Census shows declining population but red-state growth

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This week, we'll reach the 100-day mark for Joe Biden's presidency, a milestone that typically includes taking stock of a president's earliest successes and failures. To start, he has been remarkably effective on his first priority: pandemic management. Passing the American Rescue Plan and rolling out an impressive mass vaccination program are highlights of his presidency thus far. And, from a tactical perspective, returning discipline and a sense of normalcy to presidential governance have been chief accomplishments. This is the role of government, stepping up amid crises—through legislation, where necessary, and just as importantly, through steady, honest leadership. "Boring," brass tacks execution is the good stuff, and it's too often overlooked and underestimated in our culture and media environment. —Mindy Finn

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** Heading South: Red states gain in 2020 Census
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New data released by the U.S. Census Bureau yesterday show that the country grew over the past decade by the second-slowest rate in history, owing to an aging population, decreased fertility, and slowing immigration. And the country's political power is shifting south, as historically Democratic states gave up congressional seats and electoral votes to regions where Republicans currently enjoy an advantage. ([link removed])
* — Seven of the 435 congressional seats will be reapportioned under the latest population count. Five of the seven states that lost a House seat, including Illinois, Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania, voted for President Biden in the November election. ([link removed])
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* — Five of the seven newly created seats will be added to states that voted for Donald Trump, including Texas, Florida, and North Carolina. Those three states collectively will gain as many new votes in the Electoral College as Democratic-leaning Hawaii has in total. ([link removed])
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* — Still, the data was better for Democrats than initially expected, as earlier estimates suggested the congressional gains in Florida and Texas would be even larger. The margins in certain states that determined the final congressional counts were extremely tight, with New York losing a seat because of a shortfall of just 89 people. —The Washington Post ([link removed])

MORE: First redistricting lawsuits filed by Democratic group —The Hill ([link removed])


** SCOTUS to hear 2A case
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For the first time in more than a decade, the Supreme Court will take up a central issue of the gun rights debate. The court will consider how much protection the 2nd Amendment provides for carrying a gun outside the home, as it hears a challenge to a New York state law. The law requires anyone seeking a concealed carry license to demonstrate a special need for self-protection above and beyond that of the general population. Open carry is banned in the state. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the law is necessary to ensure safety, while Paul Clement, a lawyer for the challengers, says it "makes it virtually impossible for the ordinary law-abiding citizen" to get the necessary license. Stay tuned. —NBC News ([link removed])

MORE: U.S. Supreme Court ponders cheerleader's profanity in free speech flap —Reuters ([link removed])


** Page: Keeping our hope alive
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"When fear and resentment of police undermines cooperation by crime victims and witnesses, the only winners are the criminals who go free. No wonder so many law-abiding citizens have lost hope. So we need some victories. We need faith in the criminal justice system to be restored. Community-oriented policing that focuses on developing working relationships between police and residents has had a lot of success in some communities. That's only a start for a restoration of trust, but little signs of hope can lead to bigger ones, if we don't keep our expectations too low." —Clarence Page in The Virginian-Pilot ([link removed])

Clarence Page is a member of the Chicago Tribune editorial board.

MORE: FBI opens civil rights investigation into police shooting of Andrew Brown, Jr. —CNN ([link removed])


** Total recall in California?
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A campaign to oust California Gov. Gavin Newsom has officially qualified for the ballot, reaching the 1.5 million signatures needed to proceed. The filing sets in motion a series of procedural steps that will culminate in the second recall election in the state's history. No date has yet been scheduled, but it is expected to be held in November. Though Republican candidates have already announced challenges to the governor, Newsom is currently expected to prevail. In recent polls, most of the state's voters say they're averse to removing him from office, and his approval ratings have improved as the coronavirus pandemic has abated. —Los Angeles Times ([link removed])
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** Gerson: Biden should use speech to defend democracy
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"In the shadow of Jan. 6, the case for democracy needs bold restatement. A government of divided and balanced powers, created by the consent of the governed and dedicated to the rights and dignity of the individual, is a tremendous moral achievement. The historical exclusion of many people from the protection of this ideal does not discredit it; it demands that ideal's more rigorous application. Our shared commitment to these democratic principles is what makes a nation out of nations. And we can't be bystanders while bullies and would-be autocrats squander an inheritance they do not understand or value." —Michael Gerson in ([link removed]) The Washington Post ([link removed])

Michael Gerson is a columnist at The Washington Post who formerly served as a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and as the chief speechwriter for former President George W. Bush.

