Today's Liberal News

Of Course Elon Musk Wanted Twitter

Updated at 8:40 p.m. ET on April 5, 2022.Long before the rockets and the electric cars, before the high-speed trains and the brain implants and the flamethrowers, Elon Musk was in the content business.In 1996, Zip2, the company he’d founded with his brother, started courting newspapers with a service that would allow them to build online directories of classified ads, real-estate listings, car deals, and entertainment events.

America Is Staring Down Its First So What? Wave

If the United States has been riding a COVID-19 ’coaster for the past two-plus years, New York and a flush of states in the Northeast have consistently been seated in the train’s front car. And right now, in those parts of the country, coronavirus cases are, once again, going up. The rest of America may soon follow, now that BA.2—the more annoying, faster-spreading sister of the original Omicron variant, BA.

A Poor People’s Pandemic: Report Reveals Poor Died from COVID at Twice the Rate of Wealthy in U.S.

The newly released “Poor People’s Pandemic Report” shows poor people died from COVID at twice the rate of wealthy Americans and that people of color were more likely to die than white populations. “Our country has gotten used to unnecessary death, especially when it’s the death of poor people,” says Rev. Liz Theoharis, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign.

Poor in El Salvador Face Brunt of Crackdown on Gang Violence as Gov’t Suspends Rights, Arrests 6,000+

We go to El Salvador for an update on how the government under President Nayib Bukele has arrested over 6,000 people since a 30-day state of emergency was imposed following a wave of violence. The state of exception has suspended freedom of assembly and weakened due process rights for those arrested, including an extension of how long people can be held without charge.

A Neutral Ukraine Is a Dangerous Idea

As secret and not-so-secret peace negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv proceed amid fierce fighting, Ukraine’s “neutrality” has reemerged as Vladimir Putin’s key condition for ending the war that he started. The Ukrainians’ supposed lack of neutrality—that is, their repudiation of pro-Moscow rulers and their tilt toward the West—was the Russian president’s excuse for invading.

Chris Hedges on Jailed WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange’s Wedding: He’s “Crumbling” in London Prison

Imprisoned WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is “crumbling” physically and psychologically, says journalist Chris Hedges, who last week attended Assange’s wedding to his longtime partner Stella Moris at London’s Belmarsh prison. Assange has been behind bars for nearly three years awaiting a possible extradition to the United States on espionage charges for publishing documents revealing war crimes committed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

News Roundup: Republicans make it clear that they are finished with bipartisanship on any level

As Garfield says, “I love lasagna!” The United States Congress is poised do two things this coming week: Confirm the nomination of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court and add more serious sanctions to pressure Russia to end its invasion of Ukraine. Not surprisingly, the Republican Party is somehow standing in the way of both maneuvers. This stonewalling is not a business as usual reiteration of previous political battles from the 20th century—this is new.

Winning 2022 and beyond in the ultimate tipping point state: Wisconsin

The U.S. Supreme Court has again threatened our freedom to vote, this time in Wisconsin. As part of their “shadow docket,” the right-wing majority threw out a Wisconsin map that would have given Black voters the representation they deserve.

Now is the time to get angry, but to also build the groundwork to defend our democracy.

Wisconsin is the ultimate “tipping point” state. President Joe Biden won it by 21,000 votes in 2020, and in 2022 we have a key U.