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When Deborah Lipstadt was nominated last summer to lead an expanded State Department office as an ambassador to monitor and confront antisemitism abroad, the appointment appeared ready to sail through. Professor Lipstadt is a renowned scholar of the Holocaust, the author of six books, and an expert on contemporary antisemitism in all its shapes and forms.

Its mind-blowing that she has not been confirmed, says Pamela Nadell, Director of the Jewish Studies Program at American University. I thought fighting anti-Semitism was the one issue that wasnt partisan.

Lipstadt is one of hundreds of Biden appointees to Senate-confirmed positions languishing in a GOP-imposed limbothe worst partisan blockade ever, according to the non-partisan Partnership for Public Service. Republican foot-dragging on Lipstadt is thought to stem from a tweet she sent in March of 2020 countering GOP Senator Ron Johnsons assertion that if the Jan. 6 rioters had been Antifa or Black Lives Matter backers instead of Trump supporters who love this country, that truly respect law enforcement, he would have felt more threatened.

Lipstadt tweeted, This is white supremacy/nationalism. Pure and simple.

That may be what Idaho Senator James Rischthe ranking Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, where Lipstadts nomination is stalledwas referring to when he told Jewish Insider last week that he was concerned about her past tweets critical of Republican lawmakers. He told the Jerusalem Post that theres nothing nefarious in the delay, that we do go back and look at everything thats been said and done by the nominee to make sure were doing the right thing. Its still a work in progress.

He added, it shouldnt be read by anyone to be an indication of a problem with her, a problem with the issue, or anything else. Asked if he had received a letter from 20 Jewish organizations urging Lipstadts confirmation as the next Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism, Risch said, Yes, thats impressive and persuasive.

But hes also said that The nominee has left an extensive trail of materials that were in the process of reviewing.

Lipstadt, 74, is a recognized authority on antisemitism, its history, rhetoric, language and symbols. Her 1993 book, Denying the Holocaust, prompted a lawsuit from author and Holocaust denier David Irving under British libel laws that Lipstadt won after a lengthy trial in London. The 2016 movie, Denial, starring Rachel Weisz as Lipstadt, recreates the event.

Since 1993, Lipstadt has been the Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish History and Holocaust Studies at Emory University. Ive known her for years, decades, says Pamela Nadell at American University. There is no scholar in the United States who knows more about contemporary anti-Semitism than she does. Her nomination should have gone through six months ago. When she was announced, my immediate reaction was slam dunk! I was just stunned she didnt sail through.

Lipstadt was an expert witness at last years trial in Charlottesville of the white supremacists who marched with tiki torches in the 2017 Unite the Right rally. She testified that she saw a great deal of overt antisemitism and adulation of the Third Reich in the evidence presented at the trial. She described at length the replacement theory to destroy white national societies that she saw in an overwhelming fashion in Charlottesville, where the marchers chanted, Jews will not replace us. She described the Charlottesville march as a call to battle.

Roberta Kaplan, an attorney for the plaintiffs, told the Daily Beast, I certainly never put on an expert witness that the other side barely had the nerve to cross-examine. If you were in that courtroom, the power of her testimony and the cogency was so stark, it cast a pall over the courtroom. And the jurors, you could tell from the look on their faces even with masks on they were hanging on her every word. Some of them learned something. She got them to understand what the Holocaust was and how it was connected to the event in Charlottesville.

The jury declared $25 million in damages be paid by the rally organizers, self-identified white supremacists and neo-Nazis. Kaplan, who is based in New York, said she thought the trial would be all about racism, that people from rural areas dont even know any Jews. Instead, When you see what they say to each other, 85 to 90 percent of it is about the Jews.

Why are the Republicans blocking her? Kaplan asks, clearly puzzled. Youd think theyd want an ambassador who could express these views in as clear, cogent and compelling a way as possible. All you had to do was sit in that courtroom.

Senate Republicans are on trial as to whether they can see past one senators pique to confirm a scholar who understands history and is not afraid to call out those who dare repeat it. The best you can say about the GOPs stalling on Lipstadt is that shes not alone. The Senate has confirmed 355 (out of 644) Biden executive level appointees. At this point in George W. Bushs term, the number was 505 (out of 677), and for Barack Obama, it was 450 (out of 653). (Trump only nominated 555 in the same time frame, and he had a Republican Senate, so his stats are not comparable.)

Part of the logjam is an increase in Senate-confirmed positions because they signal more status. If confirmed, Lipstadt will have an ambassadorial rank, unlike her predecessors in the role. The GOP is also doing what it can to slow down the Senate, says Lorna DeJonge Schulman, vice president for research at the Partnership for Public Service.

