Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-OH) and Columbus City Council President pepper sprayed at protest

Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, Columbus City Council President Shannon Hardin, and Franklin County, Commissioner Kevin Boyce, were all pepper-sprayed...

Folk, blues, rock, reggae, and politics intersect in the music of Richie Havens and Taj Mahal

For the past few weeks, exploring the roots of Black folk and blues music and musicians has been a balm for my sanity. As we move into yet another...

'He should just stop talking': Atlanta mayor slams Trump's responses to George Floyd protests

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms appeared on both CNN’s State of the Union and CBS News’ Face the Nation this Sunday morning. In both...

Michigan sheriff joins George Floyd protesters in viral video: 'Let's walk'

Protesters seeking justice for George Floyd marched across the nation over the weekend. In numerous viral videos and photos, police appear to...

We can all be heroes in the time of COVID-19—including you

News stories are filled with images of health care workers in medical facilities nationwide, treating patients sickened with the novel coronavirus....

Militia-loving lieutenant governor leads fight against Idaho’s stay-at-home orders

Janice McGeachin probably holds the highest elected office of any explicit far-right “Patriot” extremist in the United States: Idaho’s...

'We learned violence from you': Activist Tamika Mallory captures heart of protests with vital speech

When activist Tamika Mallory joined a roster of celebrities and social justice advocates Friday at a news conference in downtown Minneapolis, it...

'I am permanently blind in my left eye': Police target reporters covering George Floyd protests

It was hard to miss the chaotic scenes of violence blasted across social media this weekend. Prompted by George Floyd’s death after a police...

Colin Kaepernick's relentless pursuit of justice continues with new bail fund for protesters

Police are on a rampage, meeting protesters with extreme violence following the death of another unarmed Black man who was killed as a result of...

NYC woman suffered 'serious seizure’ and concussion after NYPD officer shoved her in viral video

Protests have erupted across the nation following the tragic death of George Floyd. A viral video depicted an officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck...

Decades after resettling in America, Southeast Asians continue to fight for basic rights

Asian Americans have experienced different levels of trauma and adversity while navigating the U.S. immigration system, and Southeast Asians in...

ICYMI: Defunding Minneapolis police, honoring immigrant trans women, and more from Prism

As grief and rage boiled over into mass protests in cities across the country in response to the police murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor...

They keep going after Nancy, nursing homes hire lobbyists, and more you might have missed

What is there even to say about this week?  Actually, I’ve got a few thoughts: My thoughts are with everyone marching in the streets demanding...

Death row families face roadblocks to receiving necessary mental health care, report says

Even as neglect inside correctional institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic effectively sentences those inside to illness and potential death,...

Limited technology access prevents kids in the child welfare system from connecting with parents

by Elizabeth Brico On the morning of May 14, advocates and supporters from around the country dialed into a virtual hearing taking place in...

New video shows more complete picture of moments before George Floyd arrest

New surveillance video seems to show a struggle happening inside a Minneapolis police cruiser moments before George Floyd was pinned to the ground...

Trump attacks D.C. mayor for refusing police brutality in response to George Floyd protests

Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is defending herself against the problematic Commander-in-Chief Donald Trump after he accused her of failing...

Nike blocks county health inspector from entering facility after worker dies of COVID-19

Mitt Romney was deservedly castigated in 2011 when while campaigning for president, he famously declared that “corporations are people, too.”...

Trump takes to Twitter to claim he will designate 'Antifa' as a 'terrorist organization'

On Sunday, Donald Trump tweeted that he was going to designate Antifa (which stands for anti-fascist) as a terrorist organization. There’s a lot...

Rooting out anti-Blackness and police violence gets lots of talk, but too little action

In August 2014, a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, fatally shot Mike Brown Jr., setting off protests to which police responded with riot gear...

Republicans hate this part of COVID-19 relief because it works, this week in the war on workers

The extra $600 a week in unemployment benefits expires at the end of July—and as June begins, many workers haven’t even started getting it...

Spotlight on green news & views: Transforming public transit; teaching kids about climate change

This is the 645th edition  of the Spotlight on Green News & Views (previously known as the Green Diary Rescue). Here is the May 23 edition....

Saturday Night Owls. From The Root: Here's how many people police killed in 2019

Night Owls, a themed open thread, appears at Daily Kos seven days a week In January, Michael Harriott at The Root wrote that we don’t really know...

Far-right 'Boogaloo Bois' fanning flames of chaos in Minnesota protests, officials claim

The specter of white supremacists surreptitiously participating in protests surrounding the death of George Floyd, the black man killed in the...

Politico: States deliberately hiding or distorting COVID-19 data to abet Trump's push to reopen

Federal and state officials across the country have altered or hidden public health data crucial to tracking the coronavirus' spread, hindering the...