MORE: Biden's 1st 100 days: Promises kept, broken, or in progress —ABC News ([link removed])


** Focus on global democracy
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Moscow's chief prosecutor froze jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's political movement yesterday, suspending activities at his offices across the country, while petitioning a court to do the same for the Anti-Corruption Foundation that he founded. The decision comes against the backdrop of a pending court decision on whether to designate the organizations as extremist groups. Navalny, who ended a weeks-long hunger strike on Friday, following a warning that he was close to death, has unsuccessfully sought independent medical care while in prison. —CNN ([link removed])
* — India. India has ordered Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to block about 100 social media posts criticizing its handling of the country's exploding COVID-19 surge, sparking public anger and allegations of censorship in the world's most populous democracy. Indian officials say the order was designed to derail the spread of what it calls coronavirus-related misinformation and to avoid the creation of a panic through the posting of images of dead bodies taken out of context. —The Wall Street Journal ([link removed])
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* — Japan. Japanese opposition parties won all three by-elections for parliamentary seats on Sunday in a blow for Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who must hold a general election within six months. While Suga's Liberal Democratic Party is unlikely to be toppled in the near future, the losses could weaken support for the prime minister, who has come under fire over scandals and his handling of the coronavirus pandemic. —Bloomberg ([link removed])
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* — France. Thousands of protesters have rallied across France after the killer of a Jewish woman was declared unfit to stand trial. French courts have recognized the killing as an anti-Semitic crime but ruled that the perpetrator could not be tried as he was in the grip of a cannabis-induced "delusional fit" and not in control of his actions. French President Emmanuel Macron has called for a change of the law. —The Guardian ([link removed])

MORE: Albania's Socialists win election and third straight mandate —Al Jazeera ([link removed])


** Wehner: Some still live in post-truth world
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"Many of those who are part of MAGA world are post-truth, subordinating reality to partisanship and ideology, but they are not, strictly speaking, relativists. Or to be more precise: They don't believe they're relativists; in fact, they would argue to their dying breath that they're defending the truth. The problem is that the information sources on which they're relying, and that they seek out, are built on falsehoods and lies. Many Trump supporters aren't aware of this, and for complicated reasons, many of them are, for now at least, content to live in a world detached from objective facts, from reality, from the way things really and truly are. And without agreement on what constitutes reality, we're lost." —Peter Wehner in The Atlantic ([link removed])

Peter Wehner is a former speechwriter for three U.S. presidents and is a vice president and senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.

MORE: Answers to your questions about the Arizona Senate's audit of 2020 election results in Maricopa County —The Arizona Republic ([link removed])

I think that Joe Biden has been a breath of fresh air after our prior POTUS polluted the air with his caustic personality and his incitement of the mob storming our Capitol on Jan. 6. Biden has restored dignity and trust to the office of the presidency, even though I don't agree with all of his programs. I also think that Pres. Biden has appointed some very capable people to his Cabinet, whereby he has empowered them to do their jobs vs. trying to micromanage every critical function our federal government is faced with on a regular basis. —Lee A., Utah

Biden missed an important opportunity to reinstate bipartisanship as the only sustainable mode of governing when he helped cram through, and sign, the massive, debt-exploding stimulus ploy. He is further missing the boat on the border, on "social issues," and on the free-enterprise, market-based side of economic recovery. He needs to put Joe Manchin, Kristen Sinema, and John Tester front and center, and he needs to have a heart-to-heart with Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, and the seven Republican senators who voted to impeach. —Fred, Michigan

We will never have a president that pleases everyone, but at least we now have a president who really cares about us as a people and as a nation, instead of his own ambition or outward image. It is refreshing and comforting to have leaders in national office who want what is best for the country and the world. We have had enough of politicians who only care about power. Character, as well as words, matter. —Chuck A., Utah
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** The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Stand Up Republic Foundation.
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