One hangs on by a thread, the other is just getting started

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I had a glass half-full/glass half-empty moment yesterday when I heard the result of the House vote on the bill that would establish a Jan. 6 commission. My very first reaction? One of pleasant surprise that 35 House Republicans ([link removed]) bucked GOP leadership and voted in favor of the independent commission, which would fully investigate the Capitol insurrection. It was a higher number than I had anticipated, and it included my own representative. Very shortly thereafter, reality hit as I came to grips with the fact that 175 Republicans voted against it. This isn't a surprise anymore, but it's still incredibly disappointing. It shouldn't be impressive that just 17% of GOP congresspeople voted for truth. Nevertheless, it's 25 more members than voted for impeachment a few months ago. At least the glass hasn't gone completely dry yet. —Melissa Amour, Managing Editor

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** Big changes for the Supreme Court?
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President Biden's commission tasked with studying potential reforms to the Supreme Court gathered for the first time yesterday. The 36-member commission, composed of legal scholars, retired federal judges, and law professors, met for about 30 minutes, during which members were sworn in and bylaws were adopted. Over the next six months, the panel is set to meet six times about various Supreme Court reforms and report back to the president. ([link removed])
* — Biden formed the commission through executive order last month to examine the "contemporary commentary and debate" about the role of the high court, as well as arguments for and against Supreme Court reform, including proposals to add seats to the court or alter the length of service and turnover of justices. ([link removed])
*
* — Democrats last month introduced legislation that would add four seats to the Supreme Court, bringing the total number of justices to 13. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi threw cold water on the measure, telling reporters she had "no plans" to bring the bill to the House floor. The president also has said he's "not a fan" of expanding the court. ([link removed])
*
* — According to commission co-chair Cristina Rodríguez, a law professor at Yale and former deputy assistant attorney general, "It's crucial that we are not just to summarize familiar arguments or rehash debates that are in academic literature or political or public commentary, but instead that we are to critically evaluate arguments and claims." Stay tuned. —CBS News ([link removed])

MORE: Supreme Court commission lays out agenda —The New York Times ([link removed])


** Richer: The election was not stolen in Maricopa County
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"In denying that Arizona's election was stolen ... I join the entire Maricopa County team. We are united—Republican (majority) and Democrat (minority) alike. The Board of Supervisors has carried the water for six months now. They have been subjected to every vile tactic in the book as a result. It's time they have teammates standing up for the truth besides them. Hopefully, by speaking out, other elected Arizona Republicans will be encouraged to do the same. Many elected officials have privately shared that they do not believe that Arizona's election was stolen. I hope they will speak out now. If they don't, I fear the future of Arizona elections." —Stephen Richer on CNN ([link removed])

Stephen Richer is the Maricopa County recorder. He was elected, as a Republican, in November 2020, and took office in January.

MORE: Sebastian Junger: My father fled fascism in Spain—and taught me how lies can destroy a democracy —TIME ([link removed])


** Confused about masks? Join the club
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Acknowledging the confusion created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's updated mask guidance, which was announced abruptly last week, Dr. Anthony Fauci said, "I think people are misinterpreting, thinking that this is a removal of a mask mandate for everyone. It's not." He went on to clarify the guidance. "They are feeling that we're saying: 'You don't need the mask anymore.' That's not what the CDC said. They said: If you are vaccinated, you can feel safe—that you will not get infected either outdoors or indoors. It did not explicitly say that unvaccinated people should abandon their masks." Got it? —Insider ([link removed])

MORE: They trust the science...just not other people —NPR ([link removed])


** Not over yet in Gaza
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Israel unleashed another wave of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early this morning, pushing back against U.S. and international pressure to wind down its offensive against Hamas militants, who have fired thousands of rockets at Israel. President Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday that he expected "a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire." Netanyahu said he appreciated "the support of the American president," but that Israel would push ahead to return "calm and security" and "continue this operation until its aim is met." Moussa Abu Marzouk, a top Hamas official, says he expects a ceasefire in a day or two. —USA Today ([link removed])

MORE: Biden's warning to Israel shakes up diplomacy—and politics —The Washington Post ([link removed])
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** Taylor: The good guys are losing the fight against cybercrime
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"Action is urgently needed at the domestic and international levels to improve the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure—and to bring the criminal gangs responsible for these attacks to justice. The problem is that there are seemingly irreconcilable conflicts between the pressures felt by the individual organizations targeted by ransomware attackers and the public policy goals that could drive change in responding to them." —Emily Taylor in ([link removed]) World Politics Review ([link removed])

Emily Taylor is the CEO of Oxford Information Labs, an associate fellow with the International Security Program at Chatham House, the editor of the Journal of Cyber Policy, and a research associate at the Oxford Internet Institute.

