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Living in Society

First Week of 47

Photo by Jacob Morch on Pexels.com

Conservatives are complaining the pace of cabinet confirmations is too slow, with only three confirmed as of this writing: Secretary of State, CIA Director and Defense Secretary. They whine that W. had seven confirmed on inauguration day and Obama had six. Maybe if they were better organized and had better nominees for these important positions the pace would pick up. Not holding my breath on the administration getting better organized. It is what it is and Republicans in government and without are just going to have to live with the goat screw they created.

On the sixth day of the Trump administration, the debris has not settled from his initial actions as president. He’s just getting started as policy explosions continue to go off. It is too early for an assessment. My wait and see attitude persisted through the distasteful destruction of systems we once viewed as normal. That is, we viewed them as normal seven days ago.

I’m not ready for hot takes from pundits and calls to action from people who favor a pet project or cause. At six days in, the action continues hot and heavy and none of us who favor a better society can afford to be distracted. This is exacerbated by the off the cuff speaking manner 47 uses intentionally. In Fletcher, N.C. on Friday he said that he was considering “getting rid of” the Federal Emergency Management Agency, offering the latest sign of how he is weighing sweeping changes to the nation’s central organization for responding to disasters, according to PBS. It is time to keep our powder dry while the president sorts out his ideas.

Some things stand out to me.

  • PEPFAR (The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), one of the few successes of the George W. Bush administration, has been paused. The program is credited with saving more than 25 million lives.
  • Last night, 47 fired at least 15 Inspectors General, a violation of federal law, which requires Congress to receive 30 days’ notice of any intent to fire a Senate-confirmed inspector general. It is like the fox watching the hen house, only worse.
  • Confirmation of FOX television personality Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense is an affront to every active duty service person and to veterans. Is this the best leadership Republicans can offer?
  • The mass roundup and deportation of undocumented immigrants fumbled out of the gate. There are some actions, notably in New Jersey, but mass deportation it is not. Someone in the county seat sent around photos of a couple of ICE-marked vehicles at a local convenience store. An attorney in Des Moines reported ICE apprehending some clients. The administration could possibly ramp up from this week, yet for all the hubbub about it, not much is happening. It didn’t happen on Day One as predicted by Republicans.
  • The pauses at NIH, CDC and other public health-related agencies were unconscionable. In Iowa alone NIH spends $209 million, supporting 2,579 jobs at multiple locations. You can’t just “pause” science and expect useful results.

Looking forward to what week two will bring. I expect it will be more of the same distasteful, poorly conceived, and in some cases illegal activities. It doesn’t help that this was anticipated.