ANNANDALE, Va. — As lawmakers voted on a budget deal at the U.S. Capitol, a different kind of balloting was taking place a dozen miles away in a sun-filled Virginia preschool classroom. At stake: which animated dog was the best character on the cartoon “PAW Patrol.” In a heated primary, the 3-and-4-year-old students in room … Read more
The adage is old enough to have been lampooned in the title of Sinclair Lewis’ 1935 novel: “It can’t happen here.” That “it” back then was an imagined fascist takeover of the United States. Writing 13 years after Benito Mussolini seized power in Italy, barely a year after Adolf Hitler installed himself as dictator of … Read more
WASHINGTON — Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) joined former Republican Rep. Joe Walsh on Monday to promote a “no dictators declaration” in response to the prospect of a second Donald Trump presidency. The symbolic pledge is an election season ploy to highlight Trump’s authoritarian tendencies without explicitly mentioning the former president. “This declaration is about protecting … Read more
Elon Musk, the controversial billionaire who famously acquired Twitter (and renamed it X) in 2022 and purportedly wished to protect free speech there, amplified a post over Labor Day weekend that called for democracy itself to be replaced — with a group of “high status males.” Musk remarked of the post Sunday: “Interesting observation.” The … Read more
Traders work the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on August 16, 2024. Angela Weiss | AFP | Getty Images This report is from today’s CNBC Daily Open, our international markets newsletter. CNBC Daily Open brings investors up to speed on everything they need to know, no matter where they are. Like what you … Read more
CLEVELAND — A federal judge has struck down part of Ohio’s sweeping 2023 election law, which voting rights groups said restricted people from helping voters with disabilities cast absentee ballots. Voting advocates argued that the Republican-backed law went too far by prohibiting anyone but a few qualifying family members from helping people with disabilities deliver … Read more
Boris Johnson was the subject of much mockery online Tuesday after he suggested that Donald Trump would support Ukraine and democracy. The former U.K. prime minister reportedly met with the U.S. presidential candidate amid the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. In a social media post about their discussion, Johnson said that Trump was “on top … Read more
U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday urged Americans to honor the Army Rangers who turned the tide of World War II by scaling the steep cliffs of Pointe du Hoc in France by doing their part to preserve democracy against aggression from both abroad “and at home.” “They fought to vanquish a hateful ideology in … Read more
TOKYO — The incarceration of 120,000 Japanese Americans, including children, labeled enemies during World War II is an historical experience that has traumatized, and galvanized, the Japanese American community over the decades. For George Takei, who portrayed Hikaru Sulu aboard the USS Enterprise in the “Star Trek” franchise, it’s a story he is determined to … Read more
CANNES, France — Much attention has been paid to the $120 million of his own fortune that Francis Ford Coppola put up to make the futuristic epic “Megalopolis,” but the director himself isn’t much concerned. “I don’t care. I never cared,” Coppola said of money, speaking to reporters at the Cannes Film Festival on Friday. … Read more
