Opinion | We are former senators. The Senate has long stood in defense of democracy — and must again.

We are at an inflection point in which the foundational principles of our democracy and our national security interests are at stake.

www.washingtonpost.com

Dear Senate colleagues,

As former members of the U.S. Senate, Democrats and Republicans, it is our shared view that we are entering a dangerous period, and we feel an obligation to speak up about serious challenges to the rule of law, the Constitution, our governing institutions and our national security.

We are on the eve of the conclusion of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s investigation and the House’s commencement of investigations of the president and his administration. The likely convergence of these two events will occur at a time when simmering regional conflicts and global power confrontations continue to threaten our security, economy and geopolitical stability.

It is a time, like other critical junctures in our history, when our nation must engage at every level with strategic precision and the hand of both the president and the Senate.

During our service in the Senate, at times we were allies and at other times opponents, but never enemies. We all took an oath swearing allegiance to the Constitution. Whatever united or divided us, we did not veer from our unwavering and shared commitment to placing our country, democracy and national interest above all else.

At other critical moments in our history, when constitutional crises have threatened our foundations, it has been the Senate that has stood in defense of our democracy. Today is once again such a time.

Regardless of party affiliation, ideological leanings or geography, as former members of this great body, we urge current and future senators to be steadfast and zealous guardians of our democracy by ensuring that partisanship or self-interest not replace national interest.

Ronald Reagan’s daughter: My father would never have stood for Trump’s attacks on press

One of former President Reagan's daughter's is tearing into President Trump’s frequent attacks on the media, saying her father would never have stood for Trump's anti-press rhetoric.

thehill.com|Morgan Gstalter

In a Washington Post op-ed, Patti Davis wrote that her father had his own problems with the media, often verbally sparring with reporters.

I’ve tried to imagine what my father would have done if people attending a political speech of his had turned to the press and raised their middle fingers, hurled obscenities or physically menaced the reporters who were there doing their jobs. 

I found it difficult to conjure the image, and then I realized why. It simply wouldn’t have happened.

He's often talked about, but do you even know what Robert Mueller sounds like? We went back through old speeches and remarks to find him discussing the importance of things like honesty, integrity, and service.

“You can be smart, aggressive, articulate and indeed persuasive, but if you are not honest, your reputation will suffer, and once lost, a good reputation can never, ever be regained. As the saying goes, if you have integrity, nothing else matters, and if you do not have integrity, nothing else matters.”