There have been various attempts, in the last three or four decades, to push the idea that lack of experience is some kind of qualifier for government service, positing that “fresh ideas” are needed. Just bring a fresh perspective to a social problem, the theory goes, and new thoughts will give rise to new programs that will certainly be an improvement on the old.
Unfortunately, this approach confuses simply having ideas with having the experience to put them into action, a misconception that puts me in mind of the Amateur Hour programs that were ubiquitous on the radio in the 1930s. The most famous of these was Major Bowe’s Original Amateur Hour, the precursor to shows like American Idol, in which regular people would vie to become stars, competing to win individual fame and wealth.
On the whole, these shows were merely harmless entertainment, since none of us really suffered from the winner’s good luck, except the other contestants, who had lost the game.
In government, it’s quite different. Amateurs in government have no idea how to accomplish the rhetoric they put forth and we are the ones who suffer. Worse, by following their own ideas, and refusing evidence, precedent, science, history and every other form of collective wisdom, they are moving to “break” government, and do away with any pesky detriments to unfettered rule by corporations and the accrual of increased wealth by a few. Even if they meant to try and do some good, they confuse talking about a subject with solving it.
Still, the public is pelted with the opinion that “new is better”, as they were when term limits was proposed, here in California, and elsewhere. It sounded good. But the turmoil it created, as each wave of inexperienced legislators took office, has led, inexorably, to chaos in the budget process, as described just this week by George Skelton in the LA Times. And, in the legislative process, itself, many newbies start over on subjects that have been discussed and developed for years, throwing housing, homeless services, health policy, and a host of other concerns, out the window to make room for the new idea.
There is no better example of amateurism, of course, than the temporary white house resident and his clown car full of cabinet members. Indeed, ignorance and inexperience (not to mention mendacity, loyalty and cluelessness) appear to be the major qualifiers. I don’t need to belabor the faux king president’s lack of any concept of how a principled President acts, and his disregard for the usual lenses of honesty, caring about the effects of a whimsical action (or lack thereof) on hundreds of millions of Americans, governing through compassion instead of violence, and much more. And that Cabinet!
Hegseth? A former Fox News personality, who expressed the far right view (even for Fox) on Fox And Friends, Weekend. And th-th-th-that’s it, folks, as Porky Pig used to say, in closing out the old cartoons. Of course, that qualifies you to be Secretary of Defense (excuse me, Secretary of War, we have to use the correct name to describe using the military to bomb fishing boats). There is no concept in that empty head of what a real Secretary of Defense should do to maintain US connections with allies, use the military sparingly to keep the US safe, and aid in securing peace in other climes.
Kennedy? Well, even though his third wife insisted that his lack of medical expertise was not a concern in his appointment as Secretary of Health and Human Services (I kid you not), it seems to be a grave concern for the millions of us being misled by his orders to remove recommendations for vaccines, as well as as a host of other wreckage at the CDC. He has also installed an anti-polio-vaccine quack from Louisiana as the second in command at the CDC and seems hell-bent to dismantle all recommendations for pediatric vaccines. He easily ranks in the top three amateurs in the cabinet, mistaking his own opinion for evidence and showing no compassion or care for those who have counted on help from the Department for decades. Or, perhaps the dismantling of government through this kind of stumble bumming is just what the oval desk occupant has in mind.
Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, writing in the case considering whether the white house resident could destroy independent agencies created by Congress by firing members on a whim, wrote, “Having a President come in and fire all the scientists, and the doctors and the economists and the PhDs, and replacing them with loyalists and people who don’t know anything, is actually not in the best interest of the citizens of the United States.”
I will leave it to you to detail the sins of other Cabinet losers, but, on the whole, the failure of all of them, including the president, to have any idea of the actual purposes of a democratic government, of the tenets of public service, of the rules against self-enrichment and international murder, of the art of conflict resolution, and all the rest, should help us to understand that, even though government may seem simple, it fails when simple minds don’t have the vaguest idea about how to organize, negotiate, build what they dream up, or serve their constituents. These amateurs are, literally, killing some of us. Worse yet, they don’t even care.
Big Brother Is Watching You
In George Orwell’s classic novel, 1984 (which was, of course, far in the future when he wrote it in 1949), the government is strictly controlled by a dictator who calls himself Big Brother. This despot has created and maintains an omnipresent and threatening presence through ruthless and constant surveillance. Signs reading “Big Brother Is Watching You” are everywhere. Hidden cameras and telescreens track every individual, creating fear among the populace and maintaining an ominous control.
I was thinking about Big Brother this week when I read that ICE officials in New Orleans were tracking online criticism, as well as the online posts of participants demonstrating against violent and illegal ICE crackdowns in that city. The feds were also monitoring message boards 24-7 to identify “threats” to agents and, of all things, “public sentiment” about their raids. (pause for laughter).
A great number of person-hours are being devoted to these endeavors, including a daily briefing about who is supporting them and who is not. Not supporting ICE includes, in their fevered minds, encouraging people to document ICE atrocities and takedowns on their cellphones, or learning how to blow whistles. They follow people on Reddit, identify people who are gathering “suspiciously”, and report on dangerous activities like training others on the best methods of filming and whistling.
It would all be funny if it weren’t so pitiful and if they weren’t in charge. The paranoid fantasies of this administration, coupled with the power to damage, inflict pain, “disappear” their enemies, and hurt us, have led to the greatest threats of our time, surveillance of each of us, and action to hurt those who resist.
It may be counterintuitive, but I think all this means we are winning. I think they can see their power slipping away as the white house resident, ever-more deranged, loses support by the hundreds of thousands each day. This good news should encourage us to double down on everything, including rhetoric about their weakness and fear. Our devotion to democracy, each other and the dignity of each of us will win every day against hate, selfishness, and greed, even when it temporarily holds power.
Vincere audemus.
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