Jan. 6 committee makes moves, Congress still stalled

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Our incorrigible tribalism is not what's driving today's illiberalism. Just because liberalism does not allow us to indulge our "natural" tribal side in public institutions does not mean it requires us to ignore it in our private commitments. Unlike Marxism, it allows us to distribute the fruits of our labor to our own before others. That, combined with its commitment to pluralism, as Institute for Humane Studies President Emily Chamlee-Wright notes, allows us to benefit from whatever tribal hardwiring we have without its damaging effect. One can debate whether Western liberalism has struck the right balance between individualism and communitarianism. But the fact of the matter is that liberalism is more like a balanced Mediterranean diet that works with our constitution, not against it. It might not satisfy our itch for red meat, but the explosion of flavors it offers is addictive in its own right. It is hard to imagine that returning to the "natural" paleo diet can ever be an attractive
option for anyone who has tasted the Great Enrichment—especially Americans who have feasted on it and become the richest people on the planet. As Wright notes, the more liberal institutions became culturally embedded, the more they are taken for granted. There is an internal contradiction at the heart of liberalism, namely, that liberalism undermines the conditions for its own renewal. It's not an easy problem to solve, but it is not as hopeless as trying to beat back the alleged cancer of tribalism. Constant, the 19th-century liberal philosopher, believed the cure to "forgetting" was repeated reminders about the importance of constitutional governance. That means making a renewed case for liberalism suitable for our times. —Shikha Dalmia ([link removed]) , Visiting Fellow, Mercatus Center's Program on Pluralism and Civil Exchange at George Mason University

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** Taylor & Whitman: An alliance to save American democracy
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"[F]or now, the best hope for the rational remnants of the Republican Party is for us to form an alliance with Democrats to defend American institutions, defeat far-right candidates, and elect honorable representatives next year—including a strong contingent of moderate Democrats. … [W]e don't take this position lightly. Many of us have spent years battling the left over government's role in society, and we will continue to have disagreements on fundamental issues like infrastructure spending, taxes, and national security. Similarly, some Democrats will be wary of any pact with the political right. But we agree on something more foundational—democracy. We cannot tolerate the continued hijacking of a major U.S. political party by those who seek to tear down our Republic's guardrails or who are willing to put one man's interests ahead of the country." —Miles Taylor & Christine Todd Whitman in
([link removed]) The New York Times ([link removed])

Miles Taylor served at the Department of Homeland Security from 2017 to 2019, including as chief of staff, and is the co-founder of the Renew America Movement. Christine Todd Whitman was the governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001 and served as EPA administrator under former President George W. Bush.

MORE: Is the man believed to be the source of QAnon running for Congress in Arizona? —The Independent ([link removed])


** Rubin: Preventing the next coup attempt
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"Lawmakers must address attempts to strong-arm or threaten election officials and interfere with a state's counting process. Candidates themselves should be barred from private contacts with any official involved in election administration. (No calls, for example, to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.) Issues should be resolved by legal representatives of the parties, and representatives of both campaigns must be present for any such contact. As bizarre as it sounds, federal legislation must also make clear that it is illegal for a president to incite others to interfere with vote counting or to overthrow the election." —Jennifer Rubin in ([link removed]) The Washington Post ([link removed])

Jennifer Rubin is an attorney and political opinion columnist at The Washington Post.

MORE: Schumer plans vote on election legislation next week, anticipating GOP blockade —NBC News ([link removed])


** Lipinski: The House is failing us
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"[M]embers of the House now mainly represent their party and its platform rather than their constituents' diverse views. Through changes in the rules, members have relinquished much of their individual power and disempowered committees in order to give their party leaders the ability to shape legislation for the purpose of pursuing the party's goals. In formulating legislation, party leaders cater to interest groups, activists, and donors aligned with the party to build electoral support. These supporters tend to be further toward the ideological extremes. Little to no effort is expended to pick up votes from the other party in the legislative process." —Daniel Lipinski in ([link removed]) The Atlantic ([link removed])

Daniel Lipinski formerly represented Illinois in the U.S. House of Representatives.

MORE: White House pushing Congress to reach deal on spending bill soon —NBC News ([link removed])


** Marshall: Pass the infrastructure bill
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"Democrats control the White House and, however tenuously, Congress. They don't have the luxury of endless negotiations aimed at appeasing the left. To regain political momentum, Democrats need a win. The best way to get one is to pass the infrastructure bill as soon as possible and work on a pragmatic reconciliation bill that better reflects their philosophically diverse coalition." —Will Marshall in ([link removed]) The Hill ([link removed])

Will Marshall is the president and founder of the Progressive Policy Institute.

MORE: Kyrsten Sinema won't support a reconciliation bill without passing infrastructure —Newsweek ([link removed])
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** Ronaghi: Iran's opposition cries out to be seen
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"For us, it is as if there are two Irans—the one where we live and another that you read about. Your Iran is defined by a pesky nuclear negotiation. Ours is much worse. It is a religious police state where we live in fear, with countless red lines that most dare not cross. It is a country of repression, censorship, and violence. I would know—I have spent six years in its jails." —Hossein Ronaghi in ([link removed]) The Wall Street Journal ([link removed])

Hossein Ronaghi is an Iranian blogger and freedom-of-speech activist.

