Why the Virginia Election Is Freaking Democrats Out  —  Ms. Cottle is a member of the editorial board.  —  With just under a week to go, the governor's race in Virginia has gotten tighter than Spanx on a hippo, prompting much agita in Democratic circles.  When the Democrats won full control …

Live Updates: Ahead of Meeting With White House Team, Manchin Criticizes Billionaire Tax Plan  —  Here's what you need to know:  —  Manchin denounces the Democrats' plan to tax billionaires as divisive.  —  Senate Democrats' plan to extract hundreds of billions of dollars from the wealth …

An Open Letter in Defense of Democracy  —  The future of democracy in the United States is in danger.  —  (DESIGN BY HANNAH YOEST / PHOTOS: GETTYIMAGES / SHUTTERSTOCK)  —  [This open letter is being published simultaneously by The Bulwark and the New Republic.]

Merrick Garland Says He'll Keep Targeting Parents Even After School Board Group Apologized For Its Bogus ‘Domestic Terrorism’ Claims  —  Attorney General Merrick Garland indicated in a Senate Judiciary oversight hearing on Wednesday that the Department of Justice will keep targeting parents …

New cases down nearly 60 percent since delta variant surge … New coronavirus infections in the United States have dropped nearly 60 percent since a September spike brought on by the more contagious delta variant, according to data compiled by The Washington Post.

Murphy Maintains Lead  —  Slight narrowing in governor race, but little change overall  —  West Long Branch, NJ - Phil Murphy maintains a sizable lead over Jack Ciattarelli, although the margin has narrowed over the past two months, according to the final Monmouth ("Mon-muth") University Poll of the New Jersey governor's race.

Trump-Backed QAnon Candidates Launch Group to ‘Control the Election System’  —  A coalition of right-wing MAGA candidates, including multiple Trump-backed candidates, are seeking to take control of elections in states across the U.S.—and one says they're formally working with a group of conspiracy theorists …

Bidenomics Is Working  —  Consumer prices are high and rising, and so is disapproval of Joe Biden.  In recent days, the president's net-favorability rating has hit new lows in FiveThirtyEight's aggregation of polls.  Meanwhile, America's headlines are full of testaments to economic discontent.

Men shot by Kyle Rittenhouse can't be called ‘victims’ at trial, but may be called ‘looters,’ judge says  —  A Monday decision from a Wisconsin judge about terms lawyers may use in Kyle Rittenhouse's trial is again drawing national attention to the case.  —  Rittenhouse will go on trial next week …

Political Speech for Human Dingleberries Has Never Been More Robust  —  There might be a “cancel culture” chilling effect out there, but it isn't chilling performers.  —  When considering the inescapable “free speech” debate there is an important maxim I want everyone to keep at the top of mind:

State Department issues first ‘Gender X’ passport, working toward permanent change  —  A spokesman for the Department of State announced Wednesday that the department has issued its first nonbinary passport.  —  The department is transitioning toward a permanent change to allow people to identify as nonbinary on the document.

U.S. General Likens China's Hypersonic Weapon Test to ‘Sputnik Moment’  — Top U.S. general says suspected test is ‘very concerning’  — Afghan war a failure as the ‘regime that we supported lost’  —  The U.S.'s top uniformed military officer called China's suspected test …

Youngkin goes all-in on ‘critical race theory’ in campaign's final week  —  The Virginia Republican gubernatorial nominee is leading the conservative crusade against public schools.  —  At the end of a campaign defined by equivocation, Glenn Youngkin has fully embraced the right-wing narrative on …

Jan. 6 investigators postpone push for some Trump records  —  The Jan. 6 select committee is temporarily backing off a request for about 50 pages of Trump White House records, even though the National Archives concluded the documents were relevant to the panel's investigation.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene bought shares of Trump SPAC Digital World Acquisition as stock skyrocketed  — Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Friday invested up to $50,000 in the SPAC stock linked to Donald Trump's planned social media platform.  — According to a public disclosure …

Wikileaks: US begins legal appeal to extradite Assange  —  Lawyers for the US have told the High Court the judge who blocked Julian Assange's extradition was misled by his psychiatrist.  —  The United States government is starting a legal appeal to try to get the Wikileaks founder extradited.

'We're being pressured into sex by some trans women'  —  Is a lesbian transphobic if she does not want to have sex with trans women?  Some lesbians say they are increasingly being pressured and coerced into accepting trans women as partners - then shunned and even threatened for speaking out.

The M25 is our Maginot Line  —  Anyone who believes there are biological differences between men and women is literally a Nazi  —  This article is taken from the October 2021 issue of The Critic.  To get the full magazine why not subscribe?  Right now we're offering five issue for just £10.

Federal Trade Commission Scrutinizing Facebook Disclosures  —  Lawmakers want agency to determine if Facebook engaged in deceptive conduct; company says internal research is mischaracterized  —  WASHINGTON—Federal Trade Commission staffers have begun looking into disclosures …

Boston Medical Center surgeon fined for leaving operating room to eat in his car, then falling asleep and missing the procedure  —  The longtime head of spine surgery at Boston Medical Center has been reprimanded by state regulators and fined $5,000 for leaving an operating room before the start …

Prosecutor drops felony charge against central Pa. man for 43-cent ‘theft’  —  1,533  —  The Perry County district attorney's office dismissed a felony charge that Pennsylvania State Police had filed against a homeless man after he paid $2 for a Mountain Dew drink that cost $2.29.

Scoop: Biden plan expected to include at least $500B for climate  —  The White House is privately telling lawmakers the climate portion of President Biden's roughly $2 trillion social spending plan is “mostly settled” and will likely cost more than $500 billion, two sources familiar with the talks tell Axios.

Nicholas Kristof, former New York Times columnist, announces run for Oregon governor  —  Nicholas Kristof, a former New York Times columnist, announced Wednesday he is running for Oregon governor, ending months of speculation over whether he would make a bid for the top political office in his home state.