Biden to travel to NATO HQ

Today, we’re pleased to introduce to The Topline original writing from “A Call from American Renewal” signatory Roger Bolton. Roger is a communications leader with a long history of service in government and business. He expounds on how we can revive the spirit of bipartisanship and legislative independence that were once the hallmark of American democracy. This is just the first piece of its kind, as our Renew America Movement advisors, fellows, and partners will be making periodic contributions to The Topline. We look forward to sharing this exclusive content, along with other new features, with you in future issues. As always, if you have any feedback about The Topline, please drop me a line at [email protected]. Thank you for being a valued member of our community of readers! —Melissa Amour, Managing Editor

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Going abroad

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki confirmed today that President Biden will travel to Europe next week for a summit with European leaders about the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The group will meet in Brussels on March 24. “While he’s there, his goal is to meet in person face-to-face with his European counterparts and talk about, assess where we are at this point in the conflict in the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. We’ve been incredibly aligned to date,” Psaki said. “That doesn’t happen by accident. The president is a big believer in face-to-face diplomacy. So it’s an opportunity to do exactly that.” Biden also will attend a scheduled summit of the European Council, which is working to impose sanctions and further humanitarian efforts. —Associated Press

• What is NATO up to? The alliance got its hackles up over the weekend, when long-range Russian missiles hit western Ukraine, less than 15 miles from the border with Poland, a NATO member. According to The Know, since U.S. National Guard troops trained near the location a few weeks ago, some surmised Russia was sending a message, but Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby has cautioned against such speculation. Nevertheless, the U.S. has moved some troops from Germany to Poland, and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced today there are "hundreds of thousands of forces on heightened alert across the Alliance,” backed by air and naval power and air defense. "An attack on one Ally will be met with a decisive response from the whole Alliance,” Stoltenberg said. —The Know

• “The world is watching closely.” As intense shelling continues in Kyiv, Russia has asked China for military support, including drones, as well as economic aid to counterbalance the effects of heavy sanctions. It is unclear how China has responded, but it puts the communist country in a difficult position. The White House has warned there will be “consequences” for China if it assists Russia, and China isn't looking to jeopardize its own economic position. —CNN

• Horror and hope. Ukrainian civilians in at least 2,000 cars have fled Mariupol in the biggest evacuation yet from the besieged seaport, where bodies have had to be buried in mass graves. Ukrainian officials also say that Russia has seemed to soften its stand in talks aimed at halting the barrage. The latest round of talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives, held today via video, have become “more constructive,” and Russia has stopped airing its demands for Ukraine to surrender, said Ukrainian presidential aide Ihor Zhovkva. —Associated Press

MORE: Stephen Collinson: As the war's horror mounts, Biden's choices are about to get more excruciating —CNN

Focus on the Jan 6 investigation

A document entitled “1776 Returns,” found in the possession of far-right leader Enrique Tarrio, the former head of the Proud Boys extremist group, contained a detailed plan to surveil and storm government buildings around the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The nine-page document recommends recruiting at least 50 people to enter each of seven government buildings—six House and Senate office buildings and the Supreme Court—to occupy them, conduct sit-ins, and chant slogans like “No Trump, No America.” The document also contains a section called “Patriot Plan,” apparently meant for public distribution, that suggests that crowds begin to gather at the seven buildings at 1 p.m. on Jan. 6, await a “signal from lead,” and then “storm” the buildings. It was cited by federal prosecutors last week in charging Tarrio with conspiracy. —The New York Times

• Caught on camera. Prosecutors also say a documentary film crew was present when Tarrio met with Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes for 30 minutes in an underground parking garage in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 5, 2021. The meeting provides new evidence of the encounter between the two groups, whose leaders helped orchestrate the breach of the Capitol the following day. Tarrio will remain in jail as he awaits trial, a federal judge decided today. —Politico

