Capitol Officer Harry Dunn Sheds Tears Watching Jan. 6 Footage During Hearing
He donned a T-shirt for the event featuring the definition of “insurrection.
Today's Liberal News
Jared Kushner Dismissed White House Counsel’s Threats To Resign As ‘Whining’
His statement shows how seriously Trump’s inner circle took concerns about the rule of law.
DeSantis’ official Twitter troll uses Nazi meme to disparage drag queens, and that’s not all
In case you’re still waiting for your Right-wing Logic Decoder Ring from Ovaltine, you should know that the latest existential threat to the republic is—wait for it—drag queens!
Monkeypox Could Be Nothing—Or It Could Be the Next Syphilis
The first reports of monkeypox cases in Europe began to surface in mid-May. A week later, there were 92 confirmed cases outside the Central and West African countries where the disease usually circulates; now there are 1,200.
The Delightful Pretentiousness of Irma Vep
HBO’s Irma Vep, perhaps the most meta show currently on TV, has the kind of high-concept premise that would confuse even its own characters. They’re members of a TV production themselves, but they can’t agree on the nature of what they’re making. One character suggests that they’re creating a long movie broken up into parts—like the way novels used to be published.
Jan. 6 Hearings to Open as Proud Boys Members Are Indicted for Seditious Conspiracy
The House committee investigating Donald Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election and the deadly January 6 insurrection at the Capitol holds its first public hearing Thursday night in primetime, as five members of the far-right Proud Boys are indicted for seditious conspiracy.
“Act Now”: House Hears from Uvalde & Buffalo Gun Violence Victims, Passes Reforms Doomed in Senate
The House of Representatives on Wednesday approved new gun control measures, including raising the minimum age for the purchase of most semiautomatic rifles to 21 and banning high-capacity magazines. The new rules passed the House in a 223-204 vote, but are doomed in the Senate, where a bipartisan group is working on passing a much more limited set of reforms.
Sexual Violence by Russian Troops in Ukraine “Chronically Underreported,” U.N. & Amnesty Int’l Find
The United Nations is demanding an independent investigation into charges of rape and sexual assault committed by Russian soldiers in Ukraine since the start of the invasion. We speak with Pramila Patten, the U.N.’s special representative on sexual violence in conflict, who is just back from Ukraine and told the Security Council Monday about multiple shocking reports of rape and assault — all of which Russia has since denied.
The Supreme Court could end abortion in Michigan. The race is on to let voters have their say.
Michigan is one of more than 20 states with a law on the books that would outlaw nearly all abortions if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.
FDA advisers vote to recommend Novavax Covid-19 vaccine
Advisers signaled interest in making available a vaccine made with a technology different from the messenger RNA shots that have dominated the U.S. immunization arsenal against the disease.
What researchers do — and don’t — know about monkeypox
Researchers said better surveillance is needed to learn whether the virus is endemic but undetected in other nearby countries.
How many Covid deaths are acceptable? Some Biden officials tried to guess.
Conversations about what Americans would tolerate didn’t go too far, underscoring the difficulty of explaining when the pandemic will end.
More cases of monkeypox expected as CDC warns of community spread
Since May, there have been more than 700 global cases of monkeypox identified in countries outside West and Central Africa where the virus is endemic.
China’s fragility feeds the doom-mongers in Davos
Fêted at the World Economic Forum in 2017, Xi Jinping is now accused of torpedoing the global economy with his disastrous Zero Covid strategy.
RIP Davos Man, long live globalization
Open markets aren’t what they used to be. A more complicated, more regional economic system is reshaping the global order.
U.S. economy is in a ‘period of transition,’ White House economic adviser says
Despite high inflation, the U.S. is “moving from the strongest economic recovery in modern history to what can be a period of more stable and resilient growth,” Brian Deese said.
House Republicans Suggest More Prayers Would Solve Mass Shooting Problem
Shooting survivors and victims’ families addressed the House Oversight Committee on gun deaths. Republicans, though, blamed lack of prayer, not guns.
