U.S. turns sights to fighting the pandemic abroad

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There have been so many dramatic would-be inflection points for the Republican Party over the last six years that I've frankly lost count. Each time, principled Republicans and conservatives thought that the line had finally been crossed, and party leaders would at last abandon their reckless experiment with conspiracism and illiberalism. But for many, House GOP leadership's plans to remove Rep. Liz Cheney from her position as Republican Conference chair might be the last straw. Why? Cheney has come to symbolize the last voice of reason within party leadership. Even Democrats are concerned about her potential ouster—not because they agree with her very conservative policy positions (they assuredly don't), but because she's an honest broker who has demonstrated a commitment to American democracy. That used to be the bare minimum for elected lawmakers on either side of the aisle. Today, it's a profile in courage. —Evan McMullin

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Responding to humanitarian groups around the world, U.S. Trade Rep. Katherine Tai has announced that the Biden Administration supports waiving intellectual property protections for COVID-19 vaccines. This is great news for countries like India and Brazil, where COVID-19 continues to spread unabated, even as the 250 million vaccine doses administered in the U.S. are leading to big declines in cases. ([link removed])
* — The effectiveness of U.S. vaccines has led to calls for drug companies to share their vaccine formulas. Moderna has already said it won't enforce its patents on its vaccine, and will give 34 million doses to middle-income and low-income countries. Pfizer has said it will donate $70 million worth of COVID-19 treatments to India. ([link removed])
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* — The announcement allows for negotiations to begin at the World Trade Organization. Dozens of countries have made a proposal to waive parts of the WTO's Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. But some wealthier nations, including the U.S., hadn't previously expressed support for the idea. ([link removed])
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* — "This monumental decision will help address the historic and extraordinary global health challenges we're facing," Doctors Without Borders-USA Executive Director Avril Benoît said. "The longer it takes to vaccinate everyone in the world, the greater the risk to us all as new variants have more opportunity to take hold." —CBS News ([link removed])

MORE: Coronavirus cases hit a seven-month low in U.S. —Axios ([link removed])


** Cheney: History is watching
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"While embracing or ignoring Trump's statements might seem attractive to some for fundraising and political purposes, that approach will do profound long-term damage to our party and our country. Trump has never expressed remorse or regret for the attack of Jan. 6, and now suggests that our elections, and our legal and constitutional system, cannot be trusted to do the will of the people. This is immensely harmful, especially as we now compete on the world stage against Communist China and its claims that democracy is a failed system." —Liz Cheney in ([link removed]) The Washington Post ([link removed])

Liz Cheney represents Wyoming in the U.S. House of Representatives.

MORE: Sophia A. Nelson: Rep. Liz Cheney is courageous while Republican men are profiles in cowardice —USA Today ([link removed])


** 'The fighting here was nothing short of brutal'
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A Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police officer is not about to let anyone forget what really happened at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. In an emotional letter to Congress, Michael Fanone describes his experiences during and since the insurrection and slams the "disgraceful" political "indifference" that has set in among some lawmakers, who’ve chosen to "downplay" or "ignore" the event altogether. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who posted Fanone's "must-read letter" on Twitter said, "The attack on the Capitol happened. It cannot be ignored or denied. And the officers on the front lines are heroes." —Independent ([link removed])

MORE: National Guard soldier charged for storming the U.S. Capitol —CNN ([link removed])


** Something shady is going on in Arizona
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The Justice Department has some serious questions about the Arizona Senate's private recount of the 2020 presidential election results in Maricopa County. In a letter to Sen. Karen Fann, the DOJ's Civil Rights Division expresses concern that "the ballots, election systems, and election materials...are no longer under the ultimate control of state and local election officials, are not being adequately safeguarded by contractors..., and are at risk of being lost, stolen, altered, compromised, or destroyed." The DOJ also suggests that tactics used by Cyber Ninjas, the contractor running the audit, could amount to voter intimidation. Stay tuned. —ABC News ([link removed])

MORE: DeSantis signs voting bill before pro-Trump audience. Elections supervisors concerned —Miami Herald ([link removed])
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** Kara-Murza: Russia's step back toward Sovietism
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"Russia is fast losing its most talented citizens, who are unwilling to put up with a corrupt and repressive regime—a trend that will have a disastrous impact on its long-term competitiveness in the global economy. For its part, the Kremlin sees 'nothing tragic in this situation,' as Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, candidly admitted. The fewer intellectuals left in the country, the easier for any dictatorship." —Vladimir Kara-Murza in ([link removed]) The Washington Post ([link removed])

Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian pro-democracy activist, politician, author, and filmmaker, chairs the Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom.