In the past, a senator with a hold would seek to get something out of it. Now, holding up the nominee, not allowing the Senate to go forward, seems to be the goal.

With Lipstadt, its a goal that could prove costly in ways the GOP may not have expected.

Originally posted here:
Republicans Won't Confirm This Renowned Holocaust Scholar. Here's Why. - The Daily Beast

A Republican congressional candidate has been removed from his seat on a suburban school board after he was accused of violating his oath of office by suing the district and state officials over the mask mandate in schools.

The Oak Lawn High School District 229 board voted Wednesday night to remove Rob Cruz from the panel. Cruz, an Oak Lawn resident who's running for the 6th House District seat now held by Democrat Sean Casten of Downers Grove, was elected to the school board last year.

In an email Thursday, Cruz said he is disappointed by the board's actions and expressed concern that it didn't follow proper procedure -- although he acknowledged not knowing what the proper procedure might be.

As of Thursday morning, Cruz's name and photo had been removed from the Web page for the District 229 board.

Cruz had come under fire by his peers on the board and District 229 administrators for filing a lawsuit against Gov. J.B. Pritzker and state schools Superintendent Carmen Ayala in August over the state's mask order. The suit, filed in Cook County circuit court, noted Cruz was acting "in his official capacity as a Member of the Oak Lawn Community High School District 229 School Board."

Under state law, school board members cannot take action on their own or on behalf of the board or district. The school board has formally said it doesn't support litigation against Pritzker or Ayala and that District 229 will follow directives from the state.

The first lawsuit was dismissed. Cruz filed a second lawsuit in early September that added District 229 as a defendant. That case, filed in Sangamon County, has cost the district more than $25,000 to defend, documents indicate.

The second suit also violated a state law that states board members should protect their districts from lawsuits, District 229 officials said. The lawsuit created a conflict of interest for Cruz, too, officials alleged.

The second lawsuit was dismissed as well, officials said.

Additionally, officials said Cruz violated state law and board policy by speaking about government overreach at a Lyons Township High School District 204 board meeting in November, at which he identified himself as a District 229 board member despite not being previously authorized to speak on the board's behalf.

District 229 officials also accused Cruz of violating his oath and the board's code of conduct by using his status as a board member to promote his congressional campaign in a December news release.

The school board voted 6-1 to remove Cruz by declaring a vacancy on the panel. Cruz cast the lone dissenting vote. It'll be up to the board to appoint a successor.

Cruz is one of three GOP candidates running for Casten's congressional seat. The newly redrawn 6th District includes much of the western and southwestern suburbs.

The other Republicans in the contest are Orland Park Mayor Keith Pekau and first-time candidate Niki Conforti of Glen Ellyn.

Casten is seeking reelection. Democratic U.S. Rep. Marie Newman of La Grange, who now serves the 3rd District, also is running for the 6th District post.

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Republican candidate for 6th Congressional seat removed from school board after suing over mask mandate - Daily Herald

When your home is infested with termites you are completely unaware of the damage they are doing to the foundation of your home. As the strength of the beams and basement diminishes you go happily about your life.

Republican termites are eating the foundation of our democracy one bite at a time. Voter suppression is a subtle means to make sure only the right candidates are elected. Gerrymandering is a process that takes place in the dark and destroys the democracy our founders imagined. Add to that the spread of conspiracy theories and lies, and the rot continues.

Free and fair elections are our only protection from the infestation of the people who would trade power for your freedom. Ignoring the infestation because the house is still standing is the fatal mistake that allows the termites to prosper and your home to collapse.

Mike Quinn lives in Bismarck.

This letter does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Forum's editorial board nor Forum ownership.

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Letter: The Republican infestation - INFORUM

IMPD Assistant Chief Chris Bailey talks about homicides in Indy

IMPD Assistant Chief Chris Bailey talks about the complicated issues of homicide in Indianapolis, 'We didn't get here overnight. We're certainly not going to turn it around overnight.'

Kelly Wilkinson, Indianapolis Star

A package of five bills proposed by state Senate Republicans in response to rising violence in Indianapolis received pushback during a committee hearing Tuesday, with some questioning both the reach andconstitutionality of portions of the measures.

Nearly two dozen people spoke for and against the series of bills, whichwould reshape how bail is administered for those accused of violent crimes, increase oversight of pretrial monitoring andzero-in on high-crime areas in Indianapolis. Authors of the bills claimthe measures are aimed at "reducing crime in Marion County and the state as a whole."

More: Indiana Senate Republicans announce bills restricting bail and who can pay bonds

Several state senators, judges and a number of attorneys questionedthe restrictions the bills would place on bail during a passionate discussion that became tense at times.