Backasswards: Some businesses are discriminating against people who ARE wearing masks

  As states begin to reopen, most store and restaurant owners are putting the safety of their staff and customers first by requiring individuals...

Public safety should be based on care, not fear

by Michaela Rawsthorn The term “public safety” often elicits images of firetrucks, police cars, and ambulances. We tend to think it is the...

Columbia University students call for reimbursement and protections for international students

by Juliana Clark On Friday, April 24, hundreds of graduate student workers at Columbia University went on a rent and work strike following the...

Protests over police violence spread, as decades of disillusionment reach a boiling point

The police murder of George Floyd led to another night of protests, confrontations, and clashes not just in Minneapolis, but in over a dozen...

White supremacy groups are hoping to leverage George Floyd's death into their longed-for 'race war'

The protests that have spread across the nation in the wake of the murder of George Floyd have attracted a diverse group of supporters that go...

NASA prepares for launch of astronauts, as SpaceX loses another test rocket

The astronauts have already boarded their SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule and are preparing for a launch on Saturday afternoon at 3:22 ET. So far,...

Julián Castro launches People First Future, spotlighting people of color and progressive candidates

Former Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Mayor of San Antonio, Texas, Julián Castro, has launched a new...

Donald Trump will use this moment to fan the flames of hatred, just like every other moment

With reports that white supremacists instigators are behind instances of violence at protests across the nation, with the military standing by to...

Saturday Snippets: Calif. activists seek Prop. 13 reform; food prices rise in April most since 1974

Saturday Snippets is a regular weekend feature at Daily Kos • Initiative to revise California’s 42-year-old Proposition 13 qualifies for...

Trump is imploding in real time. The damage may be unrecoverable

If you didn't know better, you could easily have concluded that Donald Trump spent the week campaigning for his presumptive Democratic challenger,...

American billionaires have added $434 billion to their wealth since COVID-19 began

While workers fight to be paid and treated like the “essential” workforce they are touted to be, the ownership class is making billions on top...

Abbreviated Pundit Roundup: Aftermath of the taking of a life

So much more yet to be written but for now: "We need justice for George Floyd," Joe Biden says. "We need real police reform, that holds cops to a...

Voting Rights Roundup: Court axes Florida GOP's poll tax, restoring voting rights to roughly 775,000

● Florida : In a historic victory against Republican voter suppression, a federal district court struck down a law that Republicans passed to impose...

Chinatown residents won’t let a global pandemic stop them from fighting against gentrification

by  Huiying B. Chan On May 1, tenants of 81 Bowery in New York City released a black and white banner from the top of their apartment building...

Hennepin County Commissioner Angela Conley on grieving and organizing after murder of George Floyd

As Minneapolis community organizations grapple with the killing of George Floyd, locals are still grappling with the memory of justice delayed and...

Overnight protests in Minneapolis end with anger, as Trump makes racist demand for more violence

It was an ugly night in Minneapolis, and at every turn Donald Trump, the city police force, and the state police seem to be working to make it...

Minneapolis police racism on display as one CNN crew arrested, another 'treated much differently'

Minneapolis police arrested a CNN crew as it covered protests early Friday morning, inadvertently providing yet another excellent example of why...

Joe Biden addresses the killing of George Floyd, calling racism an 'open wound' in the U.S.

Former Vice President Joe Biden stepped up on Friday and showed a grieving nation what humane, moral leadership could look like. Calling the...

Protests against police brutality spread from Minneapolis to cities across the U.S.

Protests of police killings of Black people spread around the country Thursday night, which was the third night of protests in Minneapolis. There...

Trump White House is going to get people killed with watered down COVID-19 guidelines for churches

The Trump administration continues politicizing public health with its latest changes to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention coronavirus...

Democratic lawmakers, all women of color, introduce resolution condemning police brutality

Four Democratic members of color, all women, have introduced a resolution condemning police brutality. Reps. lhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna...

Trump's bored with COVID-19 and the death toll, has left his task force to languish

The deaths of more than 100,000 Americans from coronavirus this week has not been marked officially by the White House. The White House coronavirus...

Trump, desperate for distraction, turns White House into purveyor of racism, death, and destruction

When Donald Trump awoke early Friday morning to news of widespread unrest in Minneapolis over the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by four...

As Senate Republicans mask up, vainglorious Trump frets over his sex appeal

Sen. John Cornyn of Texas shared a masked photo of himself on Instagram Monday. “We all have to do our part. Maintain social distancing but if you...

As America burns, Trump announces he's 'terminating' relations with World Health Organization

America is on fire. Amid a literal plague and widespread unrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Louisville, Kentucky, over racial injustice,...

Minnesota police officer taken into custody in connection with the death of George Floyd

Former Minnesota police officer Derek Chauvin was taken into custody by investigators Friday in connection with the death of 46-year-old George...

