Gerson: The GOP has shirked its duty

"Politics does not directly determine the morality of citizens. But it helps shape the system of social cues and stigmas in which citizens operate. It matters whether leaders delegitimize hatred or fertilize it; if they isolate prejudice or mainstream it. If political figures base their appeal on the cultivation of resentment for some group or groups, they are releasing deadly toxins into our society without any idea who might be harmed or killed. Such elected leaders might not have blood on their hands directly, but they are creating a society with more bloody hands." —Michael Gerson in The Washington Post

Michael Gerson is a columnist at The Washington Post who formerly served as a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and the chief speechwriter for former President George W. Bush.

MORE: DHS weighing major changes to fight domestic violent extremism, say officials —NBC News

Daragahi: Russia's disinfo war started in Syria

"[Millions] of Syrians fleeing Russian and regime airstrikes and death squads were trying to make their way abroad. But even then they were trashed through a series of lies and bigotry aggressively propagated by the Kremlin and some far-right and far-left corners of the internet, depicting traumatized refugees fleeing a horrific near-genocidal onslaught by a mass murderer as vampires descending on Europe. The anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim lies propagated by Russia and regurgitated by its allies fueled far-right movements across the world." —Borzou Daragahi in Independent

Borzou Daragahi is an international correspondent at the Independent, covering the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and Europe.

MORE: Darren Linvill & Patrick Warren: The real target of authoritarian disinformation —Foreign Affairs

Vindman & Kasparov: Navalny isn't perfect, but that's not the point

"[Russian opposition leader Alexei] Navalny has received the lion's share of media attention, but his corrupt trial and imprisonment are among thousands currently taking place... If we in the circle of democratic nations fail, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, his oligarchs, his enablers, and the mafia-state structure built around them will know that they can snuff out the stirrings of democracy with beatings, arrests, and murders—and we will be complicit. The moment demands action, not debate." —Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman & Garry Kasparov in The Washington Post

Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman (Ret.) served on the National Security Council as the director for Eastern European, Caucasus, and Russian affairs and is a Pritzker Military Fellow at the Lawfare Institute. Garry Kasparov is chair of the Human Rights Foundation and the Renew Democracy Initiative.

MORE: Alexei Navalny says he is being 'tortured' in prison —Deutsche Welle

King: Fate of the filibuster is in GOP's hands

"As we enter this new Congress with a new president and a new Senate majority (barely), the question for me is how Mitch McConnell and his Republican colleagues will play their hand; if they are willing to work to find compromise and consensus on important initiatives (infrastructure, voting rights, or immigration reform, for example), the importance of getting rid of the filibuster diminishes. If, on the other hand, they just say no, the necessity—and likelihood—of filibuster reform would only increase. That is to say, in large measure the outcome is in their hands." —Angus King in The Washington Post

Angus King represents Maine in the U.S. Senate.

MORE: Biden ties filibuster fight to voting-rights push —The Wall Street Journal

Lessig: For the People Act would save our democracy

"Americans are deeply skeptical of their government. Overwhelmingly, they believe that Congress serves not them, but the special interests who pay for campaigns. Many are deeply and rightly angry at the efforts by states to suppress their vote. Others are frustrated with legislatures that draw districts to permanently entrench a political minority as a majority. And practically everyone thinks that every branch of our government must commit to higher ethical ideals. We are told we have the greatest democracy in the world. Yet very few who know anything about how it actually functions believe this. H.R. 1 responds to these frustrations by addressing each aspect directly." —Lawrence Lessig in The Washington Post

Lawrence Lessig, the Roy L. Furman professor of law and leadership at Harvard Law School, is the author of "They Don't Represent Us: Reclaiming Our Democracy."

MORE: Georgia governor signs law curbing voting access —Axios

Campbell: RCV, corruption-fighter

"[Ranked-choice voting] reduces opportunities for corruption by making the election process more transparent, and reduces the means by which corruption occurs by leveling the playing field among a broader and more diverse slate of candidates. It changes the game by which officials are re-elected and leads to better behavior after the election." —Bill Campbell on IVN Network

Bill Campbell, a U.S. Marine veteran, represents the San Diego, Ca., chapter of RepresentUs, a national organization fighting corruption in government.

MORE: Two Bronx council races undecided as ranked-choice voting kicks in —City Limits

Dolan: The future is the center

"[T]he place we most need a third party is at the neglected center of American politics. That is where the voters are. That is where the ideas are. The moderate wings of the existing Democratic and Republican parties both overlap that center, but neither party is really equipped, either philosophically or organizationally, to actually occupy the territory." —Edwin Dolan at the Niskanen Center

Edwin Dolan holds a Ph.D. in economics from Yale University and has taught at universities throughout the U.S. and Europe. He is the co-founder of the American Institute of Business and Economics.

MORE: Thomas B. Edsall: We see the left. We see the right. Can anyone see the 'exhausted majority'? —The New York Times

What the Republicans don't seem to realize is that some who would vote for them could be negatively affected by the legislation they are passing. —Linda S., Texas

Where is the money for President Biden's $3 trillion infrastructure program going to come from? I like the idea, but the funding needs to be identified. —John C., Florida

Yesterday our spavined former president was so needy for attention after Joe Biden's press conference that he had to call into a TV infotainment show and complain on and on about a host of confusing topics. Can you imagine any other former president doing that? Can you imagine the response of the infotainment millionaires to any other former president doing that? —Tim P., New Mexico

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