Kevin McCarthy offers none, police unions offer more

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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy announced today that he is opposed to the formation of a bipartisan, independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. It's no surprise given his recent selective amnesia about that fateful day and his remarks about it a week later, in which he said "the president bears responsibility for [the] attack on Congress by mob rioters. He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding." McCarthy's moment of truth didn't last long, but the American people still deserve a full accounting of what transpired at the Capitol, including the precipitating factors and the response since, so we can make sure it never happens again. —Evan McMullin

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** 'This is a huge step for law enforcement'
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Fifteen unions that represent law enforcement officers across the U.S. have endorsed a blueprint for policing that includes an unprecedented shift in the way unions protect bad police officers. A committee convened by the AFL-CIO, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and Service Employees International Union approved the plan, calling on more than 250,000 law enforcement members and more than 100,000 members in police-adjacent professions to intervene when another union member is doing something wrong. ([link removed])
* — George Floyd's death brought renewed attention to the idea of "active bystanders." Though it's a relatively new concept in law enforcement, other industries and trade unions have developed programs aimed at achieving the same goal: teaching colleagues to intervene when they see another worker engaged in wrongdoing or making mistakes. ([link removed])
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* — Some law enforcement departments have already adopted a model of intervention. Developed by a psychology professor working with the New Orleans Police Department, a program launched by Georgetown Law last year requires departments to implement bystander training through the entire department and trains officers to intervene on colleagues and higher-ranking officers. They've trained with more than 110 police departments with more than 90,000 officers. ([link removed])
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* — While the program won't likely alter the course of police shootings that have captured the public's attention, over the long term, the culture change could lead to a change in the smaller, less consequential interactions between police officers and the public. And that could go a long way toward restoring mutual trust and repairing a relationship that has been badly damaged. —CNN ([link removed])

MORE: Trial for Brooklyn Center officer in shooting of Daunte Wright could start in December; city OKs sweeping changes in policing —USA Today ([link removed])


** Joseph: Reducing police killings is possible
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"We need to incentivize the police to use nondeadly force. ... There are a wide range of strategies that we need to adopt to minimize police killings. Now is the time for Congress and state legislators to act, to encourage nondeadly force, to outlaw chokeholds, and to limit police immunity." —Joel Joseph in The San Diego Union-Tribune ([link removed])

Joel Joseph is a civil rights attorney in practice in California.

MORE: District Attorney says deputies who fatally shot Andrew Brown Jr. were justified —CNN ([link removed])


** Biden reticent to criticize Israel
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Late yesterday, President Biden for the first time cautiously expressed support for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza, but he also reiterated that Israel has a right to defend itself. He stopped short of publicly calling on Israel to change its approach despite rising international condemnation of the devastating rocket and missile war that has led to the deaths of dozens of Palestinian children. Biden's comments came after he spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has indicated that Israel's airstrike campaign will continue until it stops Hamas' rocket barrages and makes the group "pay a price." —The New York Times ([link removed])

MORE: Netanyahu defends strike on AP media building in Gaza as editor calls for full investigation —Forbes ([link removed])


** Covid caseload is falling
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Now here's some great news: for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began over a year ago, COVID-19 cases are down in all 50 states. But as always seems to be the case with the pandemic, there's a caveat. President Biden warned yesterday that progress could still be reversed, especially in states where a low percentage of people have been vaccinated. "We know there will be advances and setbacks, and we know that there are many flare-ups that could occur," he said. Currently, roughly 47% of American adults, or 121 million people, are fully vaccinated. The administration is pushing to get 70% of adults to receive at least one vaccine dose and have 160 million adults fully vaccinated by July 4. —CNBC ([link removed])

MORE: 'Very encouraging': Fauci says vaccines in U.S. are effective against contagious variants in other nations —New York Daily News ([link removed])
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** Boot: Marjorie Taylor Greene isn't an outlier
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"[M]ost of the real left-wing extremists, such as antifa fighters, disdain the Democratic Party as too moderate and 'corporatist.' By contrast, right-wing extremists—who think the 2020 election was stolen from former president Donald Trump, refuse to wear face masks or get COVID-19 vaccine shots, and believe the crackpot QAnon conspiracy theories—are very much in the mainstream of the Republican Party." —Max Boot in ([link removed]) The Washington Post ([link removed])

Max Boot is the Jeane J. Kirkpatrick senior fellow for national security studies at the Council on Foreign Relations.