• Oh Ginni, say it ain’t so. For the first time, Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has confirmed the rumors and publicly acknowledged that she participated in the Jan. 6, 2021, “Stop the Steal” rally on the Ellipse that preceded the storming of the Capitol. Thomas said she was at the rally for a short time, got cold, and went home before Donald Trump took the stage at noon that day. Gabe Roth, executive director of Fix the Court, a nonpartisan group that advocates for SCOTUS reforms, says her participation in the rally should have been enough of an excuse for Clarence Thomas to recuse himself from the House committee case. —The Washington Post

• “There was nothing intentional or nefarious about the delay.” Federal prosecutors admitted yesterday that they lost track of one jailed Jan. 6 defendant—violating his rights under the Speedy Trial Act—and conceded that the indictment against him should be dismissed. However, they urged a judge to permit the charges to be refiled because of the seriousness of Texas resident Lucas Denney’s alleged attack on police. Denney’s defense used the opportunity to take a highly unusual step—dropping a bid to dismiss the case and instead seeking to have Denney plead guilty to a single-count indictment a grand jury returned last week before prosecutors could add more charges. Stay tuned. —Politico

MORE: The gutting of a Georgia elections office that was targeted for takeover by those who believe the 2020 election was a fraud —The Washington Post

The GOP’s civil war 

“The Republican National Committee’s censure last month of GOP Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger was a historical rarity—national parties almost never reprimand their own officeholders,” says Seth Masket of FiveThirtyEight. Yet, at the state and even local levels, it's becoming a much more common phenomenon, particularly over the 2020 election. If one refuses to adopt the falsehood that the election was stolen, they're censured, and it’s having the effect of allowing radicalism to take over local party committees from the ground up. “In this rash of recent censures, we’re seeing county party leaders trying to more emphatically assert which faction of the party is in charge,” Masket says. Not all Republicans are giving in, however. Some are fighting back… —FiveThirtyEight

• “A would-be tyrant.” Renewer Rep. Tom Rice slammed Donald Trump on Saturday following the ex-president’s rally in South Carolina, during which Trump criticized the congressman for voting to impeach him for inciting the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. “[L]ike no one else I've ever met, he is consumed by spite," Rice said. “If you want a Congressman who supports political violence in Ukraine or in the United States Capitol, who supports party over country, who supports a would-be tyrant over the Constitution, and who makes decisions based solely on re-election, then Russell Fry is your candidate,” Rice said of his Trump-endorsed opponent. —The Hill

• “Arsonists with keys to the firehouse.” Trump also has taken the once-unusual step of endorsing Secretary of State candidates this year—Jody Hice in Georgia, Mark Finchem in Arizona, and Kristina Karamo in Michigan. Why? All three candidates have embraced the Big Lie that Democrats stole the 2020 election by allowing fraud to affect the results. If any of the three win, they'll be in charge of administering elections in their respective swing states in 2024, when Trump has threatened to run for office again. —The Guardian

• “Preserving liberal democracy is an extraordinary challenge.” The significance of the battle is not lost on Sen. Mitt Romney. As the introductory speaker at a closed fundraiser for Renewer Rep. Liz Cheney last night, he delivered more than 200 Republican donors a stark message on the fragility of American democracy. “[W]hat has kept us from falling in with the same kind of authoritarian leader as Vladimir Putin are the strengths of our institutions, the rule of law, our courts, Congress, and so forth,” he said. “People of character and courage have stood up for right at times when others want to look away. Such a person is Liz Cheney.” —CBS News

MORE: Anti-Trump Republicans lining up for 2024 shadow primary —CNN

Bolton: The End of an Era? I Hope Not

I’m tempted to see two recent events that touched me deeply as the final nails in the coffin of a great era of collegial cooperation that had served our country well. But it needn’t be so.

