U.S. takes stock a year after George Floyd’s murder

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Since the tragic death of George Floyd one year ago, many Americans have come to recognize, often for the first time, systemic injustices that still exist in our society—and, in some cases, our laws—that negatively impact people of color. Proposals have been advanced around the country, at the local, state, and national levels, to address these inequalities through innovative reforms. Congress also has rightly taken action to help stem a despicable surge in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans that has occurred since the pandemic began last year. President Biden signed the legislation last week. Consistent with this progress in promoting pluralism and condemning hate, we must similarly turn our attention and energy to the loathsome rise in anti-Semitic attacks against Jewish people and places of worship in recent weeks. Anti-Semitism is connected to some of the most heinous atrocities in human history. Its growth anywhere—as with all forms of racial, religious, and ethnic hate and
discrimination—is an alarm. We ought to heed it. —Mike Ongstad, Communications Director, Stand Up Republic

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** George Floyd: One year later
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Cities and organizations around the country are observing the one-year anniversary of the death of George Floyd today with memorial events and marches. Floyd's family and supporters say they have been encouraged by the progress made toward racial justice and police accountability in the year since he was killed by a Minneapolis police officer. ([link removed])
* — Visit with the president. Several members of Floyd's family, including Floyd's daughter Gianna; Gianna's mother, Roxie Washington; Floyd's sister Bridgett Floyd; and his brother Philonise Floyd, are in Washington, D.C., today to meet privately with President Biden at the White House, as well as with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other lawmakers. ([link removed])
*
* — Legislation stalled. The family's visit comes as the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act still sits in the Senate, despite Biden setting an initial goal of having the legislation passed by today. The bill includes provisions to set up a national registry of police misconduct, a ban on racial and religious profiling by law enforcement, and an overhaul of qualified immunity for police officers. ([link removed])
*
* — Their cause endures. The George Floyd Memorial Foundation is urging supporters today to call their elected officials—particularly their senators—and demand that they pass the Act; register to vote; and help promote the foundation's work in the Black community on social media. —CNN ([link removed])

MORE: On the anniversary of George Floyd's killing, debate about race reaches across American life —The Wall Street Journal ([link removed])


** A day late and a dollar short
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The top three House Republican leaders condemned Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene today for equating COVID-19 vaccination and mask mandates to the Holocaust. "Marjorie is wrong, and her intentional decision to compare the horrors of the Holocaust with wearing masks is appalling. The Holocaust is the greatest atrocity committed in history. The fact that this needs to be stated today is deeply troubling," House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said in a statement. Minority Whip Steve Scalise and new House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik delivered similar statements. Their rebukes came four days after Greene first compared pandemic restrictions to the Holocaust, and McCarthy and Scalise couldn't resist taking potshots at Democrats in the process. —The Hill ([link removed])

MORE: Biden, Harris condemn surge in anti-Semitic incidents —The Hill ([link removed])


** Bauer: An aggressive attack calls for an aggressive response
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"[M]ore needs to be done to check the Trump-directed state legislative program to exert partisan control over election administration. The laws targeting election officials for illicit partisan political purposes, and any punitive actions taken against those officials, call for a vigorous response. Legal challenges can be expected. Organized public pressure on state legislatures will remain indispensable in bringing this attack on the electoral process to wide public attention and calling out those in the state legislatures who are responsible." —Bob Bauer on ([link removed]) Lawfare ([link removed])

Bob Bauer formerly served as White House counsel and co-chair of the Presidential Commission on Election Administration. He is a professor and distinguished scholar in residence at New York University School of Law, where he is co-director of the Legislative and Regulatory Process Clinic.

MORE: They tried to overturn the 2020 election. Now they want to run the next one —Politico ([link removed])


** Belarus hijacking sets up showdown
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The fallout continues since Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko personally authorized the forced downing of a Ryanair flight on Sunday in order to detain dissident journalist Raman Pratasevich. The EU is pressing ahead with sanctions, the airline industry is expressing concerns about precedent, and multiple countries have banned their own airlines from flying over Belarus. Virtually the only nation that seems just fine with the hijacking is Russia, whose foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, called Lukashenko's move an "absolutely reasonable approach." The incident adds to the growing list of differences between the U.S. and Russia that will be discussed by President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin at an in-person summit next month. —Newsweek ([link removed])

MORE: Biden to meet Putin next month for Geneva summit amid U.S.-Russia tensions —The Boston Globe ([link removed])
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** Litman: Garland's prudence may frustrate some
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"Many people view Attorney General Merrick Garland as the polar opposite of the Trump-era attorneys general. His tenure, they expect, will be marked by the wholesale reversal of policies and practices put in place by Trump Attorney General William Barr, in particular. Where the previous Justice Department zigged, Garland will zag. It won't work that way. Garland, a thoroughgoing institutionalist, is likely to tread cautiously." —Harry Litman in ([link removed]) Los Angeles Times ([link removed])

Harry Litman is a former U.S. attorney and host of the podcast "Talking Feds."

MORE: Justice Dept. releases part of internal memo on not charging Trump in Russia probe —The Washington Post ([link removed])


** GOP vs GOP in NV
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The Clark County (Nev.) Republican Party and Republicans in the Nevada state Senate are calling for an investigation into a vote last month by the Nevada Republican Party to censure GOP Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske. Allegations have emerged that the balloting was swayed by activists with ties to the far-right Proud Boys extremist group. ([link removed])
* — Cegavske was censured at a meeting of the Nevada Republican Party last month for "failing to investigate election fraud" and for her repeated public statements defending the reliability of the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state. ([link removed])
*
* — "Profoundly concerning." The Clark County and state Senate Republicans claim that the Nevada Republican Party added about 40 people, including activists with extremist ties, to its membership on the day of the censure vote to ensure the measure passed. They are calling on the state party, which disputes the allegations, to disclose who attended the vote. ([link removed])
*
* — The activists also made attacks online against female elected officials, including Cegavske, according to Stephen Silberkraus, vice chair of the Clark County Republican Party. The county party has permanently barred members of the Proud Boys and "anyone who traffics in intolerance or hateful, anti-Semitic, and racist ideology." —ABC News ([link removed])

MORE: Man charged with bringing molotov cocktails to Capitol on Jan. 6 has Texas militia ties, contacted Ted Cruz's office, court papers allege —The Washington Post ([link removed])


** Welzel: Take heart...democracy isn't dead
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"This isn't to deny that even mature democracies are currently navigating troubled waters, and authoritarians seem readier to use force to get their way. But the momentary challenges to democracy are unlikely to stifle its long-term rise. The wider horizon of the last dozen decades supports this optimistic view. For genuine democrats, this is not a reason for complacency but—on the contrary—a call to struggle harder for their cause, precisely because it is far from being hopeless." —Christian Welzel in Foreign Policy ([link removed])

Christian Welzel is a political scientist at the Leuphana University Lueneburg and director of research at the World Values Survey.

I couldn't get past the U.S. representative from last week who compared the attack on the Capitol in January to a "tourist visit," and now Marjorie Taylor Greene is comparing coronavirus restrictions to the way the Nazis treated the Jews in the Holocaust. How dare they! What is wrong with these rotten people? I'm in my 70s and have seen a lot, but I've never in my life seen anything like what's going on with the Republicans today. These are not the Eisenhower/Reagan/Bush/McCain/Romney Republicans. I don't know what they are, but they are destroying our country, and that's not an exaggeration. I was always proud to be an American, but now I'm embarrassed. —Carol 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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