Among the proposals in question Tuesday was Senate Bill 6, whichwould effectively eliminate the use of surety bonds for people accused of violent crimes. The bill, proposed by Sen. Michael Young, R-Indianapolis, would require someone charged with a crimeto pay in full the minimum cash bail amount for "an offender's most serious offense."

Sen. Sue Glick, R-La Grange, during the hearing noted the legislation seems to be "zeroing in on the poor." Glick said the bill would mean only people with money would be able to afford bond, asking Young: "Only rich people with cash are going to get it, correct?

"No," Young answered,"because theres no rich people in Marion County thats committing these crimes.

The legislation, Young said, was driven in part by recent instances in which people serving a post-conviction sentence or out on pretrial release were later accused of committinga homicide.

There are 1,475 people on pretrial electronic monitoring in Marion County, according to court officials who spoke at the hearing. Of those, 85% have not committed a new offense while on pretrial release, and 92% appear for their court dates.

Data from Marion County Community Corrections, which oversees post-conviction monitoring, indicates that of the 238 homicide suspects identified between March 2018 and February 2020 by Indianapolis police, 12 about 5% were on post-conviction monitoring.

Some questioned the constitutionality of requiring those accused of violent crimes to pay only cash bond. Other states, like Ohio, have previously found similar measures unconstitutional, the director ofthe American Bail Coalition, a trade association that underwrites bail bonds, noted. And an Indiana judge said the provision raises "a constitutional concern" over the right to bail.

Glick also took issue with a portion of the bill that holds only close family members can post bail for someone accused of violent crimes. The measure alsowould prevent the courtfrom lowering bail past the amount laid out in a county's bail schedule. It seemed, Glick said, that legislators were taking their opinions and want to "substitute it for that of the judges and the prosecutors."

Others largely echoed those concerns, saying the bail regulations "create two classes of people." Representatives from the Indiana Public Defender Council and the VeraInstitute of Justice, which advocates for alternatives to jailing, noted spending time in jail also could make someone more likely to reoffend.

Judge Mark Spitzer, a circuit court judge in Grant County, said the Indiana Judges Associationis concerned the bill takes away judicial discretion. Judges "keep in mind the constitutional presumption of innocence" for those charged with crimes, Spitzer said, and consider the facts of different situations when deciding on bond. Mandating judges set a minimum bail, he suggested, limits them.

Senate Bill 8, authored by State Sen. Aaron Freeman, R-Indianapolis, aims to restrict how charitable bail funds help low-income people who are in custody and awaiting trial.

More: Indiana Senate Republicans announce bills restricting bail and who can pay bonds

Notably, Freeman's bill prevents the nonprofit organizations from bailing out people accused of felonies limiting them to depositing bonds of up to $2,000 "for an indigent person charged with a misdemeanor."

Glick and Taylor, the Democratic senator, pushed back on the effort, with Glick asking why the bill targets charitable bail funds and does not include bail bondsmen, who also post bonds for people accused of violent crimes, and Taylor noting judges set the bonds that these organizations pay.

"I think all these bills are well intentioned," Glick said. "I just question some of the... you know, in the attempt to kill a gnat, I think we're using a cannon."

Freeman said the bill does nottarget "any one organization" but said he started working on the billwhen he learnedthat "public tax dollars were being given to charitable organizations for the purposes of bail."

The Bail Project, which began work in Marion County in 2018, received $150,000 in city grants between 2019 and 2021, according to the mayor's office. Those funds, however, "were not directed towards paying direct cash bail for individuals," the office told IndyStar, and rather used for daily operations and wraparound services, like transporting clients to hearings and referring people to other services.

Marion Superior Court last month suspended support for that fundand requested The Bail Project provide them with up-to-date data.Marion Superior Judge Amy Jones on Tuesday told the Senate committee the project had shared general data through 2021.

The project will meet with the court in March to discuss its future in Marion County, at which time they will share more data about how many of their clients had pretrial release violations and data on referrals to wraparound services.

David Gaspar, the national director of operations for The Bail Project, noted he lived in Indianapolis and is "anchored" in the community. Senate Bill 8, he said, would "severely limit" the project's ability to help low-income Hoosiers.

"Like loved ones and churches, charitable bail funds rally to support your constituents when they're at risk of losing everything," Gaspar said.

Data from The Bail Project provided to the court and obtained by IndyStar indicatethe project has posted bail for 980 Hoosiers. Of those, 94.7% of people appeared for their court dates, and 84% served no additional jail time. One in five people supported by The Bail Fund had their cases dismissed or were found not guilty at trial.

Nearly 70% of The Bail Projects clients were accused of misdemeanors and low-level felonies, the data show.The group only intervenes, Gaspar said, once they have assessed a person's needs "and determined we can meet them," providing court reminders and, sometimes, transportation.