The first event was the death of former U.S. Rep. Clarence J. “Bud” Brown, R-Ohio. The second was the resolution passed by the Republican National Committee (RNC) censuring two Republican members of Congress for their honorable bipartisan work on the U.S. House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

When I worked for Bud Brown from 1975-1982, the issues were no less serious or emotional than they are today. We had just experienced the resignation in shame of a president, and the two parties were deeply divided as the nation faced a severe energy crisis.

Brown was the House Republican leader on energy issues when the OPEC oil embargo led to gas shortages, sharp gas price increases, and long lines at service stations. Despite being buried deep in the minority in the Democratic-controlled Congress, Brown assembled an effective coalition of Republicans and oil-state Democrats whose state interests aligned with the Republicans’ free-market principles. 

This induced the Democrats’ energy leader, the late U.S. Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., to compromise with Brown in order to get a majority vote on legislation. As a result, Brown had a major impact on a series of new laws that changed the U.S. approach to energy policy, paving the way for the greater energy independence the country now enjoys. 

Brown and Dingell battled for every vote on every amendment of every bill, and the stakes were high. Their epic rhetorical and procedural battles enlivened each debate, but at the end of the day, when the gavel came down, they often were seen walking away from the House floor, arm-in-arm, joking and laughing. They disagreed on policy, but they highly respected each other and the institution in which they (and their fathers) served.

The RNC censure resolution, in which the RNC termed the seditious attack on the Capitol “legitimate political discourse,” was discouraging. As a former senior official in the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush Administrations, I found this extreme attack on responsible Republicans to be a rejection of the spirit of those fine leaders. 

Reagan was dedicated to finding a path to a solution through bipartisan cooperation, and he viewed those on the other side of an issue as friends to be listened to, not enemies to be defeated. His friendship with Democratic House Speaker Thomas P. “Tip” O’Neill was legendary.

Today, compromise is a bad word; both parties seem to care only about how much money they can raise by demonizing the other side, playing to the worst instincts of humans to find meaning in tribal allegiances that thrive on hatred of “the other.” Too many media outlets feed the hatred for their own financial gain, parading their self-righteous conviction that the other side is evil, oblivious to the grievous harm that they are creating.

Call me naïve, but I believe all is not lost. I stand with those in both parties who are willing to support the U.S. Constitution, American democracy, and the rule of law. I am proud to be a founding signatory of the Renew America Movement’s Founding Principles, established by a group of current and former Republican officeholders and administration officials who are supporting responsible candidates in the center of both parties.

I encourage all Americans to:

- Refuse to donate money in response to appeals to hatred.

- Stand strong for your principles, but be willing to listen to other points of view.

- Not get discouraged, and take the time to vote.

It's in our power to bring back to life a spirit of public cooperation, in which respect for others and a willingness to listen and use common sense can return us to the principle of civility in our public discourse that has served our nation and the world so well for so long.

Roger Bolton served as press secretary and chief of staff for the late former U.S. Rep. Clarence J. Brown, Jr., and in various roles in the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations. He later served as CCO at Aetna and as head of global media relations for IBM. He is currently president of the Arthur W. Page Society, a global professional association for corporate chief communication officers.

MORE: Jennifer Rubin: Putin could do for American democracy what he did for NATO unity —The Washington Post

Moscow is only about 250 miles from Ukraine. MIG 29s could possibly launch an attack on it. President Biden has to consider how Putin could react even up to his using nuclear weapons. If the Ukrainian Airforce had the ability to seek revenge against Russia, a third world war might be left up to the decisions made by individual pilots. President Biden has demonstrated good judgment, and our best weapon to use against Putin is unity. —Bill M., Pennsylvania

The bravery of the Ukrainian people and their leader Volodymyr Zelensky reminded me of a famous speech on patriotism. In August 1952, presidential candidate Adlai Stevenson spoke to the American Legion about "a patriotism that puts country ahead of self; a patriotism which is not short, frenzied outbursts of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime." The speech is easy to find with an online search. I recommend it to Topline readers. —Tim P., New Mexico

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 Renew America Foundation.