Trump-free Friday politics roundup: Feb. 23

More gun violence in schools, along with trouble in the European Union and an awkward visit to India for Justin Trudeau in this week’s politics roundup.

Guns in schools

What is there to say, really? Are we now at the point where a horrific school shooting elicits a sigh and tired shrug? Is it strange, now, that these events often feel as if they are following an established script?

After the first, terrible shock of learning about the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas came the inevitable, ineffectual wave of “thoughts and prayers”. It was almost immediately followed by anger about said “thoughts and prayers”. Better than either, perhaps, would be meaningful legislation, but so far the Florida legislature has declined to do anything of merit.

A tragedy of this scope (yet again) deserves a political accounting. What politicians are doing something, and which ones are sitting back and hoping that scrutiny will pass? Is it finally going to be different this time?

Maybe. It’s hard to tell just how much of this school shooting will sink back into a half-remembered purgatory, like many others. However, the students involved are much older than the elementary-aged children of Sandy Hook. They are also more connected and arguably more outspoken than others. At the very least, they have been making waves not just on Twitter, but at the Florida state capitol and during a wrenching town hall on Wednesday.

Florida Senator Marco Rubio often looked pained during this event. However, he also refused to support a ban on assault weapons, such as the kind used at Parkland. Furthermore, he would not promise to stop accepting donations from the National Rifle Association.

What is there for us to do if we want to do something? You can take action to support gun control here, for one. Meanwhile, it behooves us to remember politicians’ reactions to this event during the midterm elections this November.

Poland makes trouble for the European Union

Lest you think that inward-focused nationalism is entirely American, look to Poland. Though the eastern European country is part of the European Union, it hasn’t made things easy for its neighbors. Polish officials have been accused of stacking juries, pulling critical media voices, and making it illegal to suggest that Poland had any hand in the Holocaust. Such actions have put it in opposition to its more liberal fellows in the EU.

It’s hard for many to parse out the nuance of this situation. Are countries like Poland pursuing a dangerous, authoritarian agenda? Or is the rest of the EU pushing its own way of thinking, a kind of democratic monoculture attached to EU funds?

That former point is a favorite of the Law and Justice party, one of the most popular conservative political parties within Poland. This highly conservative, populist and deeply Christian political party has caused particular strain in Polish and European politics.

More charges for Manafort and Gates

As you may recall, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort has already created plenty of trouble for himself. This time around, he’s facing 32 counts of indictment along with business partner Rick Gates. Along with Manafort, Gates became a relatively high-ranking individual within the Republican presidential campaign.

The charges come from Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel assigned to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. They focus on a years-long scheme by Gates and Manafort to evade taxes via foreign banks and offshore companies.The pair earned this income from their work with Ukranian political parties.

The indictment states that Manafort and Gates worked together to disguise that income as loans from offshore businesses. Eventually, the pair worked to get about $20 million in loans through Manafort’s U.S. real estate. However, that move required that Gates and Manafort lie about their income and debts.

Ultimately, Mueller’s team claims that the pair laundered around $30 million and conveniently failed to pay taxes for nearly a decade. If convicted, both Gates and Manafort may be facing effective life sentences, although Gates has pleaded guilty to two counts instead.

Trudeau’s awkward trip to India has a purpose

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has had a bit of a tough go on his recent state visit to India. India’s political leaders have generally declined to meet with Trudeau, a sharp contrast from other visiting heads of state.

What’s the problem? It turns out it has to do with a Sikh separatist movement that reached its nadir in the 1980s.

Sikh separatists wanted the Indian state of Punjab to separate. Unlike other parts of India, where Sikhs are a religious minority, they make up roughly 60% of the Punjabi population. The conflict became so intense that guerrillas set off bombs in the region. Meanwhile, separatist leaders conveniently died, leading many to point fingers at the larger Indian government.

Then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was even assassinated by her two Sikh bodyguards in 1984. This was largely in response to Operation Blue Star, an Indian military maneuver meant to drive out Sikh separatist leaders from Punjab.

Sikh immigration

Following Gandhi’s assassination, approximately 3,000 Sikhs were killed in riots throughout the nation. Though the anger has since died down (to the point where India has had a Sikh prime minister), tensions can still flare up.

Because of anti-Sikh sentiment, many Sikhs immigrated to foreign countries, including Canada. Canadian politics now has many prominent Sikhs, including four members of Trudeau’s Cabinet. Possible links between those Sikh Canadian officials and Sikh separatists have garnered controversy. However, it may end up being a canny political move that will benefit Trudeau when he returns home. Sikhs, after all, are a significant voting bloc in Canada.

And, finally, your palate cleanser

While there have been undeniable horrors in Parkland, Florida, you may take some comfort in learning about the legacy of conservationist Marjory Stoneman Douglas, the namesake of Parkland’s high school. It’s a small point of light right now, but perhaps it can be just enough, for a moment.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas earned a reputation for her dedication to the Florida Everglades, the vast tropical wetlands that take up part of South Florida. Prior to her 1947 book, The Everglades: River of Grass, many saw the region as nothing more than a fetid swamp. Douglas, however, asserted that the Everglades were a dynamic ecosystem that deserved respect and careful management.

Next: How you can participate in the 2018 national school walkout

Not only did she become a journalist and environmentalist, but Douglas also worked for women’s suffrage and the civil rights movement. She joined the first ACLU chapter organized in the American South. Until her death at the age of 108, she remained an outspoken supporter of her causes.

Intrigued? Check out the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Papers, managed by the University of Miami. Florida International University also hosts video and audio clips of Douglas at the Everglades Digital Library at the Everglades Digital Library.

What political stories have your interest this week?