Meta, delete your account

Former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, a longtime friend of The Topline, made an appearance this week at the Guinn Center in Las Vegas, where she participated in a dialogue program for Nevada lawmakers and opinion leaders. Whitman has had a long career in politics that required a bipartisan spirit. After her governorship as a Republican in a mostly blue state, she went on to work in the Bush Administration as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. These days, she’s the co-chair of the States United Democracy Center and the Forward Party, which just announced a formal alliance with the Common Sense Party, as an independent alternative in the very blue state of California. The combined party prioritizes—you guessed it—cooperation and problem-solving. Respectful collaboration seems to be part of Whitman’s DNA. “We’re really not that different,” she told the cross-partisan crowd. “And we really do have the same things we want to achieve. We may want to go about them slightly differently, but we have the same desires.” We could use more of that ethos throughout our politics. —Melissa Amour, Managing Editor

• Five Memphis ex-cops jailed and charged with murder in death of Tyre Nichols —NPR

• Kemp declares state of emergency in Georgia over 'Cop City' protests —Politico

• National Archives asks former presidents and vice presidents to check for classified and presidential documents —CNN

• Barr pressed Durham to find flaws in the Trump-Russia investigation —The New York Times

• George Santos accused of making vile joke about Hitler, Jews, and Black people on Facebook —The Independent

• Body camera footage shows moment Paul Pelosi was attacked with hammer —The Washington Post

• Sentencing for men charged in Jan. 6 attack on officer Brian Sicknick —The Washington Post

• 77 Democrats urge Biden to scrap new asylum limits, highlighting divide on border policy —CBS News

• New York jury convicts man of killing eight by driving truck on bike path —The Washington Post

• Jeff Zients is named White House Chief of Staff —The New York Times

Did you miss him?

If you missed him or not, you can expect to see more Donald Trump in the news again soon. (We know, we know…🤦🏻‍♀️) Gearing up for his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump will make stops in two early primary states this weekend—South Carolina and New Hampshire. He’s also been dropping policy opinions on issues like education and foreign affairs. And if you’re a Facebook or Instagram user, parent company Meta has some news for you: after a two-year suspension, Meta will reinstate Trump's accounts "in coming weeks." Whether Trump returns to the platforms remains to be seen, but in any case, more Trump is on its way. —Axios

• More lawsuits! A federal judge has allowed a civil lawsuit filed against Trump for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol to proceed. The suit was brought by U.S. Capitol Police officers who claim Trump and others violated both federal and Washington, D.C., law for conduct linked to the insurrection. Meanwhile, in response to the fraud lawsuit against the Trump Organization in New York, Trump claimed in a court filing yesterday that "Trump Organization" is branding shorthand—not a legal entity—so it can't be sued. —CNN

• More racism! Trump’s transportation secretary, Elaine Chao, spoke out against her former boss this week in the wake of his making racist comments about her on his social media site, Truth Social. It wasn’t the first time Trump has called Chao, who is married to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, racist names. This time, he targeted Chao and McConnell in an attempt to link them to classified documents found in a Washington, D.C., office space that has been used by President Biden. “[It] says a whole lot more about him than it will ever say about Asian Americans,” Chao said. —USA Today

• More crazy! Reportedly angling to be Trump's running mate in 2024 is Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has said her "whole vision is to be vice president." That goal is what drove her recent efforts to rebrand herself as a Republican who can stand astride the divide between the MAGA hard-liners and the GOP establishment wing. It also helps explain why she threw herself into helping elect Rep. Kevin McCarthy to the House speakership earlier this month. No word yet from Trump on whether he’ll make Greene’s dream come true. —NBC News

MORE: Trump support is eroding in an Republican National Committee he remade —The New York Times

Public violence driven by conspiracies, hate

The Secret Service published a 60-page report on Wednesday detailing trends in mass attacks in public spaces across the U.S. Although personal grievances were the single most common motive behind such attacks, one-quarter of the perpetrators studied from 2016 to 2020 were motivated by conspiracy theories or hateful ideologies. Lina Alathari, chief of the Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center, said, "About a quarter…maintained some kind of conspiracy theory beliefs, so they believed, for example, that 9/11 and the moon landing never happened, that the U.N. was sending an armed force to come take away everyone’s guns." Hateful ideologies that motivated attackers included anti-government, anti-Semitic, or misogynistic views. Alathari also noted that at least six of the attackers studied were radicalized online. —NBC News

