War Games?

The Winter Olympic Games opened yesterday in a world fraught with tensions. Chief among them is the location of the Games themselves, in Beijing, China, where blatant and persistent human rights violations, squelching of democracy in Hong Kong, threats toward Taiwan, and other transgressions led to a diplomatic boycott of the Olympics by the U.S. and other Western democracies. Meanwhile, the Games are taking place amid a tense standoff between Russia and those same Western nations regarding a potential offensive against Ukraine. Here at home, there is mostly bipartisan agreement that the U.S. should maintain its historically robust defense of democracy—which Ukraine, for all its troubles, is on a path toward achieving. But there's an increasing loud group of Americans, primarily on the far-right, that not only objects to foreign interventions by the U.S., but also openly supports Vladimir Putin and his authoritarian regime. Few things illustrate how starkly polarized our internal politics have become than that. The Olympics are meant to be a time for the nations of the world to come together, despite their differences, in the spirit of friendly competition. This year, let’s hope it has some of the same effect on Americans. —Melissa Amour, Managing Editor

• U.S. employers shrug off omicron, add 467,000 jobs in January —Associated Press

• Tense moments in Situation Room as Biden oversaw raid on ISIS leader that was months in the making —CNN

• ‘Our democracy is at grave risk’ — Biden calls for unity at bipartisan National Prayer Breakfast —The Salt Lake Tribune

• U.S. diplomats, spies may have been hit by electromagnetic energy —Reuters

• Beijing Olympics open with nod to Year of the Tiger —The Washington Post

Olympics for dictators

The authoritarian leaders of Russia and China met for a summit in Beijing, where the Winter Olympic Games kicked off yesterday. Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping joined forces in pushing back against the U.S. and its Western allies, declaring “no limits” to their own anti-NATO alliance. According to Putin, relations between the two countries “are developing in a progressive way with a spirit of friendship and strategic partnership,” which includes a new energy contract. “This is a strategic decision that has far-reaching influence on China, Russia, and the world,” Xi said. Indeed. —Associated Press

• Not backing down. Putin and Xi issued a joint statement today, calling on NATO to “abandon the ideological approaches of the Cold War,” just as the first U.S. troops arrived in Europe to reinforce their NATO counterparts. U.S. military equipment also began to arrive in Europe this week, in case of an imminent Russian incursion into Ukraine. Russia has a history of making moves during or in near proximity to the Olympics. —Al Jazeera

• Fabricating an excuse. According to the Biden Administration, Moscow is considering filming a fake attack against Russian territory by Ukrainian forces as a pretext to invade the former Soviet republic. Russian intelligence has reportedly already recruited the people who would be involved in the video, which would include “graphic scenes of a staged false explosion with corpses.” —The Washington Post

• Ramping up the propaganda. The Kremlin is ramping up its other disinformation efforts as well, aiming to demoralize Ukraine and the NATO alliance. Russian state-owned broadcasters and social media trolls are portraying the West as the aggressor and the government in Kyiv as a puppet of NATO. Meanwhile, some Western media outlets say Russian state-controlled media is altering their reports and footage, dubbing over it with commentary designed to shape a narrative that the West is on a war footing and is preparing to attack Russia. —Voice of America

MORE: What China is actually saying about Russia and Ukraine —Defense One

Tokariuk: Ukrainians stand ready

“Moscow [is] bent on keeping Ukraine poor and corrupt, undemocratic and divided. But the Ukrainian people have shown more than once they will have the last word on their future. We might have regarded independence as a gift when we were children, but later in life we realized that it was not just given to us; we had to protect it with our lives. We have been hardened but never broken. We might be angry and frustrated, but never defeated. I know my generation will prevail again. I know Putin’s plans for Ukraine, whatever shape they take, are doomed to fail. Millions of Ukrainians stand united, once again, ready to resist.” —Olga Tokariuk in The Washington Post

Olga Tokariuk is a Kyiv-based independent journalist and researcher and a nonresident fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis.

MORE: Ukrainian civilians train for war as invasion fears grow —BBC News

Orlowski: Is social media at the root of our polarization problem?

“People radicalized by personalized algorithms…become less interested in, tolerant of, or even aware of others' views. As we hole up on our own information islands, alternate perspectives become unreal and uncomfortable to us. A recent Pew Research Center poll found that six in 10 Americans find it stressful to talk politics with people who disagree with them. Our hesitancy to have conversations that could bridge our divides perpetuates them. Our world views thus clash toward incompatibility.” —Jeff Orlowski in Newsweek

Jeff Orlowski is the director of The Social Dilemma, which has created The Social Dilemma Debate Project to combat polarization, hate, and gridlock and to encourage strong debate.