MORE: Zvi Bar'el: Iran's regime will likely survive sanctions, but its people might not —Haaretz ([link removed])


** Oppenheimer: Who should get an invite to the 'Summit of Democracies'?
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"It would be best to invite a smaller group of well-established democracies to coordinate new diplomatic ways to press Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, and other dictatorships to restore basic freedoms. Summit participants could also seek new ways to protect themselves from wannabe autocrats in their own countries…who want to subvert the results of free elections." —Andrés Oppenheimer in ([link removed]) The Miami Herald ([link removed])

Andrés Oppenheimer is an author, the editor and syndicated foreign affairs columnist at The Miami Herald, and the anchor of "Oppenheimer Presenta."

MORE: Hamid Mir: The Nobel Prize reminds us that many democracies are falling behind on press freedom —The Washington Post ([link removed])


** Twining: It's no time to turn our back on the world
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"The hard truth is that a world that is less free is one that is less secure, stable, and prosperous. The greatest dangers to the American way of life emanate from hostile autocracies. There are no quick fixes, but the best antidotes to the challenges of great-power conflict, terrorism, and mass migration of desperate refugees lie in the building of inclusive democratic institutions—and working with allied democracies to sustain the free and open order that China, in particular, wishes to replace with a world that's safe for autocracy." —Daniel Twining in ([link removed]) The Hill ([link removed])

Daniel Twining is the president of the International Republican Institute.

MORE: How Xi Jinping's China differs from Mao's —The Economist ([link removed])
The Freedom to Vote Act will make it easier for citizens to participate in our elections by standardizing vote-by-mail and early voting, ban partisan gerrymandering, provide more transparency of political ads, and protect the integrity of our elections by requiring voter-verified paper ballots and protecting against election subversion and the politicizing of our election workers.

The Senate is going to vote on the Freedom to Vote Act next week. We need you to call or send a message to your senators and urge them to vote yes on the Freedom to Vote Act. You can call the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to speak with your senators' office. Or, send a message online using our online action center ([link removed]) .

Why is Mitt Romney still a member of the Republican Party? The question is easy to understand. Peril hangs over American democracy thanks to the GOP's relentless deviation to the extreme right. The trajectory of the party is now guided by a concerted effort to suppress votes and deny majority rule. Fueling the effort is an ethnic and cultural revanchism, joined eagerly by many of the ugliest elements in American society. The phenomenon leaves the United States effectively flirting with fascism. At such a dark hour, men of honor should be stepping up, raising their voices—and risking all.

Our question is therefore much less easy to answer, because for a very long time Mitt Romney could claim to be a man of honor. Sen. Romney's public image, once carved from the stuff of spines, has melted of late into a vague jelly. We know this from the stark reality he has shrunk from openly reviling, namely the moral collapse of his political home. Mr. Romney's votes in the impeachment trials kept his conscience clean, but some grave infirmity of will has restrained the senator from going further. He has not done what events, reason, and common decency are screaming out for him to do: renounce his membership in a movement that has become in many respects indistinguishable from a cult, and in chief respect, a soulless and shameless pursuer of power for power's sake.

A compelling role model from the last century points the way for Mr. Romney. The senator from Utah cannot be unfamiliar with the career of Winston Churchill, a man who found cause in the course of his career to exit his political party not once, but twice. Mr. Romney is also surely aware of Churchill's "wilderness years" in the 1930s, when his opposition to the appeasement of Hitler made him an outcast among his fellow Conservatives. What ultimately resulted from the great man's stubborn demonstrations of principle over party? He proved prescient and was entirely vindicated. Churchill became prime minister and was as responsible as any single person for saving western civilization from Nazi tyranny.

It happens that the United States today urgently requires saving from the careening descent of the Republican Party. As recently as 10 years ago, no one could have imagined the GOP of today. The party has clearly undergone a collective sacrifice of conscience. It is increasingly nativist in outlook; shamefully supportive of the Big Lie about the 2020 election; and repulsively frantic to conceal the roots of the Jan. 6 insurrection. The party of Abraham Lincoln and Dwight Eisenhower today shelters the likes of Marjorie Taylor Greene. Furthermore, and perhaps most menacingly, Republicans appear prepared to anoint as their champion in the next presidential election a twice-impeached pathological liar whose name augurs to go down in history with Quisling's.

To be a pariah in the Republican Party today is to wear a badge of noble character. Hello there, Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. Unfortunately, neither of those individuals bring with them olympian gravitas, and neither of them can reach Churchillian heights behind a podium. Mitt Romney does and could.

Posterity is watching. To lance the boil of Republican degeneration, Mr. Romney's credentials are unmatched. In both the private and public spheres his accomplishments are legion. No one in the American political firmament stands better positioned to demonstrate bold integrity. The senator should be asked to answer the call, stop acting the milquetoast—and send a redeeming quake through American politics.—Michael Carin, Canada

Ed. Note: Michael Carin has authored seven books, including the novel "Churchill At Munich."
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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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