MORE: Key figures who pushed 2020 election conspiracies are now boosting Arizona audit —ABC News ([link removed])


** Focus on the Supreme Court
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As the Supreme Court justices pick up their work pace before their adjournment at the end of June, they delivered rulings yesterday related to policing, criminal defendants' rights, and climate change. Significantly, they ruled unanimously that police are not completely free to enter someone's home without a warrant on the grounds they are checking the person's health or well-being—a "community caretaking" exception to the law. ([link removed])
* — Caniglia v. Strom. Reviewing a decision by a panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals, the justices ruled that Cranston, R.I., police violated the Constitution's 4th Amendment ban on unreasonable searches and seizures when officers confiscated and would not return Edward Caniglia's weapons and ammunition in 2015. ([link removed])
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* — Edwards v. Vannoy. In a follow-up to last term's ruling that requires unanimous juries before convicting someone of a serious crime, the court ruled 6-3 that prisoners convicted by non-unanimous juries cannot ask federal courts to grant them new trials. Justice Elena Kagan wrote a dissent for the court's liberals saying the unanimous-jury rule qualified as a watershed ruling. Justice Brett Kavanaugh criticized Kagan for dissenting last term and then "impugn[ing] today's majority for supposedly shortchanging criminal defendants," an observation Kagan found "surprising." ([link removed])
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* — BP v. Mayor and City Council of Baltimore. The court ruled 7-1 in favor of fossil-fuel energy companies in a tuneup for a looming battle with local governments about liability for climate-change damage they say their jurisdictions have suffered. Justice Samuel Alito recused himself from the case, probably because of his personal stock holdings. Justice Sonia Sotomayor was the lone dissenter. —The Washington Post ([link removed])

MORE: Abortion groups are bracing for major upcoming Supreme Court battles —USA Today ([link removed])


** Rampell: The GOP strategy is terrible...but it's working
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"It's easy to believe that cynical politicians—regardless of political persuasion—might do anything to hold onto power, including disenfranchising opponents. And presumably it feels freeing for politicians to pledge nothing more to their followers than to remain in power, as opposed to having to deliver on policies that might improve people's lives. But what is more perplexing, and disturbing, is that so many constituents apparently demand nothing more either. Half of Republicans apparently ask only that the people wearing their same jersey salute the boss and stay in office, by whatever anti-democratic means necessary." —Catherine Rampell in The Washington Post ([link removed])

Catherine Rampell is a Washington Post columnist covering economics, public policy, immigration, and politics.

MORE: 'Our democracy is imperiled': Maricopa County officials decry 2020 recount as a sham and call on Arizona Republicans to end the process —The Washington Post ([link removed])

After last week's guidance from the CDC about masks and vaccines (pretty confusing to say the least and almost worthless, imho), several businesses announced that they would no longer require masks to be worn in their establishments by people who have had their full vaccine dosage—two shots for some brands, one for others, and two weeks have passed since their final shot. Yet they will not ask for, or demand in any way, any proof of said vaccinations. "That's okay, we trust you." I am not a rocket scientist, but that logic is about as ridiculous as it can get. I bet it makes many employees of those businesses feel good.

Here's a clue how this will work out. If you do not ENFORCE (in this scenario, the first step is to require proof) whatever rule is in place, then some people will not do as required. Gee, I bet everyone who has NOT had a vaccine will now put on a mask, and only those not wearing masks in such places have been fully vaccinated. LMAO. I guess there are a lot of people like our governor in Arizona. His COVID-19 policy has been all about trusting people to do the right thing. And according to him, people know what the right thing is, so they don't need to be told. That has worked out well, and video evidence time and again proved just how well it worked out. As did the number of cases and deaths in Arizona. —Bill T., Arizona
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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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