Rubin: McConnell's shameful change of heart

"Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell lacked the nerve to convict the former president for instigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. But he made a nice speech following the impeachment hearings in February: 'President Trump is still liable for everything he did while he was in office, as an ordinary citizen,' McConnell said. He added, 'We have a criminal justice system in this country. We have civil litigation. And former presidents are not immune from being held accountable by either one.' Fast forward to May: McConnell insists there is nothing more to learn." —Jennifer Rubin in The Washington Post

Jennifer Rubin is an attorney and political opinion columnist at The Washington Post.

MORE: GOP blocks bipartisan probe of deadly Jan. 6 riot at Capitol —Associated Press

McArdle: Seeking better—not less—policing

"The question...is whether we can find some way to beef up the police presence in vulnerable communities without turbocharging this toxic and racially skewed dynamic. I think there are ways we can do that through better training and accountability and higher salaries to attract and retain top-quality officers. But we probably won't get there unless we can move right and left off the unhelpful polls of 'less' or 'more,' and toward 'more policing, but also better.'" —Megan McArdle in The Washington Post

Megan McArdle is a Washington Post columnist and the author of "The Up Side of Down: Why Failing Well Is the Key to Success."

MORE: States passed 243 policing bills—and left activists wanting —Politico

Applebaum: Belarus' dangerous precedent

"In autocratic capitals all over the world, dictators and their flunkies are watching to see how the West reacts—whether [Belarusian President Alexander] Lukashenko gets away with it and whether, perhaps, this new tool of oppression will become available to them too. Invariably, others will seek to use it, if only because it sends a message to their dissident and exile communities: You are not safe. You are never safe. Not even if you live in a democracy; not even if you have political asylum; not even if you are sitting on a commercial plane, thousands of feet above the ground." —Anne Applebaum on The Atlantic

Anne Applebaum is a senior fellow of the Agora Institute at Johns Hopkins University and the author of "Twilight of Democracy: The Seductive Lure of Authoritarianism."

MORE: Belarus' Lukashenko courts Putin amid international outrage over 'hijacking' of jet —NBC News

Tumulty: When will GOP go green on Greene?

"Republicans must do more than simply denounce [Rep. Marjorie Taylor] Greene. It is time for them to, at a minimum, rally behind censuring her. A resolution to do so is being drafted by Rep. Bradley Schneider. Republicans should also kick her out of their caucus, as Rep. Adam Kinzinger has proposed. Anything less makes hollow Republican leaders' efforts to portray Greene as merely a fringe player among their ranks. They created her, and they continue to elevate her. This is the consequence of seeking power without regard to what else it may bring." —Karen Tumulty in The Washington Post

Karen Tumulty is a Washington Post columnist covering national politics.

MORE: Matt Gaetz tells 'America First' rally crowd they have 'obligation' to take up arms against tech companies —Independent

Bauer: An aggressive attack calls for an aggressive response

"[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 Lawfare

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: Arizona Senate considers using new technology for second audit of election —The Arizona Republic

Katyal: The DOJ should release Bill Barr's memo

"In the end, there must be a zone of confidential government decision-making and privacy. Good government depends on it. But that zone is a two-way street: It also depends on government officials who behave as if they deserve to be there. The Justice Department's decision to appeal Judge Jackson's order treated this case like any other garden-variety case. It wasn't." —Neal Katyal in The New York Times

Neal Katyal, a former acting solicitor general of the U.S. and the co-author of "Impeach: The Case Against Donald Trump," is a professor at Georgetown Law School.

MORE: Judge blasts Barr's Justice Dept. for 'getting a jump on public relations' in Mueller report rollout —CNN

Welzel: Take heart...democracy isn't dead

"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

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

MORE: Claudine Schneider: Replace the Republican Party with a common-sense movement —Colorado Newsline

Congressional Republicans believe courage is standing up to the tyranny of mask requirements. How could Senate Republicans possibly rise to the occasion of supporting a commission to study the events of Jan. 6? —Jim S., Texas

If the GOP senators are honest, they would have told Mrs. Sicknick:

"Of course we would like to learn the full story behind the Jan. 6 attack, but unlike your courageous son, we are pathetic cowards...in the service of another contemptible coward, Trump...who controls our electoral future."

"So we will refuse to authorize a commission to fully investigate the terrorist attack that resulted in your son's death, but please believe it is not because we do not believe it would be right...but because we are cowards, beholden to the biggest coward of all." —Jim V., New York

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