'It is unacceptable. It is hateful. And it has to stop'

Eight people are dead after a gunman opened fire yesterday at three separate Atlanta, Ga.-area massage parlors. The victims included six Asian women, leading some to suspect the attack was racially motivated—a point made by Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms at a press briefing today. Hate crimes targeting Asians are on the rise in the U.S., but more investigation is needed before officials can determine whether this case meets the criteria.

• — Arrest made. Robert Aaron Long, 21, has been arrested and charged with the killings. Authorities say he admitted he was responsible for the slayings, and they believe he acted alone. He told investigators the killings were not racially motivated.
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• — So what was the motivation? Authorities say the shooting rampage fits patterns seen in other mass killings. Researchers have found that mass killers are usually male, target places known to them, and are often fueled by grievances.
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• — If it's not hate, then what? During today's briefing, law enforcement officials said Long may have frequented some of the spas that were targeted and suggested that he described them as "a temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate." —The Washington Post

Valasik & Reid: The far-right threat

"Right-wing pundits and conservative media are continuing to stoke fears about the Biden Administration. We and other observers of right-wing groups expect that extremists will come to see the events of Jan. 6 as just the opening skirmish in a modern civil war. We anticipate they will continue to seek an end to American democracy and the beginning of a new society free—or even purged—of groups the [far right] fears, including immigrants, Jewish people, non-whites, LGBTQ people, and those who value multiculturalism." —Matthew Valasik and Shannon Reid on The Conversation

Matthew Valasik is an associate professor of sociology at Louisiana State University. Shannon Reid is an associate professor of criminal justice and criminology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

MORE: White supremacist propaganda in U.S. hit record in 2020, group says —Reuters

He did it again

It's like 2016 all over again. With President Vladimir Putin's authorization, the Russian government used Ukrainian proxies, individuals linked to Donald Trump, and the U.S. media to "denigrate President Biden's candidacy and the Democratic Party" through the promotion of tailored "narratives," according to a report released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Officials determined that Russia did not hack votes or change voting totals, but attempted to influence the American voting public and "by emphasizing accusations of corruption." The report suggests Andrii Derkach—the pro-Russian Ukrainian politician who gave material to Trump's lawyer, Rudy Giuliani—was engaged in a Russian active measures campaign. —Defense One

MORE: Going after the 'Achilles' heel': Biden charges into global anti-corruption fight —Politico

Florida vs. social media

Florida lawmakers are taking steps to regulate social media companies, which some Republicans accuse of bias. The state's House Appropriations Committee has advanced the first of a slate of bills that would force Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms to give users a month's notice before their accounts are disabled or suspended. The legislation would also allow consumers to sue and authorize the state attorney general to take on the companies for anti-competitive practices. Opponents say the bill may be unconstitutional and should be taken up at the federal level instead. —Associated Press

The Economist: Border becoming moral and political nightmare

"The border troubles pose a threat to Biden's own agenda. He wants to shepherd through comprehensive immigration reform, offering illegal immigrants already in the U.S. a path to legal status, and supports giving 'Dreamers,' who were brought to America as young children, permanent legal status. But those prospects dim as the surge of migrants grows." —The Economist

MORE: Andrew Feinberg: Border Patrol agents are 'working to sabotage the Biden Administration,' according to insiders —Independent

Focus on the filibuster

President Biden just raised the stakes in the Senate fight over the filibuster. In an ABC News interview last night, Biden gave his most direct endorsement yet of overhauling the legislative maneuver. In a significant departure for the president—a 36-year veteran of the Senate who has been reluctant to alter Senate procedure—he says he favors a return to what is called the talking filibuster, in which opponents of legislation occupy the floor and make their case.

• — "I don't think that you have to eliminate the filibuster; you have to do it, what it used to be when I first got to the Senate back in the old days. You had to stand up and command the floor, and you had to keep talking," Biden said. "It's getting to the point where, you know, democracy is having a hard time functioning."
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• — Currently, senators need only to register their objections to legislation to force supporters to produce 60 votes to break the filibuster, which has become a near-daily part of Senate life. Requiring opponents to hold the floor would put more of the burden on them and theoretically make it harder for them to sustain their opposition.
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• — Tensions over the tactic are high this week, since Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, called for changes to reduce its power. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell promised a "scorched earth" response that would be a "disaster that Democrats would create for their own priorities if they break the Senate." Stay tuned. —The New York Times

Vance: Keeping the center strong

"As has been reported, current and former Republicans who have served as elected officials, appointees, and party leaders are involved in discussions to create a new center-right political movement, a movement that may evolve into the formation of a third major party. In the short term, having credible Republican voices speaking out...gives Republican-leaning voters and other moderates permission to oppose Trumpism. In the long term, the creation of a new party that would split the Republican Party (in the same way that the Republican Party split the Whigs in the 1850s) would go a long way toward ending the threat of Trumpist authoritarianism." —Chris Vance of the Niskanen Center

Chris Vance is the former chair of the Washington State Republican Party, an adjunct faculty member in the University of Washington's Evans School of Public Policy and Governance, and a senior fellow at the Niskanen Center.

MORE: Lynn Schmidt: Americans are polarized like never before. We can take steps to close the gap —St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Regarding Jim V.'s take yesterday, I would just add that Rhode Island has the third-highest number of COVID-19 infections per capita and the third-highest number of COVID-19 deaths per capita (https://www.statista.com/statistics/1109011/coronavirus-covid19-death-rates-us-by-state/). —David M., Colorado

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