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Mother Jones

The Biden Administration’s Threat to Cut Military Aid to Israel Was, Once Again, Toothless

In mid-October, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin sent a strongly worded letter to top Israeli officials. In the note, they made clear the United States was aware of Israel’s blocking of aid into the north of Gaza. They demanded that Israel improve humanitarian conditions by letting in 350 trucks […]

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Can a Democracy Reverse a Slide Toward Authoritarianism?

The below article first appeared in David Corn’s newsletter, Our Land. The newsletter comes out twice a week (most of the time) and provides behind-the-scenes stories and articles about politics, media, and culture. Subscribing costs just $5 a month—but you can sign up for a free 30-day trial. Prices went up during a post-pandemic recovery, and American voters elected a convicted […]

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America’s Delegation Diminished by Trump’s Win as UN Climate Summit Commences

This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. As dozens of heads of state arrived in Azerbaijan for the annual United Nations climate talks this week, one absent world leader’s name was on everyone’s lips. At press conference after press conference, questions arose about the election of Donald Trump. The […]

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Trump’s First Picks Are War Hawks

A few weeks ago, Vice President-elect JD Vance dubbed Donald Trump “the candidate of peace” during a blitz of Sunday morning show appearances. Vance was talking about a guy who during his last term reportedly expressed interest in firing missiles into Mexico, and mussed about nuking both North Korea and hurricanes. And, less than a […]

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Don Jr.’s New Gig: An Investment Firm Connected to Christian Nationalists

On Monday, the New York Times reported that President-elect Donald Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. has accepted a job with an investment firm called 1789 Capital. The Times described the firm as focused on “products and companies aimed at conservative audiences.” Indeed, the firm funds right-wing TV host Tucker Carlson’s media company. And its website […]

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Reveals Plans to Fire 600 Federal Health Workers

At an event late last week in Arizona, anti-vaccine activist and Donald Trump transition team member Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said he’d fire and replace 600 people from the National Institutes of Health on “day one” of a second Trump term. The NIH is one of the public health agencies Kennedy loathes the most—and despite […]

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Election Conspiracy Theories Are for Everyone

In the days following Donald Trump’s clear win, conspiracy theories about how votes were tampered with or how the election was stolen from Kamala Harris have spread on the left, with viral tweets, TikTok videos, and posts on Threads making a chaotic and spotty case alleging a fishy result. “I’m beginning to believe our election […]

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How Ruben Gallego Defeated Election Denier Kari Lake in Arizona’s Senate Race

In the race for Arizona’s open US Senate seat, Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego has defeated the state’s most vociferous election-denier, Republican Kari Lake. His win gives Democrats 47 Senate seats to the Republicans’ 53. Gallego’s win should not come as a shock if you’ve been paying attention. He had led Lake in polls consistently for […]

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Trump Puts the Father of Family Separation in Charge of Mass Deportation

Late Sunday night, President-elect Donald Trump announced one of his top picks to staff the incoming administration: Tom Homan as the “border czar.” Homan “will be in charge of all deportation of illegal aliens back to their country of origin,” Trump posted on social media. “I have no doubt he will do a fantastic, and […]

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The Renewable Energy Revolution Is Unstoppable

This story was originally published by Slate and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. There’s no question that the forthcoming return of Donald Trump and his willful disregard for science, truth, and basic empathy is a massive step backward in the struggle toward a world built on justice, equity, and a stable climate. Trump has promised […]

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What It’s Like to Be a Poll Worker With a Disability

It can be challenging to manage the symptoms of a disability or chronic illness during a long workday. For disabled and chronically ill poll workers, Election Day—which can mean 14-hour shifts—certainly takes the cake. Being a poll worker can be a meaningful civic duty for those who participate. Disabled poll workers are also crucial: They […]

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Press Freedom Groups Warn of the Threat Posed By Trump

Press freedom groups have a stark warning for Americans: Trump could pose a serious threat to fact-based journalism during his next term in office if he does not change course. The Committee to Protect Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, and Freedom of the Press Foundation all issued statements in the aftermath of Trump’s win this week, […]

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Elon Musk’s “Election Integrity Community” Turns Its Attention to Arizona

Members of Elon Musk’s so-called “Election Integrity Community” have turned their attention from stoking paranoia about voter fraud in the presidential race, now that Trump won, to alleging it in Arizona, where a closely watched Senate race looks like it could result in a GOP loss. As of early Sunday, major news outlets had yet […]

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A Cool New Ally in the Fight to Reduce Atmospheric Carbon: Chonkus

This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Tucked away in the most extreme nooks and crannies of the Earth are biodiverse galaxies of microorganisms—some that might help scour the atmosphere of the carbon dioxide mankind has pumped into it. One microorganism in particular has captured scientists’ attention. UTEX […]

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The Other Big Election Winners? Private Prisons

Donald Trump’s win on Tuesday has sent private prison company stocks soaring as investors anticipate that the president-elect’s promises of mass deportation will increase the need for immigration detention. Stocks for GEO Group and CoreCivic, the nation’s largest private prison operators, increased 42 percent and 29 percent respectively on Wednesday. Financial news site Sherwood News […]

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This week on Reveal: From Victim to Suspect

