New president wastes no time in tackling nation's biggest challenges

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On this first full day of the Biden Administration, it feels good to embrace the sense of normalcy descending upon the nation. Over the past four years, you and millions of other Americans stood up—even when doing so required personal or professional sacrifice—to defend the nation from a real authoritarian threat. Breathe a sigh of relief today that we succeeded. But as we celebrate, we must resist the temptation to retreat into a pre-2016 posture toward our national politics. The struggle for liberty and justice goes on. To return our democracy to good health, we have to stay energized and engaged. Where do we start? Join us at 6pm ET tonight for a virtual town hall to discuss our next steps. Register online here ([link removed]) . Hope you'll join us. —Evan McMullin

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** No time to waste
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As his first order of business, President Biden signed a series of executive orders yesterday that clearly signaled his intent to take a more cooperative and multilateral approach to foreign affairs than his predecessor. He revoked the travel ban, also known as the "Muslim ban," to ensure that the State Department restarts visa-processing for affected countries. He recommitted the U.S. to the Paris climate agreement, the landmark 2016 pact among nearly 200 nations to drastically reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. And, he reversed the move to withdraw the U.S. from the World Health Organization. —Business Insider ([link removed])
* — Fauci unleashed. One person thrilled about reengaging with the WHO is Dr. Anthony Fauci, Biden's chief medical adviser, who praised the organization's leadership in the battle against the coronavirus pandemic. Leading the U.S. delegation to the group's executive board meeting via teleconference today, Fauci also expressed support for WHO's mission to determine the origins of the pandemic in China, amid fears that Beijing will obstruct its efforts. —The Washington Post ([link removed])
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* — Attacking COVID-19. Biden is signing 10 executive orders today as part of his strategy to combat the pandemic. In a conference call with reporters, Biden's Covid response coordinator, Jeffrey Zients, and members of the White House coronavirus response team outlined the administration's plan, which aims to expand testing and vaccine availability, reopen the majority of schools in the next 100 days, and administer 100 million vaccine doses by the end of April. —CBS News ([link removed])
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* — First Senate confirmation. The Senate confirmed Biden's nominee for director of national intelligence, Avril Haines, just hours after he was sworn into office yesterday. Haines, who served as deputy CIA director and deputy national security advisor in the Obama Administration, pledged during her confirmation hearing that she would keep politics out of intelligence. That's refreshing. —Business Insider ([link removed])
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* — Temps named. White House officials yesterday released the names of the new administration's acting agency heads as the president waits for the Senate to confirm his Cabinet nominees and other political appointees. The move allows Biden to install members of his own team rather than rely on any former political appointees left within the federal government. —USA Today ([link removed])
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* — Filling in at the Pentagon. One of the temporary heads is former Deputy Defense Sec. David Norquist, who has taken the reins at the Pentagon until retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin is confirmed. Norquist released a statement yesterday hailing the peaceful transition of power and praising the roughly 28,000 National Guard and active duty military members who assisted local law enforcement with Inauguration Day security. —The Hill ([link removed])
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* — New NSA counsel sidelined. Michael Ellis, the general counsel at the National Security Agency who was installed at the last minute by the former administration, was placed on administrative leave yesterday. His appointment is now the subject of an investigation by the Defense Department Inspector General, and there is a separate allegation that he mishandled classified information. —CBS News ([link removed])

MORE: Ross Douthat: The Biden opportunity —The New York Times ([link removed])


** Dems take control of Senate
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Democrats officially took a majority in the Senate yesterday, giving the party control of the White House and both chambers of Congress. Three new Democratic senators, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff of Georgia and Alex Padilla of California, were sworn in by newly inaugurated Vice President Kamala Harris, who will hold a tiebreaking vote in the chamber. The slim majority will give President Biden a boost as he tries to fill out his Cabinet and pass a coronavirus relief package. —CNBC ([link removed])

MORE: GOP senators warn McConnell could face backlash if he votes to convict in impeachment trial —CNN ([link removed])


** Gurd: Humility, not hubris, can save democracy
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"The fragility of U.S. democracy is now on full display—and its flaws highlight just how urgent it is to come to grips with what ails democratic practice, both within America and around the world. The voices of those who have suffered most from democracy's ills are crucial to understanding—and addressing—the impact of backsliding laws, policies, and institutions in democracies, as well as the abuses under authoritarian rule." —Tracey Gurd in ([link removed]) Just Security ([link removed])

Tracey Gurd is senior director of civil and political rights and advocacy at American Jewish World Service, which funds pro-democracy and pro-justice social movements in Asia, Central America, and Africa.