MORE: House panel passes bill to explore bringing state and local cybersecurity workers into CISA —Nextgov ([link removed])


** Focus on democracy in the states
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Louisiana is setting a fine example at a time when other states could sorely use it. A proposal to add four days to the state's early voting period for presidential elections edged closer to final passage yesterday, after gaining support from the Senate's elections oversight committee. While several states are working to limit voter access to the polls, Louisiana's majority-GOP Legislature has largely avoided such discussions this session, and the bid to increase in-person early voting from seven to 11 days has won bipartisan support. Kudos to the Pelican State! —Associated Press ([link removed])
* — Florida. Speaking of voting laws, a coalition of voting rights organizations has filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming that Florida's new voting law "racially discriminates" against Black and Latino voters. The legal action seeks to block the implementation of Senate Bill 90, which violates section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, according to Jorge Vásquez, director of the Advancement Project National Office. —Orlando Sentinel ([link removed])
*
* — Georgia. Even before Georgia explicitly made it illegal to hand out water and snacks to citizens waiting in line to vote, two state legislators were accused of breaking the law for doing so. State Reps. Roger Bruce and Matthew Wilson, both Democrats, are under investigation, facing allegations they gave gifts to voters in the form of snacks. Giving refreshments to weary voters became commonplace in precincts with hours-long lines during the last few elections, but the state's new voting law bans the practice. —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ([link removed])
*
* — Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania voters became the first in the nation to curb their governor's emergency powers, approving constitutional amendments proposed by Republican lawmakers angry over Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf's handling of the COVID-19 outbreak. The vote on Tuesday's statewide primary ballot is being celebrated as a victory by Republican lawmakers across the country seeking to roll back the emergency powers governors wielded during the pandemic. —NBC News ([link removed])

MORE: Disinformation concerns mail voting expert —Sentinel Colorado ([link removed])


** McMullin & Taylor: America's challenge is the world's
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"Whether we are able to tamp down the GOP's extremist elements will mean the difference between an America that is a stable exemplar of an open society, or a cautionary tale of illiberalism's corrosive encroachment on the West. The challenge is not just a national one; it is global. The anti-democratic forces that have corrupted the Republican Party are spreading to other nations, giving all people a stake in the fight for freedom. Whether the side of Ulysses S. Grant's 'patriotism and intelligence' prevails in America is not merely a matter of politics but a test of democracy's durability in a new age of turmoil—a test that will have repercussions for our lives, our livelihoods, and our way of life." —Evan McMullin & Miles Taylor in The Economist ([link removed])

Evan McMullin is a former CIA operations officer, chief policy director of the House Republican Conference, and independent candidate for president. He is the co-founder and co-executive director of Stand Up Republic. Miles Taylor is a former chief of staff of the Department of Homeland Security, the co-founder of the Republican Political Alliance for Integrity and Reform, and the author of "A Warning." They are co-founders of the "Call for American Renewal" coalition.

MORE: Jim Greenwood: Replace political extremism with pragmatic solutions —Erie Times-News ([link removed])

I think you all are promoting a very objective, reasonable commentary on politics. It is very refreshing to see it. I voted for Evan McMullin in 2016, and I hope he forms an alternative party of reason in the coming years. I will vote for him. Keep up the good work and keep it unbiased. —Robert W., Texas

"Democracy Dies In Darkness" is the motto of The Washington Post. Our democracy will die if a significant portion of our citizens is in the dark when it comes to the principles that our constitutional form of government was founded on, or even how it works. In a survey that was conducted before the 2020 election, a sizeable number of Republicans thought that the President of the United States at that time should have had the authority to postpone his own election.

Many members of the House Republican caucus, having seen their candidate lose the 2020 presidential election, refused to certify the electoral count, and pretended that not certifying the count, which is a simple matter of tallying up the numbers of electors that were presented by each of the states, gave them the legitimate authority to overturn the will of the people. On Jan. 6, some supporters of the defeated candidate wanted to hang Vice President Mike Pence, because he was not willing to overturn the 2020 election results, despite his not having any constitutional authority to do so. Many of those same people claimed to be patriotic citizens, even as they vandalized the Capitol of their nation.

The only prior time that our Capitol building was successfully breached occurred when Great Britain was fighting a war against the United States. There was, however, another more recent attack launched against our capital. That attack was fomented by Osama Bin Laden and his al-Qaeda terrorist organization, when they hijacked civilian aircraft in September 2001, and then crashed one of them into the Pentagon. In the aftermath of that terrorist attack, President George W. Bush vowed to respond forcefully. Apparently many members of the current version of the Republican Party do not understand the definitions of the terms patriotism and terrorism. Apparently, they are also in the dark about the meanings of the governing principles that were set forth in our Constitution. —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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Got feedback about THE TOPLINE? Send it to Melissa Amour, Managing Editor, at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) .
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