MORE: Senate moves to shield journalism from ‘Big Tech’ —Politico

Focus on the GOP

In the latest example of how far the Republican Party has fallen, members of the Republican National Committee formally voted to censure Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger at the RNC’s winter meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, today. Their sin? Serving on the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol—which the resolution says is persecuting “ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.” Hoo boy. As a result of the resolution, the RNC will “immediately cease any and all support of" both lawmakers. Not all Republicans are in agreement with the decision. "Shame falls on a party that would censure persons of conscience, who seek truth in the face of vitriol. Honor attaches to Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for seeking truth even when doing so comes at great personal cost," said Sen. Mitt Romney. We agree. —The Hill

• Soldiering on. Cheney, Kinzinger, and the rest of the panel are continuing their work. Earlier this week, the committee subpoenaed the phone records of Arizona GOP Chair Kelli Ward and her husband, Michael. Ward was among the most prominent GOP officials working with Donald Trump to stoke claims of fraud in the 2020 election. Both Wards signed documents falsely claiming to be among their state’s presidential electors in 2020, and joined a lawsuit against former Vice President Mike Pence in late December 2020, seeking to force his hand to overturn the election on Jan. 6. —Politico

• The same thing happened in Wisconsin. There, Republican electors, coordinated by Trump’s legal team, met in secret, with security, as part of a plan to present Pence with a conflicting slate of electors during the congressional certification of Joe Biden’s election victory. Ron Johnson, one of the swing state’s senators, also joined Sens. Kevin Cramer and Cynthia Lummis at a Jan. 4, 2021, meeting convened by MyPillow chief executive Mike Lindell to gather information and rally support for delaying the certification. —Madison.com

• The pillow guy gets around. In Colorado, Secretary of State Jena Griswold is investigating a "potential breach" in voting security by a local Republican official. Douglas County Clerk and Recorder Merlin Klotz boasted on social media in January that he made a copy of the hard drives used by local election systems, adding that he had been in touch with "the Lindell legal team." An order from Griswold's office asks Klotz to hand over all video surveillance of the equipment, and provide details about whom he has been working with and why. Stay tuned. —Insider

MORE: Pence, Trump tensions rise, raising questions about a break —The Hill

Hais, Ross & Winograd: Building a tag team for democracy

“[T]he future of democracy goes well beyond the fortunes of a single political party. For the next three years, Democrats need to reach out to independents and non-Trump acolytes in the Republican Party with a simple pro-democracy message—preserve the principle and practice that votes must determine the winners and losers of our elections, not party preference or ideology.” —Michael Hais, Doug Ross & Morley Winograd from Brookings Institute

Michael Hais earned his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Maryland and has served as vice president for research at Frank N. Magid Associates. Doug Ross is a former assistant secretary for employment and training at the U.S. Department of Labor. Morley Winograd is a senior fellow at the Center for Communication Leadership and Policy at the University of Southern California.

MORE: The newest front in the GOP’s war on voting rights —Slate

Glover & Kreider: Democrats ponder bipartisan alliances in midterms

“In Utah, former Democratic Rep. Ben McAdams ended his Senate candidacy and threw his support and operation behind Evan McMullin, who is running as an independent. McAdams sees McMullin’s bid as the only opportunity to defeat GOP Sen. Mike Lee, an ally of Trump. Utah is a conservative state, but not in a Trumpy, xenophobic way. A Democrat in Utah has only a narrow path to winning statewide, especially as Biden’s approval numbers slide. In this circumstance and in others, national Democrats should back pro-democracy Republicans running as independents in order to overpower Trump allies on Election Day.” —Juleanna Glover & Kalee Kreider in Politico

Juleanna Glover and Kalee Kreider led communications for Vice Presidents Dick Cheney and Al Gore, respectively.

MORE: Jennifer Rubin: Look out, Mike Lee. Evan McMullin is outraising you in Utah’s Senate race —The Washington Post

Does anyone else ever wonder why, on Jan. 6, 2021, the White House was not evacuated? Or why, at the very least, Mr. Trump was not moved to the basement as he was when protests were going on near the White House? The Capitol is about 1.5 miles from the White House, yet he sat and watched TV. On 9/11, as I recall, the White House was evacuated and staff moved to the bunker.

Just seems odd to me that the Capitol is attacked, and the security posture at the White House does not change. I have written to Democrats, the media, and miscellaneous talking heads to ask why, but have received no answer. So maybe it's a pointless question. Maybe, just maybe, someone in the White House knew exactly what was planned at the Capitol ahead of time, and they knew not to evacuate or move anyone.

Trump says he will pardon the Jan. 6 rioters if he wins back the White House in 2024. Odd, since his supporters claimed BLM and Antifa folks stormed the Capitol. Or the FBI in a false flag operation. Makes your head spin, doesn't it? One moment they are Antifa and BLM, then they are Trump patriots that he loves. He said so on Jan. 6. He also said those folks care more about our country than Kevin McCarthy does. Don't you wish they could stick to one side of any story? —Bill T., Arizona

The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff, the Renew America Movement, or the Stand Up Republic Foundation.