it what you want to—Hot Vax Summer 2.0, the Hot Vax Summer Redux—but you might be feeling it: A new phase of the pandemic is starting. With restrictions in the most COVID-cautious U.S. jurisdictions lifting, international travel picking back up, and large live events returning to American cities, the summer of 2022 stands ready to deliver some version of normalcy even if (when?) a new variant emerges. Millions of Americans can’t wait.

We Have Reached a Hinge of History

Europe’s largest invasion since World War II is a logical outcome of Vladimir Putin’s dominance of Russian politics in the 21st century, a reminder that grievance-based ethno-nationalism and authoritarianism lead inexorably to conflict. Putin’s efforts to reconstitute empire and “protect” Russian speakers beyond national borders tap into currents of history running deep underneath our collective experience.

Ukrainian Resident of Besieged Mykolaiv Describes Lack of Food, Water As Russian Troops Attack City

We get an update from a Ukrainian volunteer on how the Russian invasion of Ukraine has besieged the strategic southern city of Mykolaiv, where Russian troops have targeted civilian areas for shelling. Many Ukrainians are asking European nations and the U.S. to establish a no-fly zone. We speak to Igor Yudenkov in Mykolaiv, a former IT professional who is now helping other residents find shelter, feeding pets left behind, and defending the city.

Defund Putin’s War Machine: Ukrainian Environmentalist Calls For Global Halt to Fossil Fuel Funding

We speak to Svitlana Romanko, a leading Ukrainian environmental lawyer, based in the western city of Ivano-Frankivsk, which was bombed Friday. She describes the situation there, and discusses her hopes that new sanctions to prevent American banks from investing in Russian fossil fuels signal a tipping point that will force the world to transition to clean energy.

Attack on Maternity Ward is a War Crime: David Miliband on Russia’s Bombing of Mariupol

Russian forces reportedly killed at least three people when they bombed a children’s hospital in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol on Wednesday, shelling a humanitarian corridor and breaking a ceasefire deal that was was meant to allow residents to flee. The actions constitute a violation of international humanitarian law and, therefore, a potential war crime, says David Miliband of the International Rescue Committee.

Texas parents speak out in defense of their trans kids

by Montse Reyes

This article was originally published at Prism.

“I am so sorry. What a horrible, hard time to be a trans teenager.”

Owen Egerton, an Austin-based filmmaker and writer, received that text from a friend the morning of Feb. 23, after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott released an order directing health agencies to investigate gender-affirming care for trans youth as child abuse.

Sad! Even TrumpWorld seems uninterested in Trump’s new Truth Social app

Donald Trump’s Truth Social—the plucky startup that aims to disrupt the social media space in the same way Trump Steaks transformed how Americans befouled their colons—is soaring on gossamer wings straight into a comically large bug zapper.

It’s difficult to fathom how anyone trusts Trump in any arena these days, much less in business. He’s arguably a worse businessman than he was a president, and he was a worse president than a human being.

Equal Pay Day is still relevant, and it’s coming up, this week in the war on workers

Equal Pay Day is coming on March 15. The day represents how long into 2022 the average woman in the U.S. has to work to have been paid as much since January 1, 2021, as the average man was paid in 2021. March 15 is the day we observe Equal Pay Day for women of all races, but for Black and Latina and Native women, the date comes much later—and more so this year, following a recalculation based on pandemic-era employment patterns that pushed many women out of full-time work.

Connect! Unite! Act! 20 years of history together

Connect! Unite! Act! is a weekly series that seeks to create face-to-face networks in each congressional district. Groups meet regularly to socialize, get out the vote, support candidates, and engage in other local political actions that help our progressive movement grow and exert influence on the powers that be. Visit us every week to see how you can get involved!

It was the year 2002. The top movie of the year would be Spiderman starring Toby McGuire.

BIPOC activists consider how to end book bans for good

by Williesha Morris

This article was originally published at Prism

A recent spate of book bans have accelerated at schools across the U.S., and students, activists, and educators from marginalized communities are aggressively speaking out against them—especially since many of the recent bans have disproportionately targeted BIPOC and LGBTQ+ authors.

Brittney Griner’s Plight Says More About America Than Russia

The Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner is one of the most dominant WNBA players ever. Yet now she’s in custody in Russia—a predicament that not only threatens her safety amid a major global crisis but also exposes the inferior status of professional women’s basketball in America.

Drive Slow for America

Halfway from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, I was running out of gas. A couple of hours before, when I’d left home in my Ford Escape plug-in hybrid, the range predictor told me I had miles to spare in the tank. But, late for an appointment, I’d been driving fast in Interstate 15’s far-left lane, where the prevailing culture dictates that the 70-mph speed limit is merely a suggestion. As a consequence, I had less than 100 miles of fuel left and 130 miles to go.

This Is a Uniquely Perilous Moment

To understand the perils of the present, it is necessary to understand the perils of the past, a distant past that few Americans remember well. In the early days of the Cold War, NATO allies faced a daunting strategic challenge. The Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies possessed an overwhelming advantage in conventional weaponry. They had more men, more tanks, and more planes—and they were massed in proximity to NATO’s borders.

The Things I’m Afraid to Write About

One evening, I sat on the brown-leather couch of a younger man who admired me for my writing, and maybe other things, if the salty text messages were true. He came from a different generation, but I was pleased to discover that he shared many of my unconventional opinions and favorite authors, that taste and perspective weren’t necessarily a matter of the year you were born. Joan Didion, Carl Sagan, Christopher Hitchens, though I had more reservations about that last one.