MORE: U.S. seen as bigger threat to democracy than Russia or China, global poll finds —The Guardian ([link removed])


** Focus on global democracy
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Israeli President Reuven Rivlin has given opposition leader Yair Lapid the task of trying to form a new coalition government after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to do so by the Tuesday deadline. Lapid, who has 28 days to cobble together a majority coalition in parliament, has expressed optimism that he will end the rule of Israel's longest-serving prime minister. Netanyahu has held the post for 15 years but has been weakened by a series of corruption scandals. —Associated Press ([link removed])
* — Colombia. The United Nations human rights office says it is "deeply alarmed" over violence against protesters in Colombia, where police have opened fire on demonstrators, killing at least 24. Colombians have been protesting for over a week against poverty and inequality that have been aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Experts say the unrest could spread to other Latin American countries experiencing similar frustrations. —The New York Times ([link removed])
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* — Germany. German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer has said that a dramatic rise in right-wing extremist crime demonstrates a "brutalization" of society and poses the biggest threat to the country's stability. Police recorded nearly 24,000 far-right crimes last year—the highest level since record-keeping began 20 years ago. Activities mainly targeted immigrants, refugees, Jews, and Black Germans, but also included a rise in anti-Asian violence, linked to the pandemic. —The Guardian ([link removed])
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* — Spain. Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the conservative president of the Madrid region, handed her left-wing opponents a stinging defeat in Tuesday's snap election after a tense, bitter campaign. Ayuso, who has dragged the Madrid branch of the People's Party far to the right of its national counterpart, has been a fierce critic of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. The result, she says, is a "wake-up call" that shows his Socialist government's days are numbered. —The Guardian ([link removed])

MORE: New independence referendum at heart of contest as Scots vote for new parliament —Reuters ([link removed])


** Rudell: The GOP's last stand
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"Cheney's case might be different because unlike her failed predecessors, she doesn't seem to care what anyone thinks of her. And according to the latest reports, she doesn't care about keeping her leadership post if Republicans continue to revere the 'Big Lie' more than fact-based governing. ... Publicly this remains Trump's party. But privately, there might be a different calculus at play. In the last four years Republicans lost the presidency, the House, and the Senate. Perhaps they're still not ready to demote one of the only conservatives who insists their party deserves better than Trump." —B.J. Rudell in The Hill ([link removed])

B.J. Rudell is a political strategist, author, and the former associate director for Duke University's Center for Politics.

MORE: William F.B. O'Reilly: The GOP reckoning with Liz Cheney —Newsday ([link removed])

Congratulations to Nomalanga N., New Mexico. I hope her remarks are widely distributed. —Robert R., Arizona

What do the Republicans who now make up the majority of the GOP think that the president who could see no evil in Vladimir Putin cared about more—them or Putin? Should the world trust the President of the United States or Russia's president more? Apparently, many Republicans did not own television sets, because President Trump answered those questions by groveling at Putin's feet in Helsinki. They also seem to think that what happened on Jan. 6 was caused by Democrats who wanted to prevent the candidate that they voted for from being inaugurated. Republicans of this mindset recently booed Sen. Mitt Romney at an event in Utah. The question is not why was Sen. Romney booed; the correct question is, what kind of man would not have been booed?

Sen. Romney has just been paid the highest compliment that they could possibly pay him. If he was cheered by delusional people, that would have been an insult. Leaders who speak truth to those who don't want to hear it are in scarce quantity in today's GOP. Sen. Romney and a few others are the kind of people that the GOP desperately needs now more than ever. A person who displays courage and integrity in the face of adversity is the kind of person that President Kennedy wrote about in his book, "Profiles in Courage." Maybe someday, more residents of Utah will appreciate how fortunate they are to have such a courageous man as their senator. —Bill M., Pennsylvania
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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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