Today's Liberal News

Trita Parsi on Iran War: Trump Still “Looking for a Silver Bullet” Instead of Negotiating Seriously

We discuss the ongoing crisis in the Strait of Hormuz with the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft’s Trita Parsi. U.S. officials are denying Iranian reports that a U.S. vessel was struck by Iranian missiles amid the two countries’ dual blockade of the strait. The warring nations still say they are observing a fragile temporary ceasefire as negotiations continue for a possible longer-term deal.

A Brutal First for the Cruise Industry

Norovirus loves a cruise ship. So did the coronavirus responsible for COVID-19. The crowded rooms, stuffy air, and communal dining of a giant boat filled with humans create the ideal conditions for pathogens to spread.

Iran’s Unexpected Resilience

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By the United States military’s estimation, about 1,550 marine vessels—oil tankers, bulk carriers, container ships, and more—are idling in the Persian Gulf right now.

Yet Another Wasted Met Gala

Every year, the Met Gala—the opulent celebration of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute—unveils a theme with a dress code that its famous attendees then attempt to interpret. And every year, many of the guests fail the assignment: They arrive in a superficial take on “punk” or an awkward rendition of “dandyism,” if they don’t veer off course completely. (See: various questionable efforts to capture the 2019 theme, “camp.”) It’s a treat, then, when someone gets it just right.

Judicial Supremacy Has Arrived

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 did not die all at once, or by one means. It died through attrition: a Congress that was too sclerotic and polarized to defend one of its finest accomplishments, lawyers and academics who tolerated retreats on civil rights, a society that lapsed into the comfortable illusion that it had accomplished the work of the civil-rights movement. And it died through action: a series of blows from conservative justices ideologically hostile to the law’s aims.

Public Access TV at Risk: Cable Giants Threaten to Cut Funds for Local Stations Across U.S.

As more people cut the cord and drop their cable TV subscriptions, public access channels are losing a vital source of revenue. For decades, cable television companies have paid franchise fees to local municipalities as compensation for use of the public right of way, through which the companies route cables and utilities. Those fees have funded local stations focused on public, educational, and governmental access programming.

“Assault on the First Amendment”: Dem. FCC Commissioner on Megamergers & Trump Targeting Kimmel, ABC

As President Trump continues to attack media organizations and journalists, we speak with a sitting member of the Federal Communications Commission about how the administration has weaponized the FCC to go after his perceived enemies in the media. Anna Gomez is the sole Democratic commissioner on the FCC, which is currently operating with just three commissioners instead of the usual five.

Trump’s War on Iran & Strait of Hormuz Crisis Reveal “Limits of American Imperial Power”

We speak with Middle East history professor Toby Jones about the ongoing crisis in the Strait of Hormuz, where overlapping blockades by Iran and the United States have disrupted shipping and the wider global economy since the start of the war in late February. Jones says this latest conflict is part of a decadeslong project by the United States to exert imperial control over the oil-rich region, but that it’s now in danger of a strategic loss signaling a deeper imperial decline.

“A People’s History of Invisible India”: Journalist Neha Dixit on Dire State of Worker Rights

On International Workers’ Day, we take a look at the state of workers’ rights and freedoms in India, where pressure on fuel supplies from the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has deepened the cost-of-living crisis and labor unrest is on the rise. In mid-April, tens of thousands of workers from the industrial hubs around New Delhi blocked roads to demand a fair wage and better working conditions.

How the Supreme Court Came to Accept a Practice It Called Unjust

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Seven years ago, midway through a multiyear demolition of the Voting Rights Act, John Roberts’s Supreme Court heard a case on a slightly different topic: partisan gerrymandering. Republican legislators from North Carolina had drawn a map of U.S.

Europe Without America

We got this. That was the Trump administration’s message to European allies in the early days of its war with Iran. Washington hadn’t warned its NATO partners about the military campaign, jointly undertaken with Israel, much less consulted with them about the war’s objectives.
Instead, American officials told Europeans to look after their own interests.

The Candidate From ICE

In mid-January, while Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and agents were battling protesters on the icy streets of Minneapolis, ICE Deputy Director Madison Sheahan abruptly quit. This was a week after an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good; another protester, Alex Pretti, was slain nine days later. Sheahan, then 28, had been on the job for less than a year, but she did not resign in protest. She left to run for Congress in Ohio.