Still, the bills saw support from a number oflaw enforcement officials, who emphasized Indianapolis' staggering crime statistics, which included a record 271 homicides in 2021.

Senators will consider amendments to the bills next week.

Contact Lawrence Andrea at 317-775-4313 orlandrea@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @lawrencegandrea.

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Republican worries crime bills package targeting Indianapolis is zeroing in on the poor - IndyStar

As a 15-year-old kid, I raked leaves, mowed grass and was part of the grounds crew at the Capitol, paid $1.25 an hour. We navigated all those underground tunnels and hideaways where last January they took the vice president, the speaker and members of Congress to keep them safe.

As a 17-year-old, with a newly-broken leg and a walking cast, I was a page in the U.S. Senate. It was 1965, and we witnessed the passage and signing by President Lyndon Johnson of the Voting Rights Act and we watched as opposition began to build against the war in Vietnam.

Years later, I served on the Church Committee, the select Senate Committee investigating our intelligence agencies. I worked in the Senate for five more years as a top aide to Sen. Frank Church of Idaho.

And for the decades since, I have spent countless hours in the House and Senate office buildings, and in the Capitol, as a political consultant to many members.

Never, in all those nearly 60 years, have I not been in awe of the Capitol, its beauty and grandeur, and what it stands for, the rights and responsibilities of a free people.

Always, as I gazed up at the rotunda as the light shone through, saw the paintings, Statuary Hall, the floor of the Senate and House, I felt lucky to be there. I never took that building or its meaning for granted.

Like so many others, I took the Jan. 6, 2021, attack personally.

As I watched on television those familiar staircases, passageways, people who were so violently attacked hour after hour, I was beyond emotional. I couldnt believe it was happening; it was surreal people from Trump rallies gone berserk, like something out of Game of Thrones.

This was more than a political event more than a demonstration gone violent. It was, in a real sense, the culmination of a sitting president and his friends and advisors having rejected our system of government, representative democracy, fairness and any sense of propriety.

The fact that over the past year the vast majority of rank-and-file Republicans have continued to embrace a president with no moral compass, willing to say anything or do anything to stay in power, is truly despicable. Even those who were initially shocked and who denounced Trump, like Sen. Mitch McConnellAddison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellHouse to vote on consolidated election bill Thursday, Pelosi says Black Democrats hammer Manchin for backing filibuster on voting rights Durbin says Biden may have gone 'a little too far' in Georgia speech MORE (R-Ky.), Sen. Lindsey GrahamLindsey Olin GrahamHillicon Valley: Amazon's Alabama union fight take two McConnell will run for another term as leaderdespite Trump's attacks Senate Judiciary Committee to debate key antitrust bill MORE (R-S.C.) and Rep. Kevin McCarthyKevin McCarthyMcCarthy says he won't cooperate with 'illegitimate' Jan. 6 probe Jan. 6 panel asks McCarthy to cooperate The Hill's Morning Report - Biden to make voting rights play in Atlanta MORE (R-Calif.), have now embraced him or gone silent. This is also despicable. What message does it send?

That violence is the wave of the future as increasing numbers of Americans seem to believe? That power by any means is, and will be, the future of the Republican Party?

How much honor and dignity and civility will these Republican leaders give up to stay in power or to gain it? At what point do they say enough is enough, count me out as Lindsey Graham did on the Senate floor a year ago before he flipped and went to Mar-a-Lago to play golf with Trump?

Sadly, most of the Republicans who have spent much of their lives in that Capitol have forsaken the impact of Jan. 6 and all it meant for them and our system of government and instead have embraced a treacherous political calculation: They have decided that they would rather for the sake of re-election cozy up to Donald TrumpDonald TrumpMcCarthy says he won't cooperate with 'illegitimate' Jan. 6 probe McEnany sits down with Jan. 6 investigators Hillicon Valley YouTube takes some heat MORE and the cabal peddling the Big Lie than do the right thing. History will judge them.

The Republican Party of Lincoln and Eisenhower and Reagan and the Bushes is on life support, if not already dead all because these Republicans didnt take Jan. 6 personally and seriously.

The mob did their best to destroy what the building stands for; these Republican leaders might just finish the job for them.

Peter Fenn is a long-time Democratic political strategist who served on the Senate Intelligence Committee, was a top aide to Sen. Frank Church and was the first director of Democrats for the 80s, founded by Pamela Harriman. He also co-founded the Center for Responsive Politics/Open Secrets. He serves on the board of the Frank Church Institute. Follow him on Twitter@peterhfenn.

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Republicans' true failure since the last election | TheHill - The Hill