Opinion: Patriotic duty

View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. Wednesday, February 8, 2017 [The New York Times]( [NYTimes.com/Opinion »]( [Opinion]( Wednesday, February 8, 2017 After I used the phrase “must-read” in a recent [column]( to describe Jonathan Chait’s work, a reader asked me which other journalists’ work I make a point of reading. It’s not a short list, and today I’ll add two names to it: [David Frum]( the former George W. Bush speechwriter who’s a senior editor at The Atlantic, and [Ezra Klein]( the founding editor of Vox. Yesterday, Klein published [a column]( responding to Frum’s [cover story]( in the current Atlantic. I highly recommend both. They revolve around what Frum calls “ominous indicators of a breakdown of the American political system.” The founders created a system in which Congress was supposed to act as the main check on the power of the president. But the polarization of politics, Frum writes, has meant that “Congress has increasingly become a check only on presidents of the opposite party.” I’d add that the [radicalization]( of the Republican Party — playing games with the debt ceiling, [refusing to consider]( a Supreme Court nominee, etc. — has made the problem especially acute with a Republican president. And Trump isn’t just any president. He is willing, even eager, to violate all kinds of long-held American values, threatening opponents, lying frequently and reveling in conflicts of interest. This combination — an anti-democratic president and a quiescent Congress — is very dangerous. Even though many members of Congress think his approach is wrong, they have refused to confront him because he is a member of their party. He has the power to sign bills that Republican legislators have long favored, and their political fortunes are tied to his popularity. So they look the other way. They duck questions about him, or they offer excuses. They enable him. They put the country at risk of what Frum calls autocracy and Klein calls “partyocracy.” Klein writes: “But for now, the crucial question — the question on which much of American democracy hinges — is not what Trump does. It is what Congress does.” Both pieces end on an important note of conditional optimism. Trump’s worst tendencies, and the threats to the American system of governance, can clearly be stopped. They can be stopped if Congress stands up to him, and Congress tends to respond to public opinion. “What happens next is up to you and me,” Frum concludes. “Don’t be afraid. This moment of danger can also be your finest hour as a citizen and an American.” The key is smart, disciplined and [highly local political action](. What does that look like? Again, I recommend both pieces, as well as [a follow-up]( by Frum. A note of collegial pride: The New York Times Magazine won three [National Magazine Awards]( yesterday. Nikole Hannah-Jones won Public Service (for her story about [school segregation]( Jennifer Percy won the Features category (for her article on [Japan’s 2011 tsunami]( and Sam Anderson won Essays and Criticism (for his piece about [Michelangelo’s David](. The full Opinion report from The Times follows, including Leon Botstein [on the societal role that universities must play today](. David Leonhardt Op-Ed Columnist  Editorial [Republicans Have Lost the Plot on Their Obamacare Repeal]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD It’s increasingly evident that they have no workable plan and might never come up with one. Editorial [Betsy DeVos at her confirmation hearing in January.]( [Betsy DeVos Teaches the Value of Ignorance]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD The education secretary is the perfect cabinet member for a president determined to undermine federal agencies’ mission. Editorial [Melania Trump on her first day as first lady.]( [Melania Trump Inc. Imperiled]( By THE EDITORIAL BOARD A lawsuit filed by the first lady shatters any veneer of plausible deniability about the Trump family’s transactional view of the presidency.  Op-Ed Columnist [Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ben Cardin rallied against Betsy DeVos as education secretary.]( [The Comforts of the Betsy DeVos War]( By ROSS DOUTHAT Why did the Democrats fight so hard? The rules of normal pre-Trump politics still applied. Op-Ed Columnist [President Trump]( [Connecting Trump’s Dots]( By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN Trump made a series of reckless, unconnected promises to get elected, and now he’s just checking off each one.  ADVERTISEMENT  Op-Ed Contributors [A coal-fired power plant in Colorado Springs, Colo.]( [A Conservative Case for Climate Action]( By MARTIN S. FELDSTEIN, TED HALSTEAD AND N. GREGORY MANKIW Our idea would reduce carbon emissions, limit regulatory intrusion, promote economic growth and help working-class Americans.  Richie Pope [On Campus]( [American Universities Must Take a Stand]( By LEON BOTSTEIN Our cause is not partisan. It is to defend the pursuit of science, truth and freedom of thought.  Op-Ed Contributor [Vice President Mike Pence arriving on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.]( [Mike Pence, the Tiebreaker]( By JOEL K. GOLDSTEIN The vice presidency is back in its traditional role presiding over the Senate. Op-Ed Contributor [In Quezon City, Philippines, inmates sleep on a basketball court in an overcrowded prison where inmates take turns to sleep on any available spaces at Quezon City Jail, one of the country’s most congested jails on October 19, 2016.]( [President Duterte Is Repeating My Mistakes]( By CÉSAR GAVIRIA When I was president of Colombia, I learned that a “war on drugs’’ is unwinnable. Contributing Op-Ed Writer [Lighting candles on International Holocaust Remembrance Day last month at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington.]( [Shouldn’t Israel Care About Anti-Semitism?]( By SHMUEL ROSNER The Israeli government has to balance its devotion to defending all Jews and its foreign relations. Op-Ed Contributor [Stephen Schwarzman, the chief executive of Blackstone, at the White House on Friday with President Trump.]( [Stephen Schwarzman’s Bad Business Advice]( By MICHAEL MORITZ The head of President Trump’s business council doesn’t exactly serve the American worker. Fixes [Preparing Young Americans for a Complex World]( By DAVID BORNSTEIN When students explore foreign cultures, they learn not just about others, but also about themselves. Op-Ed Contributor [How the Anti-Vaxxers Are Winning]( By PETER J. HOTEZ A major measles outbreak in America is only a matter of time. Op-Ed Contributor [Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has unified Japan simply by promoting patriotic symbolism while protecting the welfare state.]( [Japan, Where Populism Fails]( By YOICHI FUNABASHI Public confidence in the political mainstream is eroding in established democracies throughout the world. Why not here? Disability [Love, Eventually]( By ONA GRITZ It took a friend, then a lover to help me embrace the part of myself I had deliberately ignored.  ADVERTISEMENT  Letters [Kellyanne Conway, left, Hope Hicks, Jared Kushner, Stephen K. Bannon, Reince Priebus and Stephen Miller, all members of President Trump’s senior staff, last month at the White House.]( [Early Grades for President Trump]( Readers react to the turbulent first days of President Trump’s administration.  SIGN UP FOR THE OP-DOCS NEWSLETTER Watch [new Op-Docs]( read discussions with filmmakers and find out about upcoming events.  FOLLOW OPINION [Facebook] [FACEBOOK]( [Twitter] [@nytopinion]( [Pinterest] [Pinterest]( Get more [NYTimes.com newsletters »]( | Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps for just $0.99. [Subscribe »]( ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's Opinion Today newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Subscriptions]( | [Change Your Email]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Contact]( | [Advertise]( Copyright 2017 The New York Times Company | 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018