Opportunity and/or Burden

I have enjoyed the This Modern World comic for years, and this week’s is a good one: Better Things Are Possible.  Go check it out, and if you like Tom Tomorrow’s work, subscribe to his newsletter.  One thing I really miss about the demise of newspapers is the daily access to comics, both political and nonpolitical.  Anyway, it goaded me to finally write this note; I’ve been sitting on it a while.

The Trump/MAGA takeover of our government has been an utter shambles, but there is an upside — it has pointed out how weak our protections are against corrupt bad-faith actors.  We now have the opportunity (and the burden) to harden our systems.  We must excise all the bad-faith Trump/MAGA-ness from our government, and simultaneously put in place protections to prevent it from happening again.  This is maybe the most important task of our times.

The comic has a good list of things we need to do.  Obviously, the list is far too long to fit in 6 comic panels!   I have my own long list, and it is easy to get overwhelmed by all the things we should do. There are, though, a set of things that can happen quickly, without much legislative wrangling, and would be meaningful and send a clear message.

• Immediate cancellation of all Trump EOs.  He has issued so many, there may be merit in a few, but it is important to send the signal that the entire Trump administration policy apparatus was corrupt, and we need to clean the slate.  The good ones can always be reissued.
  • The growth in EOs over time across all presidencies is a problem.  It has happened at the same time as Congress has become more partisan and less effective.  It is not obvious how to stop the future misuse of EOs if we can’t also get Congress to start legislating again.
• Immediate renaming of all Trump-named federal programs, buildings, etc, and removal of all Trump imagery from passes, coins, or any other government-issued material.  The Kennedy Center, the Trump accounts, airports, everything.  Again, the entire process around these was corrupt and illegal, and the name needs to be stricken from the record.
  • Immediate submission of legislation to forbid the naming of any federal building or program after a living person, and to forbid the use of any imagery of a living person.  We have had this policy for currency for a long time, and it is a good policy; it eliminates the possibility of misuse of naming power.
• Immediate firing of all Trump appointees in all agencies.  There may be some good hires, and they can be rehired, but again, the entire Trump personnel pipeline was corrupt and needs to be completely flushed.
• Cessation of White House remodel, and restart with an open and legal design process.
• Immediate submission of legislation to prevent federal officials from monetizing their tenure.  All investments in blind trust, no ability to create new cryptocurrencies, complete disclosure of tax returns before running for office, etc.  There is a long list of loopholes to close here.

All these things can be done on day one of a new administration.  Quick, decisive action would demonstrate to the country and the world that we are serious about addressing the abuses.  

Beyond these, there are three sets of clear criminal activity that have occurred during Trump’s tenure, or have involved people in his administration.   And a new administration should move on these immediately, demonstrating that the USA will hold people personally accountable for criminal activity.

• First, a complete shutdown of DHS and ICE.  ICE and its DHS management chain have demonstrated that they have no regard for the rights of US citizens and US residents.  We need to start over.
  • And criminal prosecution of all ICE agents involved in murders and abuse, all the way up the management chain, no matter how high it goes.
• Second, full and complete disclosure of Epstein files, with no redactions of names and identities, excluding those of sexual assault victims.  We have to hold everyone accountable.
  • And criminal prosecution of every sexual predator and sex offender in these files.
• Thirdly, a re-look at all the parties involved in the J6 riots.  Many have been pardoned, but if there is any way to hold them accountable for their actions in attacking the Capitol, we must do that.

This is how a new administration must start — immediate direct action on the worst crimes and the most visible abuses of our system.   There is infinitely more to do — expansion of the courts, reformation of the pardon process, elimination of gerrymandering, elimination of money in politics, voting rights protection, and more. A new administration needs to start fast and move fast.