News roundup: Gun violence survivors testify in the House as Jan. 6 committee prepares for hearing
It was a gutting day on Capitol Hill as survivors of gun violence, including a child who covered herself in her dead friend’s blood to survive the Uvalde mass shooting and the parents of a child who died, testified before a House committee.
“Today we stand for Lexi and as her voice, we demand action,” Kimberly Rubio said in her daughter’s honor. “We seek a ban on assault rifles and high-capacity magazines.
Colorado attorney general reviewing Lauren Boebert’s dubious campaign spending for fraud
First they came for Republican Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina. Now, as foretold, they are coming for Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado. The battle for control over what will be the Neo-fascist Republican Party continues as a new leak of dirty dealings makes its way back into the public sphere. Boebert is running for re-election in Colorado’s 3rd District, and the conservative Super PAC group that helped run media attacks on Rep.
House Democrats are investigating foreign gifts that apparently went ‘missing’ under Trump’s watch
It’s looking increasingly like Donald Trump illegally made off with a bunch of foreign gifts without notifying anyone. Why? Because he’s Donald Effing Trump, you naif.
It’s unlikely Trump wanted to be president just so he could steal stuff when he left, but he had to see that as a perk—and without question, it was inevitable. If he’d worked at Chuck E. Cheese, he would have stolen an animatronic banjo-playing bear.
Ukraine update: Russia wants to turn Kherson into a colony to feed Putin’s dreams of an empire
It’s not necessary for an occupying power to win a battle in order to cause irredeemable damage. They don’t even have to destroy a building. After all, they have something that gives them a leverage unmatched by the people giving everything in the effort to drive them out: hostages. Thousands, even millions, of hostages.
New cancer drug destroyed 100% of tumors in trial, but it’s not quite the miracle the media claims
On Monday, the New England Journal of Medicine published the results of a new treatment for a specific form of cancer. In that trial, all 12 patients that completed treatment with the new drug, called dostarlimab, had what was called a “100% response.” That is, every one of these patients saw their tumors completely eradicated.
Drug trails, especially early trials, often give murky results.
Rep. Ted Lieu Silently Schools GOP On Jesus Christ’s Comments About Homosexuality
“I just thought I would now recite what Jesus Christ said about homosexuality,” the Democratic congressman told his fellow House members.
House Approves Gun Control Bills, Including Higher Age For Assault Rifles
The bills don’t stand a chance of passing the Senate, however, which is working on more modest legislation.
U.S. Proposes New Marine Sanctuary Off New York, Home To Sperm Whales And Sea Turtles
The Interior Department also announced an effort to bar single-use plastics from public lands, including national parks.
Savannah Guthrie Reveals Husband Consulted For Johnny Depp’s Legal Team
The “Today” show host is married to Michael Feldman, who founded a PR consultancy firm with other Democratic campaign alumni.
The Dinosaurs Deserved Better
In Jurassic World: Dominion, a fate worse than extinction has cruelly visited the cloned dinosaurs that have been roaming on silver screens since 1993: They’ve become mundane. A nuisance. The kind of pests you might call your local wildlife department about, as you peek out your window onto the backyard and say with a sigh, “Honey, there’s another pack of Compsognathus trampling the daffodils.
Do Voters See a Difference Between Crime and Homelessness?
This is an edition of Up for Debate, a newsletter by Conor Friedersdorf. On Wednesdays, he rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Every Monday, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here.
Biden’s Climate Goals Rest on a 71-Year-Old Defense Law
Sign up for The Weekly Planet, Robinson Meyer’s newsletter about living through climate change, here.A legal relic dating back to the Korean War has become one of the White House’s most important tools to pursue its climate goals.On Monday, the White House announced that it was invoking the Defense Production Act to boost manufacturing of certain technologies that will be essential for decarbonization, such as solar panels, heat pumps, and transformers for the electrical grid.
POLITICO-Harvard poll: Majority of Americans support more Covid aid for the uninsured
At the same time, more than six in 10 respondents believe that more congressional spending on Covid aid will contribute to inflation.