MORE: UK extremist sentenced over videos tied to U.S. shootings —Deutsche Welle

Slow dancing on the debt ceiling 

A group of 24 Senate Republicans sent a letter to President Biden today vowing to vote against any bill to increase the debt ceiling that does not include significant spending cuts. The letter is the latest salvo in the congressional standoff over raising the debt ceiling. After the U.S. hit the $31.4 trillion limit last week, Treasury Sec. Janet Yellen urged lawmakers to reach an agreement to raise the debt limit before the country defaults for the first time in its history. Republicans say they will only raise the limit to secure a massive overhaul in federal spending. Democrats warn that not raising the debt ceiling would have a devastating impact on the global economy. Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy have agreed to meet to discuss the issue, but a date has not yet been set. Stay tuned. —Spectrum News

MORE DEBT CEILING NEWS:

• Republicans demand spending cuts to lift the debt limit. They won't say what to cut —NBC News

• McCarthy: ‘We won’t touch Medicare or Social Security’ —The Hill

• Chip Roy to use debt ceiling threat to push his border security plan —The Texas Tribune

• Debt ceiling talks: McCarthy's moderate Republican allies have own ideas —Bloomberg

• Biden attacks Republicans over 'mind-boggling' debt ceiling threat —Reuters

Transpartisanship and Transformation 

By Brenda Marinace

Reprinted from and with the permission of The Fulcrum

I believe we cannot get meaningful transpartisan action in groups of people to occur until our leaders give us a better role model. Our leaders are responsible for much of the discontent, followed by the media promoting and aggrandizing their comments. Calling each other names, looking for that “aha” moment, is grade-school level taunting. It does nothing but entice others to feel entitled to continue the poor behavior.

To be transformative, it is said we need to shape a better future, create new values, reconcile tensions and dilemmas, and above all take responsibility. Many of our leaders instead steadfastly dwell on insulting, demeaning, and destroying those with whom they disagree. Furthermore, this is often the result of “being loyal to their party;” in other words, an “I am just doing my job” kind of attitude. Our leaders are supposed to be doing what is good for the country, not what is good for the egos of their party or top supporters.

I believe until the people of this country demand that our leaders give us a better role model, that we see a return to diplomacy and decorum, it will be impossible to bring about transpartisanship. In a way it is heartening to see the Republican representatives actually standing up and disagreeing with others in their party. However, overall, the important thing is to finally demand that our representatives work for the good of the country.

Standing in the way of this are wealthy donors, representatives who think of their role as their “career” rather than “public service,” and loyalty to the cult that they have joined in order for their “career” to continue.

So, to repeat, we need them to shape a better future, create new values, reconcile tensions and dilemmas, and above all take responsibility. It is hypocritical for our leaders to stand up, wring their hands, and offer prayers and the typical “we cannot let this continue” response to school shootings, for example. They must accept at least some of the blame for enabling school shooters. When they insult and demean others, they tell these shooters it is okay, it is their right to seek revenge.

This is more personal to me, as one of the worst school shootings occurred in the town where I raised my three daughters at a school named after one of my closest friends—Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Marjory was stunned when I mentioned that the school was named after her, and the school board was stunned when they found out she was still living, as they only name schools after deceased leaders. Thank heavens she was not around when this horrific event occurred. One of my children’s friends lost their daughter to this massacre.

How insulting to hear those same prayers and words of regret from a school board, county sheriff, state and national leaders once again. Especially when this is followed by their continuing to insult each other—people who have all aspired to be leaders, who have vowed to work in public service for their country.

Who is to blame when the parents of one of the college students killed in Idaho a month ago insults the police who are working to find the perpetrator?

Who is to blame when our country does nothing to help the mentally ill but provide them with childish examples of name-calling and insults?

I had a goal with my C’mon America project. I wanted the quiet, invisible population to be able to stand up for diplomacy and decorum, to demand better role models, to admonish the press for their part in the debacle. They are the majority in this country, not the couple of loud voices that dominate social media (followed by the press aggrandizing their disgusting taunts). And what is even more depressing is that a lot of the loud voices spouting vehement messages are our supposed leaders?

Until we elect better leaders, until the people stand up for decorum and diplomacy, until our leaders work to shape a better future, to create new values, to reconcile tensions and dilemmas, and above all take responsibility, the job of leadership falls to all of you who work day after day to try to overcome the shortcomings of our supposed-to-be leaders. I commend you all for never giving up, for remaining optimistic in a world of pessimism. Thank you.

Brenda Marinace has been a lifetime activist working to bring together the right people at the right time to work on timely issues. At 82, she is now hoping to assist in the most important effort to rebuild respect, trust, and dignity in our leaders and each other.

The only thing worse for the country than Donald Trump becoming president again would be if Marjorie Taylor Greene became vice president. Greene’s ideology is dangerous and would singlehandedly set America back years in the past. Her views do not advance the country in a positive direction or help anything to move forward. Furthermore, it would be a disgrace to the office of the VP if she were assume this role, especially due to her involvement in and inappropriate comments regarding the insurrection on Jan. 6. —Lauren A., Pennsylvania

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 Renew America Foundation.