Today's Liberal News

Western States Face Record Heat & Historic Drought, But GOP Rejects Green Infrastructure Funding

As lawmakers in Washington continue to negotiate over an infrastructure bill that Democrats say needs to include major new funding to address the climate crisis, much of the U.S. is experiencing record heat, with many western states seeing record temperatures, drought and water shortages. “The climate crisis is here now,” says climate and energy researcher Leah Stokes, an assistant professor of political science at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Republicans Won’t Even Debate “For the People Act” as They Flood States with Voter Suppression Bills

Senate Republicans are expected to use the filibuster to block debate on the For the People Act, a sweeping bill that would protect voting rights across the United States and improve ballot access. The Senate vote comes as Republican state lawmakers are passing sweeping measures to suppress the vote. According to the Voting Rights Lab, 18 states have enacted more than 30 laws to restrict voting since the November election.

News Roundup: Infrastructure ‘bipartisanship’ still not a thing; DeSantis steals Trump’s crown?

In the news today: The Senate continues to plod its way towards a recognition that Republicans won’t be contributing to a “bipartisan” infrastructure plan or anything else. A new straw poll ranks Florida Man and Trump impersonator Ron DeSantis over Trump himself in Republican 2024 presidential preferences, so get ready for some truly blistering Trump attacks. In the meantime, Texas Gov.

Trump reportedly lamented that ‘the Blacks hate me’ in 2020

Republicans right now are wound up about critical race theory, arguing that teaching about racism, or that there are historical problems with racism are problematic and must be stopped. Why, with the passage of the Juneteenth federal holiday, Republicans would like to point to the fact that racism is clearly just a problem in the past.

How far in the past? In explosive revelations published by Politico, it appears not far at all.

How teens are using online platforms to call out racism in high school

This story was originally published at Prism.

By Umme Hoque

An open letter from AAPI high school students in Massachusetts begins with a simple statement: “We are high school students from Boston, Malden, and Quincy, members of the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC) Youth Center. We ask educators and superintendents to address the surge of anti-Asian racism that followed the COVID-19 outbreak.

Republicans run into early headwinds in two critical Senate races

Last year, Senate Republicans were already feeling so desperate about their upcoming midterm prospects that they rushed to wish Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa a speedy and full recovery from COVID-19 so that he could run for reelection in 2022. The power of incumbency is a huge advantage for any politician, and Republicans were clinging to the idea of sending Grassley—who will be 89 when the ’22 general election rolls around—back to the upper chamber for another six-year term.

The Atlantic’s Floodlines Wins 2021 Peabody Award

The Atlantic’s narrative podcast Floodlines has won a 2021 Peabody Award. The eight-part series, hosted by senior editor Vann R. Newkirk II and executive produced by Katherine Wells, reported on New Orleans after its 2005 flood, and examined how Hurricane Katrina has shaped the city and its residents’ lives in the years since it devastated the Gulf Coast. This is The Atlantic’s first Peabody Award.

Remember Who Tucker Carlson Is

In November 2018, The Washington Post published a disturbing headline: “‘They Were Threatening Me and My Family’: Tucker Carlson’s Home Targeted by Protesters.”The Post story quoted the prime-time Fox News host at length. “Someone started throwing himself against the front door and actually cracked the front door,” Carlson claimed. “It wasn’t a protest. It was a threat … They weren’t protesting anything specific that I had said.