Bannon in contempt, voting rights bill in limbo

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Yesterday, the House voted on a resolution as to whether Steve Bannon should be held in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the Jan. 6 select committee investigating the insurrection. The resolution passed, sending the matter to the Justice Department. Only nine Republicans voted in favor. We are proud to report that six of them are on the Renew America Movement's list of Renewers ([link removed]) . We'd like to recognize and thank Reps. Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, Jamie Herrera Beutler, John Katko, Peter Meijer, and Fred Upton (as well as Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick, Anthony Gonzalez, and Nancy Mace) for standing up for the rule of law. That's what renewing America looks like. —Joel Searby, National Political Director, Renew America Movement

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** Huq: Stopping a legal quagmire
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"Even if Trump's constitutional claim of executive privilege over those [Jan. 6-related] papers completely fails—and it's legally tenuous, at best—simply filing a lawsuit could delay things long enough to knock any disclosure into 2022 or beyond. By the time of any resolution, the Democrats may have lost Congress, and the matter could simply vanish. That means the select committee and the White House must think creatively—and do so now—to ensure they get full access to the information they need. Fortunately, there are at least two paths to this end: one running via the courts, and the other through Joe Biden's office. Either approach will ensure Trump can't use the legal process strategically to thwart the rule of law and will steer the probe away from the morass that so often dooms congressional oversight." —Aziz Huq in ([link removed]) Politico
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Aziz Huq teaches law at the University of Chicago and is the author of "How to Save a Constitutional Democracy," to be published in December.

MORE: Garland parries pressure from both sides in House testimony —The New York Times ([link removed])


** Lewis: The media can help—or hurt—democracy
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"[Sen. Mitt] Romney's loss [in 2012] convinced many conservatives that nice guys can't win and they they needed a fighter to take on the left and the media—which is no small part of the story of how the party ended up with Trump. Collectively, these incidents have eroded trust in the media as an institution, persuaded millions of Americans to tune out mainstream media elites and outlets (and tune into alternative outlets), and empowered bad political actors who want to exploit this lack of trust for political gain." —Matt Lewis in ([link removed]) The Daily Beast ([link removed])

Matt Lewis is a senior columnist at
The Daily Beast and the author of "Too Dumb to Fail."

MORE: How Trump is using a Wall Street fad to bankroll a new social media company —The New York Times ([link removed])


** Cottle: In defense of centrists
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"Democrats on all sides of this debate are well aware of the stakes. But not all of them have the same values or priorities, politics or ideology. … [The centrists] have serious concerns about pieces of the spending plan, not to mention its transformational nature. Their more liberal colleagues may consider these concerns misguided, ill-informed, or even ridiculous. But this is what happens when a party owes its majority to a Big Tent coalition. Unity is excruciatingly hard to come by. … [Sen. Joe] Manchin and his cohort have a duty to sweat blood in pursuit of a deal that balances the policies their constituents support with broader concerns about the size, shape, and role of government. This is how the sausage gets made." —Michelle Cottle in ([link removed]) The New York Times ([link removed])

Michelle Cottle is a member of the
New York Times editorial board, focusing on U.S. politics.

MORE: Biden says he's open to altering, eliminating filibuster to advance voting rights —The Hill ([link removed])


** Rachman: Biden's two-front war for democracy
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"At home, the president faces the threat of a Republican Party that is still in thrall to Donald Trump—the first president in U.S. history to refuse to accept defeat in an election. Overseas, he faces the challenge of a rising China—which Biden has framed as part of a larger struggle between democracy and autocracy that will define the 21st century. In theory, these two battles are complementary. … In practice, however, the two battles for democracy create contradictory pressures. Biden's domestic situation means he is fighting the global battle for democracy with one hand tied behind his back. The Biden team knows that there is no point winning the fight in Taipei or Kabul if you lose it in Washington. So the fight for democracy at home must come first." —Gideon Rachman in ([link removed]) Financial Times
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Gideon Rachman is the chief foreign affairs commentator at
Financial Times.

MORE: Biden's Summit for Democracy will include some not-so-democratic countries —Foreign Policy ([link removed])
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** FT Ed Board: A UK murder with global implications
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"This is not unique to Britain. Many will recall the attempted murder of the U.S. congresswoman Gabby Giffords at a 'Congress on your corner' event in 2011. … The killing [of British Member of Parliament David Amess] reminds us of a second point, which is the abuse politicians direct at each other. While there is nothing to suggest it is relevant to this case—which is being treated as a terrorist incident—the venomous language used by too many MPs in recent years has heightened the climate of abuse and fear. … [I]n the current climate of intense polarization, such hyperbolic language—the Twitterization of debate—contributes to an atmosphere which leaves MPs feeling less safe. MPs ought to be able to disagree without inflammatory abuse. Perhaps the most useful tribute to Amess, who conducted his politics with a smile on his face, would be for politicians on all sides to work harder to dial down the rhetoric of rage." —Financial Times
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MORE: Virginia state police investigating death threat against McAuliffe —The Hill ([link removed])


** PPH Ed Board: We should heed King's warning
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"A stark warning was made on the floor of the U.S. Senate this week by independent Maine Sen. Angus King, someone who, we have come to know, is careful with his words. … Democracy is fragile, King told his colleagues, although they shouldn't have needed the reminder. Just nine months earlier, many of them had to run for their safety when a mob stormed the Capitol to disrupt the certification of the presidential election. Our imperfect system of self-government is based on the simple principle that all power comes from the people, who are regularly consulted in frequent elections. Destroying public faith in elections destroys the entire system." —Portland Press Herald ([link removed])

MORE: No, Election Day wasn't the real insurrection —Associated Press ([link removed])


** Gonzalez: Why I'm leaving the GOP
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"After more than two decades as a Republican, I had seen, met, and worked with the many good folks who make it up. I hoped that the extremism we were seeing—those questioning the results of the 2020 election, those advocating against a peaceful transition of power, those defending the terrorists who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, those ignoring science and advocating for horse dewormer as a public health measure—was a fringe element. While many Republicans failed to show leadership during Trump's presidency, it seemed that in the wake of Jan. 6, those leaders would finally stand up for truth and democracy. I was wrong. Since February, we've witnessed a sad majority of Republicans continue to support the anti-democratic forces in the party." —Robert Gonzalez in ([link removed]) The Arizona Republic
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Robert Gonzalez is an Arizona-based attorney and tech executive.

MORE: Only nine House Republicans voted to hold Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress —CNN ([link removed])

The Democrats have to realize that without passage of voting rights legislation, everything they are doing legislatively and in committees will be for naught. Republicans in Congress and in red and purple states, through voter suppression, gerrymandering, and legislative fiats to overturn the popular vote, have already secured for themselves the outcomes of the 2022 and 2024 elections.

The only way to effectively deal with these election-stealing tactics and abuses of power is to pass voting rights legislation. The only way to pass voting rights legislation is to get rid of the filibuster. If the Democrats cannot do this, we are going to see the end of democracy in the U.S. This will not be a slow burn. Democracy will come crashing down. The die will have been cast, and the damage done will be irreparable. —Derek H., Ohio

If there is going to be a "watchdog" investigation of what went wrong with the Afghanistan withdrawal, let it be so. If it is done, start with where the withdrawal went off the rails in February 2020, when Donald Trump sold out the American military, betrayed them, wrecked the visa program, and made a deal with the Taliban against America. The trouble started with Trump. Concentrate on him. He lied, cheated, and committed treason against the U.S. in his sellout to them. So have your watchdog investigations, but start with Trump and his lousy lack of leadership for four years. —Donna C., California
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