Daily Kos Radio is LIVE at 9 AM ET!

Ah, Friday! That one day of the week when, uh… hmm. Well, whatever. We celebrate Fridays as a matter of tradition, if nothing else. You know how...

Abbreviated Pundit Round-up: It gets late early out here

Think it’s too early to start looking at how November is shaping up? It’s never too early. Besides, Election Day is closer to 5 months away than...

Cartoon: Human capital stock

As we pass the horrible milestone of 100,000 coronavirus deaths in the United States, the Trump administration is handling the COVID-19 pandemic in...

Trump plans to sell yet more armaments to his pal Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman

As first reported by The Daily Beast Wednesday, U.S. officials are eager to sell more arms to Saudi Arabia despite continuing objections from both...

COVID-19 news: Trump ditches World Health Organization

Donald Trump is always on the lookout for an enemy to rally his base against as he postures about his own supposed toughness. Even Trump can’t...

Trump exploiting COVID-19 crisis to grab land on the border for his wall

The racist Trump administration is using the coronavirus emergency to seize more land on the southern border, arguing that it has to protect the...

Judge orders Social Security to pay survivors benefits to previously disqualified gay couples

A federal judge Wednesday ordered the Social Security Administration to pay benefits to the surviving partners of same-sex couples who had been...

Cheers and Jeers: Rum and Social Distancing FRIDAY!

"A Picture is Worth…" Every day after lunch my dawg takes me for a stroll around the neighborhood. She dictates the route. Sometimes Haley takes...

Trump plans to put the people of Washington, D.C. at risk with big Fourth of July celebration

Forget about coronavirus—Donald Trump is determined to repeat the political rally and ode to his own ego he staged in Washington, D.C., on the...

Every worker on one Tennessee farm has tested positive for coronavirus

"Every Single Worker Has Covid at One U.S. Farm on Eve of Harvest." Read that headline one more time: "Every Single Worker Has Covid at One U.S....

Friday Night Owls: Pandemic underlines the need for a public banking option

Night Owls, a themed open thread, appears at Daily Kos seven days a week Raúl Carrillo at Other Words writes— We Need a Public Option for Banking...

Louisville releases 911 call in Breonna Taylor shooting; backs up her boyfriend’s claim against cops

Last March, narcotic officers in Louisville, Kentucky, armed with a “no-knock” warrant, kicked in the apartment door of Breonna Taylor, and shot...

Arrest report for officer charged with George Floyd’s murder has damning new piece of evidence

On Friday, after a week of escalating protests, Hennepin County attorney Michael Freeman announced that former police officer Derek Chauvin had...

Killing of George Floyd spotlights racism and police brutality as Minneapolis hits a boiling point

Forty-six-year-old George Floyd died Monday, after being brutalized by Minneapolis police during an arrest for allegedly attempting to pass off a...

Cartoon: Quarantine dreams

Woman says she was raped in ICE detention center hours before deportation

An immigrant woman who says she was raped at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention center in Texas filed suit Wednesday against...

Want to avoid another #GeorgeFloyd? Start by defunding the Minneapolis police, organizers say

Since 46-year-old George Floyd, a Black man, was murdered by Minneapolis police officers on May 25, people across the nation have been reminded of...

Trump administration killed planned regulation to protect healthcare workers from airborne diseases

The list of things we know the Trump administration did that have made the coronavirus pandemic worse just got longer by one. In early 2017, as...

Betsy DeVos is 'absolutely' using coronavirus crisis to siphon money from public to private schools

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is using the coronavirus pandemic to try to shift public money to private schools—and especially to private...

Thursday Night Owls. Marcotte: Trump's Twitter threats are a distraction—but they can't be ignored

Night Owls, a themed open thread, appears at Daily Kos seven days a week Amanda Marcotte at Salon writes— Yes, Trump's Twitter threats against...

This Week in Statehouse Action: Milestones and Headstones edition

Hello, homebound heroes! I mean, that’s kind of what you are, since you’ve been doing your part to not contribute to the mind-bending total of...

Cartoon: Another dreaded visit from... The Don

The two upcoming Tom the Dancing Bug books, Tom the Dancing Bug: Into the Trumpverse , and The Super-Fun-Pak Comix Reader , are now available for...

In America's hour of need, Trump suddenly fell silent

Donald Trump has been throwing around coronavirus statistics for months. In late February, it was "15 people" infected that Trump mused would soon...

Cheers and Jeers: Thursday

Life Lessons and Other Bon Mots from May Birthday Kids “When you were born, you were crying and everyone else was smiling. Live your life so at...

COVID-19 news: 2.1 million new unemployment claims, and Trump will hide more economic bad news

Another Thursday means another set of unemployment claims numbers, and once again, it was bad. More than 2 million more Americans filed for...

