America — and the world — need President Biden to get Ukraine right

Friday, January 28

Members of Ukraine's volunteer military units train in a city park in Kyiv on Jan. 22, 2022.

Biden needs to get Ukraine right. America's security depends on it.

Happy Friday! Here's what we have:

We are leading the newsletter with a column on Ukraine. This column focuses on what President Joe Biden can do to handle the situation properly. Happy reading.

Biden needs to get Ukraine right. America's security depends on it.

By Melinda Haring

American families are struggling with inflation and a never-ending pandemic. And with plunging polling numbers, Democrats face tough prospects in the November midterm elections.

President Joe Biden can't afford another foreign policy disaster after the embarrassing mess of the withdrawal from Afghanistan, either. And if Russian leader Vladimir Putin seizes more of Ukraine now, the humiliation will only appear to confirm the image of Biden as weak and ineffectual. He and his party will then face a steep uphill climb in 2024.

Biden must get Ukraine right.

Today's Editorial Cartoon

Marc Murphy, USA TODAY Network

USA TODAY Network

•	January political cartoon gallery from the USA TODAY Network

It's time to diversify our farming and eating to save water

By Jonathan Webb

Although America is still an agricultural power, we now import almost as much as we export. Half of all fruit is imported and a third of all vegetables. Between 2000 and 2016, we tripled net tomato imports, according to a University of Florida report.

Tomatoes.

We're not talking about papayas or coffee, but about something is grown in many backyards.

Olympics are under attack. Here's why I'll be competing.

By Elana Meyers Taylor

In February, I will represent the United States at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. I am a bobsledder, and this will be my fourth Olympic competition. At the last three, I won a pair of silver medals and a bronze. This will likely be my final Olympics – and my last chance at a gold medal.

It's also the most controversial Olympics I've competed in due to the host country, China. In late 2021, the White House announced a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics, which means that no American government officials will join us in Beijing.

Others said that didn't go far enough. They've urged people not to watch the Olympics. They've told my fellow Team USA athletes and I to boycott. And they've criticized the companies that sponsor us.

Columns on qualified immunity

Currently, we are doing a series examining the issue of qualified immunity. For more on the series read here.

•	Colorado took a revolutionary step to reform policing. Here's how we did it.
•	'They took my life away': Teen girl jailed by untrustworthy cop must be allowed to sue
•	Five ways to reform policing, starting with qualified immunity
•	When police are out of line, they should face remedial action. But don't end qualified immunity.