** Flynn's bro was in on Pentagon response
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The Army falsely denied for days that Lt. Gen. Charles Flynn, the brother of disgraced former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn, was involved in a key meeting during its heavily scrutinized response to the deadly assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. During the tense phone call, Capitol Police and D.C. officials pleaded with the Pentagon to dispatch the National Guard immediately, but top Army officials expressed concern about having the Guard at the Capitol. ([link removed])
* — The general's presence during the call came just weeks after his brother publicly suggested that the former president declare martial law and have the U.S. military oversee a redo of the election. There is no evidence that Charles Flynn shares his brother’s extreme views or was influenced by his brother. ([link removed])
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* — It made sense for him to be involved. While not in the direct chain of command, as the Army's deputy chief of staff for operations, plans, and training, Charles Flynn would have been involved in the Pentagon's response. ([link removed])
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* — So why lie about it? The Army's initial denial of Flynn's participation in the meeting, despite multiple inquiries, comes as lawmakers demand transparency from the Defense Department in the aftermath of one of Washington's gravest national security failures. Stay tuned. —The Washington Post ([link removed])

MORE: QAnon in chaos as Biden takes office —The Daily Beast ([link removed])
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** NYT Ed Board: China owes us answers about the coronavirus
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"[T]he Chinese Communist Party has consistently demonstrated that it is far more concerned with maintaining some myth of infallibility than with helping find the source of the scourge. In doing so, it is obstructing efforts to prevent other pandemics and endangering all humanity. Just getting into China has taken the World Health Organization's international team of scientists more than a year, considerably lowering the odds of finding any clues about the origins of the virus." —The New York Times ([link removed])

MORE: Twitter locks out Chinese Embassy in U.S. over post on Uighurs —Bloomberg ([link removed])


** Focus on gerrymandering
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Voting rights groups are concerned that gerrymandering—a form of voter suppression in which congressional districts are redrawn to heavily favor one party over the other—could threaten voters of color in a new round of redistricting that comes on the heels of an election cycle highlighted by increased minority voter turnout. ([link removed])
* — In 2019, the Supreme Court said gerrymandering for political reasons was outside its scope, which leaves the practice open to exploitation by the states. The long-standing tactic has been used by both Democrats and Republicans, but the states currently garnering the most concern are in the South. All have significant Black populations. ([link removed])
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* — Communities of color often get targeted by gerrymandering in the South, explains Michael Li, senior counsel for the Brennan Center's Democracy Program. "In the South, you really can't gerrymander without targeting communities of color," Li said. "It's efficient...it's easy to divide them or pack them together...in order to see the political effect." ([link removed])
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* — "We expect that there's going to be a fight, as it relates to the redistricting process," Francys Johnson, chair of the New Georgia Project's board, says. Legal action against how the new maps are ultimately drawn is expected. —The Hill ([link removed])

MORE: How gerrymandering will protect Republicans who challenged the election —The New York Times ([link removed])


** Will: 'It's time to grow up'
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"Biden's address, the essence of which was the admonition to 'stop the shouting and lower the temperature' and end the 'exhausting outrage,' had the unadorned rhetoric of a teacher telling disorderly pupils to sit down and buckle down. In tone, it was pitch-perfect for intimating to his dissatisfied fellow countrymen that they should not be self-satisfied. In their hands, not his, is the responsibility for mending the social fabric that they have played a large part in fraying." —George Will in The Washington Post ([link removed])

George Will is a conservative political commentator and columnist for The Washington Post.

MORE: Robert M. Franklin: I've lived in both Americas. Most people everywhere don't want to hate each other —CNN ([link removed])


** A solitary tribute
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As Joe Biden was sworn in as president in Washington, D.C., yesterday, the memory of his late son, Beau, was kept alive in a poignant way in his home state of Delaware. Just as the new president was taking the oath of office, Patricia Talorico saw a lone uniformed person kneeling solemnly at Beau's grave in a Greenville, Del., cemetery as she drove past. ([link removed])
* — Talorico shot some photos as the man "bowed his head and clasped his hands." As a journalist who ran in similar circles as the younger Biden during his time as the state's attorney general, she said the scene brought tears to her eyes. ([link removed])
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* — Beau Biden died of brain cancer in 2015 at the age of 46. After his death, the elder Biden decided he could not run for president in the 2016 election because he and his family were still in the throes of grief. ([link removed])
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* — "The journalist in me wanted to go back and find out his identity and ask why he was there. The person who once received a kind gesture from Beau when I needed it most knew it was a time to be respectful, and I drove away," Talorico wrote. "Some things in life you just let be." —People ([link removed])

In response to Sharon C. of California, I agree that a third, center-right party will splinter the conservative vote and ensure more liberal victories in the short term. And while I do not support the policies of the far-left, here are three counterpoints I'd offer:

1) We are already splintered. How many of us in this very group voted for Joe Biden? How many expect to vote this way in the future if the choice is between a center-left candidate and a populist authoritarian? We, the center-right, no longer have representation.

2) I see a similar split among the Democrats. There were many on the far-left who were deeply dissatisfied with Joe Biden precisely because he wasn't "progressive" enough. Without a Trump to unify against, the Democrats will be reckoning with their own extreme and center split. In fact, if the center-right peels away from the Republicans, I predict that will lead to a split in the Democrats faster.

3) Is the Republican Party worth saving? Sharon C. asked, "Where are they [the statesmen]?" I asked myself the same thing over the last five years. Most have left already—they've been forced out. I can think of only two nationally elected Republicans I can stand behind: Mitt Romney and Ben Sasse. But the rest of the principled conservatives have been purged. They're us! I don't see the choice being between saving the Republican Party or not. The choice is between sitting on the sidelines while the liberals and populists fight it out, or having our own representation. —Will C., Mississippi
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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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