McConnell sides with public and breaks with Trump, urging people to wear masks

Somebody can read the polls. For weeks, a large majority of the American public has been saying that face masks should be worn to help stem the...

Reuters: Millions in emergency loans have gone to businesses that have avoided paying U.S. taxes

While Mitch McConnell's Senate is on recess this week, the House is in session and is taking up a bill making changes to the Paycheck Protection...

Trump won't offer usual economic projections. Probably because it's hard to brag about disaster

In a story they broke this morning, Jeff Stein and Josh Dawsey at The Washington Post report that the Trump regime has decided it will not deliver...

Pence chief of staff has 'red alarm' conflict of interest in pandemic-related stock holdings

Vice President Mike Pence's chief of staff knew he had stocks that could create conflicts of interest. Marc Short, a former White House aide,...

Barr names yet another very special prosecutor in the ongoing effort to make 'Obamagate' happen

Another day, another U.S. attorney retasked by William Barr to follow up on a nonexistent “crime.” This time, Barr has taken John Bash, the...

More evidence emerges that DeSantis has been deliberately underreporting COVID-19 deaths in Florida

Back in April, it became clear that Florida was intentionally hiding a list of daily deaths that had previously been compiled by county medical...

Joe Biden shows Trump how to properly use Twitter by making him eat his own words

As several pundits have pointed out, Donald Trump isn’t spending more time on Twitter than he is on the coronavirus because he’s trying to...

McConnell, Koch brothers, and NRA get their wish: Trump ends nonprofit requirement to disclose cash

One of the only federal checks on campaign contributions is being done away with by the Trump administration. A new policy, which is set to go...

Trump supports statement that wearing masks 'endorses slavery'

For Donald Trump, everything is a matter of opinion. If he says a contraindicated prescription drug works against COVID-19 then it works, even if...

'The only good Democrat is a dead Democrat,' speaker says in video gleefully tweeted by Trump

Donald Trump moved a couple steps closer to calling for mass murder at the stroke of midnight May 28, writing “Thank you Cowboys. See you in New...

Trump seeks an election edge by threatening social media companies into favorable treatment

Enraged by Twitter daring to fact-check some of his lies, Donald Trump is planning an executive order limiting legal protections for social media...

Democrats pledge to keep up the pressure after CDC blows off report on COVID-19 and race

Communities of color are being hammered by coronavirus, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doesn’t seem very interested in knowing...

Graham amps up McConnell's court-packing scheme, says conservative judges over 65 should step aside

Now that Mitch McConnell's court-packing plan of talking older right-wing judges into retiring so he can replace them with younger, even...

This is going to be very concerning for Susan Collins: She's down nearly 10 points in latest polling

Well, this is going to be awfully concerning for Sen. Susan Collins. The Maine Republican is down by nearly double digits against her likely...

Another 2.1 million seek new jobless benefits. Pandemic Recession will stick it to millennials

The Department of Labor reported Thursday that yet another 2.1 million Americans, on a seasonally adjusted basis, applied for initial state...

Abbreviated Pundit Round-up: Confronting pandemic's racial disparities; Dems align on climate fight

The Abbreviated Pundit Roundup is a regular feature of Daily Kos. Before cracking open today’s collection of opinion, you might want to check out...

Pennsylvania Democrat slams GOP as ‘liars,’ alleges peer’s positive COVID-19 test kept secret

On Wednesday, May 27, Republican state Rep. Andrew Lewis of Pennsylvania confirmed that he tested positive for COVID-19 and shared that he had...

As Trump ponders being country's 'best president,' GOP operatives mull electoral 'wipeout'

As the nation mourned 100,000 dead Wednesday and Trump tweeted out claims of being the country's "best president" in history, Republican...

'Cowboy for Trump' thinks 'the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat,' so Trump retweets it

Couy Griffin, the New Mexico Republican whose video was just retweeted by Donald Trump, wants you to know that he wasn’t really calling for people...

Cop who targeted George Floyd had 17 complaints against him, but Klobuchar still didn't prosecute

Years before now-fired Minneapolis police Officer Derek Chauvin knelt on the neck of a Black forgery suspect named George Floyd until he died, Sen....

As Minneapolis protests continue in the name of George Floyd, National Guard is called in

For the second night in a row, sizable protest crowds in Minnesota were met with police action. The protests are in response to the arrest and...

Lawmaker told his GOP peers he had COVID-19, but waited a week to inform fellow Democrats

Republican state Rep. Andrew Lewis of Pennsylvania announced on Wednesday, May 27, that he had been secretly self-quarantining for a few days...

Cartoon: Keep calm and Karen on

Republicans nominate QAnon cultist for the U.S. Senate in Oregon, who then waffles on her support

In case there was any questions about Jo Rae Perkins’ devotion to the cultish QAnon conspiracy theory universe—raised, no doubt, by her...