Nicole Chase was a young mom with a six-year-old daughter to support when she was sexually assaulted by her boss while working at a Canton, Connecticut restaurant. When she decided to report the attack, she knew she was risking a lot—her livelihood, for one, but also the reputation she’d build in her small, close-knit town. […]

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It Shouldn’t Be This Hard to Vote When You’re Disabled

Disabled and chronically ill voters: What was your experience casting a ballot in person, either this week or in early voting? Civil and voting rights protections like the Voting Rights Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act are supposed to protect disabled people’s right to vote in person, which means having the right accommodations: wheelchair-accessible […]

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Mother Jones

It Shouldn’t Be This Hard to Vote When You’re Disabled

Disabled and chronically ill voters: What was your experience casting a ballot in person, either this week or in early voting? Civil and voting rights protections like the Voting Rights Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act are supposed to protect disabled people’s right to vote in person, which means having the right accommodations: wheelchair-accessible […]

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Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen Holds Onto Her Nevada Senate Seat

Jacky Rosen, Nevada’s incumbent Democratic senator, has won reelection in the battleground state, defeating Republican Sam Brown. Though Republicans haven’t won a Nevada senate seat in a dozen years and Rosen had a considerable cash advantage, the race was unexpectedly tight, emblematic of the rightward shift in Nevada and across the country. Trump won Nevada […]

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The Best Way to Restore a Rainforest Is Simply to Leave It Be

This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Johnny Appleseed’s heart was in the right place when he walked all over the early United States planting fruit trees. Ecologically, though, he had room for improvement: To create truly dynamic ecosystems that host a lot of biodiversity, benefit local people, and […]

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Racist Trolls Celebrated the Election By Texting Black Voters to “Pick Cotton”

The day after Election Day, predominantly Black recipients in at least six states received racist, trollish text messages telling them they had been “selected” to “pick cotton at the nearest plantation.” The messages were sent from varying numbers and area codes, and sent to recipients in at least eight states, including Georgia, North Carolina, Wisconsin, […]

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Exclusive: RFK Jr. Is Crowdsourcing Cabinet Picks for Trump

Just days after former President Donald Trump won the presidential election, his onetime-opponent turned supporter, the anti-vaccine superstar Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has set up a website to solicit suggestions for key Cabinet roles. Anyone can submit a name and vote for their favorite nominees across 12 areas of government, including health, food and agriculture, […]

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How John Roberts Brought Back Donald Trump

There will be endless ink spilled over the 2024 election, trying to sort out the overlapping reasons why the world’s oldest democracy placed its fate in the hands of a would-be strongman who promises to dismantle democratic norms. There are many culprits—rising costs, raw white supremacy—but among them, let’s not forget the role of Chief […]

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Five Christian Nationalist Action Items for Trump’s Next Term

Over the last few months leading up to the election, I’ve been writing about an ascendant fundamentalist religious movement whose leaders believe that the United States is a Christian nation, that the Constitution is based on the Bible, and that Christians are called to take over the government. These figures have found a powerful ally […]

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Mother Jones

The Super-Rich Are Using Private Jets “as Taxis” for Short, Wasteful, Polluting Trips

This story was originally published by the Guardian and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Private jet flights have soared in recent years, with the resulting climate-heating emissions rising by 50 percent, the most comprehensive global analysis to date has revealed. The assessment tracked more than 25,000 private jets and almost 19 million flights between 2019 and […]

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Trump’s New Chief of Staff Is No John Kelly

Donald Trump announced Thursday that Susie Wiles, who as his de facto campaign manager is credited with imposing a measure of discipline that helped him win on Tuesday, will serve as his chief of staff. Wiles has earned a reputation as a smart, pragmatic, and effective campaign operative. For critics of Trump’s agenda—which includes deporting […]

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Three-Term Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey Just Lost

Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey, a stalwart moderate who rose to power on the heels of his late father’s political legacy, has lost his reelection bid, the Associated Press has called. The three-term incumbent was challenged by former hedge fund executive Dave McCormick in what became a surprisingly competitive race. In many ways, McCormick was a […]

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Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Anti-Vaccine Organization Hopes He’ll Take Their Wildest Dreams to the White House

The elites of the anti-vaccine, “medical freedom” world saw the presidential election unfold at a hotel watch party in West Palm Beach, with a giddy, rising sense of what was unfolding. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the nation’s most famous anti-vaccine activist turned presidential candidate turned Trump booster, turned up at the event before heading to […]

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Biden and Harris Do What Trump Refused: Support a Peaceful Transfer of Power

Since Donald Trump won reelection, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have both done what the now-president-elect and his fellow Republicans refused to do in 2020: publicly accept loss and advocate for a peaceful transition of power. In a Thursday morning speech outside the White House, Biden told Americans, “We accept the choice […]

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Mother Jones

Why Did Trump Really Win? It’s Simple, Actually.

In the coming days, you will hear every imaginable take on why Americans voted to put Donald Trump back in office. Pundits will say toxic masculinity was to blame—and men feeling usurped by women. They’ll say it was the Christian nationalism movement. A surprising shift in Latino voting patterns. Sexism. Racism. Transphobia. Elon Musk. Crypto […]

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