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No country for old white men: Kamala Harris leads changing of the guard

No country for old white men: Kamala Harris leads changing of the guard

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David Smith writes: It was as if “Sleepy Joe” Biden had been jolted awake and found himself in a terrifying parallel universe. No longer was he the former senator and vice-president who once lunched weekly with Barack Obama at the White House. Instead he was the accused, standing in the dock under the hot lights on a debate stage in Miami, as a fierce and formidable prosecutor tore into his record on race. The inquisitor was Senator Kamala Harris, ablack…

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Jimmy Carter says Trump wouldn’t be president without help from Russia

Jimmy Carter says Trump wouldn’t be president without help from Russia

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The Washington Post reports: Former president Jimmy Carter said Friday that he believes a full investigation of the 2016 election would show that President Trump prevailed because of Russian interference on his behalf and otherwise would not be in office. “There’s no doubt that the Russians did interfere in the election, and I think the interference, although not yet quantified, if fully investigated would show that Trump didn’t actually win the election in 2016,” Carter said. “He lost the election,…

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Trump jokes with Putin about meddling in elections and getting rid of journalists

Trump jokes with Putin about meddling in elections and getting rid of journalists

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The Guardian reports: Donald Trump joked with Vladimir Putin about getting rid of journalists and Russian meddling in US elections when the two leaders met at the G20 summit in Japan. As they sat for photographs at the start of their first formal meeting in nearly a year, the US president lightheartedly sought common ground with Putin at the expense of the journalists around them in Osaka. “Get rid of them. Fake news is a great term, isn’t it? You…

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Trump’s peace plan is immoral, impractical — and could blow up the Middle East

Trump’s peace plan is immoral, impractical — and could blow up the Middle East

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Ami Ayalon, Gilead Sher, and Orni Petruschka, write: It sounds great on paper: The U.S. administration will hold a “peace to prosperity” economic workshop in Bahrain on June 25 and 26 to jumpstart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Yet scratch the shiny PR surface and you’ll find a dangerously simplistic approach to a complicated situation. Anybody who followed the last 30 years of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict understands that President Donald Trump’s announcement of this first step on the way to a deal…

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Tulsi Gabbard’s growing popularity — among Trump supporters

Tulsi Gabbard’s growing popularity — among Trump supporters

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BuzzFeed News reports: Among some conservative pundits there was one clear winner of Wednesday night’s Democratic primary debate: Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, the long-shot, anti-war Hawaii member of Congress. More than any other Democratic candidate, Gabbard has developed a favorable presence in the right-wing media. She’s made appearances from time to time on Fox News shows like Tucker Carlson Tonight, and her unorthodox candidacy has attracted praise from those farther to the right as well. Gabbard has been controversial; she has…

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In his rambling screed against Megan Rapinoe, Trump revealed a lot about his worldview

In his rambling screed against Megan Rapinoe, Trump revealed a lot about his worldview

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Jemele Hill writes: President Donald Trump doesn’t understand a basic principle that I learned from my mother in elementary school: If you treat people with respect, they’ll likely respect you in return. Trump took to Twitter on Wednesday to blast Megan Rapinoe, a co-captain of the U.S. women’s national soccer team, after the soccer magazine Eight by Eight posted a video of her saying that if the women win the World Cup, she’s not “going to the fucking White House.”…

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U.S. generates more power from renewables — decline of coal ‘unstoppable’ despite Trump’s rhetoric

U.S. generates more power from renewables — decline of coal ‘unstoppable’ despite Trump’s rhetoric

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The Guardian reports: The US generated more electricity from renewable sources than coal for the first time ever in April, new federal government data has shown. Clean energy such as solar and wind provided 23% of US electricity generation during the month, compared with coal’s 20%, according to the Energy Information Administration. This represents the first time coal has been surpassed by energy sources that do not release pollution such as planet-heating gases. April was a favorable month for renewables,…

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Shell’s natural ecosystems fund is blatant greenwash

Shell’s natural ecosystems fund is blatant greenwash

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George Monbiot writes: It is hard to believe it needs stating, but it does. The oil industry is not your friend. Whatever it might say about its ethical credentials, while it continues to invest in fossil fuels, it accelerates climate breakdown and the death of the habitable planet. You would think this point was obvious to everyone. But over the past few weeks, I have spoken to dozens of environmentalists who appear to believe that Shell is on their side….

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Young climate protesters are rattling the DNC

Young climate protesters are rattling the DNC

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BuzzFeed News reports: The young protesters who have increasingly become the face of an urgent new movement to combat the climate crisis rattled the Democratic Party’s central institution this week, camping out on the steps of its headquarters and sending jitters through its senior staff ranks. About a dozen protesters in black T-shirts stood vigil Tuesday and Wednesday night outside the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters, and more than a hundred watched the debate on a screen outside the locked Washington…

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E. Jean Carroll’s account of Trump rape corroborated by confidantes

E. Jean Carroll’s account of Trump rape corroborated by confidantes

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The New York Times reports: E. Jean Carroll tore through the doors of the Fifth Avenue entrance of Bergdorf Goodman, her heart racing. Ms. Carroll, a journalist and the host of the “Ask E. Jean” television show at the time, had taped a segment that day in 1996 at a studio in Fort Lee, N.J. When it ended around 5 p.m., she decided to come into Manhattan to shop at her favorite store. From the sidewalk, she phoned Lisa Birnbach,…

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Twitter’s new labels for tweets that break its rules may have stark implications for Trump’s account

Twitter’s new labels for tweets that break its rules may have stark implications for Trump’s account

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The Washington Post reports: Twitter on Thursday said it would begin labeling tweets from national political figures, including President Trump, that the company would have taken down under other circumstances for violating its rules, a move that could appease some longtime critics at the cost of opening a new political rift with the White House. The new policy applies to political candidates and government officials who have more than 100,000 followers, Twitter said. Before users can view tweets that the…

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Supreme Court bars challenges to partisan gerrymandering

Supreme Court bars challenges to partisan gerrymandering

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The New York Times reports: The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that federal courts are powerless to hear challenges to partisan gerrymandering, the practice in which the party that controls the state legislature draws voting maps to help elect its candidates. The vote was 5 to 4, with the court’s more conservative members in the majority. In a momentous decision, the court closed the door on such claims. The drafters of the Constitution, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. wrote…

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Roberts won’t let Trump get away with a lie in census case

Roberts won’t let Trump get away with a lie in census case

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Noah Feldman writes: Chief Justice John Roberts split the baby — again. In a dramatic and complicated opinion in a much watched census case, he first held that the Trump administration’s decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census was constitutionally and statutorily permissible and was supported by sufficient evidence. He was joined by the U.S. Supreme Court’s other conservatives. Then Roberts switched course. In a separate part of his opinion, in which he was joined by only…

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The Republican Party’s drift towards the far-right

The Republican Party’s drift towards the far-right

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The New York Times reports: The Republican Party leans much farther right than most traditional conservative parties in Western Europe and Canada, according to an analysis of their election manifestos. It is more extreme than Britain’s Independence Party and France’s National Rally (formerly the National Front), which some consider far-right populist parties. The Democratic Party, in contrast, is positioned closer to mainstream liberal parties. These findings are based on data from the Manifesto Project, which reviews and categorizes each line…

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