It’s not easy to witness the watchdog of our democracy being sadistically euthanized. Another week, another wave of massive journalism layoffs. And with it, another round of hand-wringing and legitimate cries about what we stand to lose when newspapers — especially local newsrooms — are gutted. As many have pointed …
Read More »Journey to Antarctica: Jeff Goodell Begins His Trip to Thwaites Glacier
This is the first dispatch in a series from Jeff Goodell, who will be investigating the effect of climate change on Thwaites glacier. READ: The Doomsday Glacier I’m writing this aboard the Nathanial B. Palmer, a 308 foot-long ocean research vessel that is, at this moment, tied up at a …
Read More »Jamil Smith: Democrats Can No Longer Avoid the Impeachment Conversation
One week before President Trump’s inauguration, Rep. John Lewis (D-GA.) became the first Democrat to call Trump’s election victory “illegitimate.” Though many Congressional Democrats joined Lewis in boycotting the inaugural ceremonies, none echoed his rhetoric. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is among the Democrats still decrying any serious discussion of …
Read More »How to Survive America's Kill List
B ilal Abdul Kareem is an expert in staying alive. Born Darrell Lamont Phelps, he grew up just north of the Bronx in Mount Vernon, New York. He did what lots of kids in his neighborhood were doing in the late Seventies and Eighties: He spent his time rolling on …
Read More »Ex-Republican Operative Steve Schmidt: 'The Party of Trump Must Be Obliterated. Annihilated. Destroyed'
WASHINGTON – Steve Schmidt has worked at the highest levels of Republican politics. He helped run George W. Bush’s 2004 presidential campaign and oversaw the confirmations of Supreme Court Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito. He led Sen. John McCain’s ’08 presidential bid and helped introduce Sarah Palin to the …
Read More »Trumpism's Tipping Point
Sometimes, we forget where we are. Momentary amnesia is the most charitable explanation for Donald Trump saluting North Korea’s uniformed defense chief. In an uneasy moment of bonhomie during Trump’s Singapore summit last week, General No Kwang-chol saluted the president, then extended his hand for a shake right as Trump …
Read More »Rep. Mark Sanford: Trumpism Is a 'Cancerous Growth' in the GOP
Congressman Mark Sanford is beginning to cry. We’re only a few minutes into our conversation before the South Carolina congressman chokes up. “I apologize,” he says, wiping his eyes. “I just can’t go certain places or you hit the wrong nerve.” It’s Thursday afternoon, less than 48 hours after Sanford’s …
Read More »How the House Intelligence Committee Collapsed on Adam Schiff
“Here’s some advice,” says Hardball host Chris Matthews. It’s 6:30 p.m. on a Wednesday in MSNBC’s Washington, D.C., greenroom. Rep. Adam Schiff, who just wrapped up an appearance on The Beat With Ari Melber, is getting his TV makeup wiped off, while Matthews offers some political wisdom to Schiff’s deputy …
Read More »Why Trump's Effort to Censor 'Fire and Fury' Will Fail
Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury dropped like an atom bomb this month, effectively ending Steve Bannon’s career and contributing “Gorilla Channel” to the collective lexicon. One of the main drivers of the book’s massive launch – publisher Henry Holt & Co. has ordered 1.4 million hardcover copies– was the president’s …
Read More »What Doug Jones' Win Means for the GOP Agenda in Congress
The stunning upset victory of Democrat Doug Jones over Roy Moore in Alabama’s special election on Tuesday is being parsed by pundits and politicians alike, but the results don’t seem to have changed much for Republicans at the hyper-partisan U.S. Capitol. On Wednesday, GOP lawmakers carried on with business as …
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