“He has the character of a con man and a demagogue … even if … 30% or 50% or 70% of his policies are defensible or even correct, it’s not worth it.”
Bill Kristol, editor of the conservative Weekly Standard, on Trump’s “degradation of public life and discourse”
“We are watching the denigration of the Office in real time. It’s horrific. He’s a full-fledged bigot. He’s a charlatan and a schemer.”
Douglas Brinkley, presidential historian, on the Trump presidency
Every successful organization goes through periodic evaluations. Our country does this every two years. That’s essentially what voting is about.
But the lessons of this presidency should serve as an impetus to review more than just the players and policies. So much has failed – devastatingly failed – that it’s time to review the process itself.
Over the life of this country, we’ve come to rely on norms. Some were established early on but most have come about over time. There’s never been a reason to formalize them – until Trump. There are no written rules or guidelines for the expectations and assumptions we’ve come to take for granted. But these omissions have become commissions resulting in daily disasters emanating from the White House.
The time has come to look at the process and formalize in law and regulation what needs to be made right.
The ideas that follow are nothing new or revelatory. For the most part they are the norms this president has broken or are logical extensions based on areas of need that Trump’s behavior has highlighted. You could, no doubt, add to the list.
In some cases, it makes sense that they would come in force when candidates announce their intent to run. Others would kick in after the primaries but before each party’s nominating convention.
Here are some to consider:
• Require all candidates meet the standards for top secret security clearance. The process would be triggered when a candidate announces his/her intent to run. Yes, it’s a high bar, but this country deserves nothing less.
• Public service at some level should be a prerequisite. Candidates should have experience answering to a constituency – be it voters, stockholders, citizen groups or benefactors.
• Candidates should be required to undergo a complete physical and mental health evaluation by reputable professionals – unknown to the candidates – that are approved by an outside panel. Results would be made public once a nominee is chosen but before the nominating conventions.
• Prior to the primaries, candidates would be required to release and make public tax returns for at least the previous 10 years. Once elected and while in office, tax returns should be made public annually.
• To eliminate conflicts of interests, following the primaries, the presumptive nominees would be required to sign an agreement that if they win, they’ll relinquish all assets to a disinterested blind trust, not family members. This agreement would be monitored annually or more frequently at the request of Congress.
• Family members would be excluded from consideration for any position, at any level, in any administration – paid or unpaid.
• Vice presidential nominees would have to meet the same standards.
If these or similar requirements were to go into effect, a side benefit could well be an increase in the quality of candidates.
But what must not happen is that we become inured to the changes Trump has imposed on his presidency, and by default, the country. He cannot be allowed to set precedent. We cannot accept, as normal presidential behavior, Trump’s continual lying about everything great and small, his racist and xenophobic comments and policies, his denigration of anyone he doesn’t like, his corruption and the tolerance of corruption in his administration, his petty vindictiveness and his daily attack on the Constitution. And that’s just a start!
This presidency is a nightmare. And it’s one of our own making.
The norms listed above are meant to be examples. Make your own list of norms that need to be formalized. Send it to your senators and representatives and others who are in positions to make them reality.
Henry Ford said, “The only mistake is one from which we learn nothing.” The past 18 months have yielded a lot of mistakes – all caused by the biggest mistake of all. Procedures and policies need to be in place to prevent that from happening again.
We have an obligation to ourselves and future generations that anyone as flawed as Trump is never again allowed access to one of the most important and consequential positions on the planet.
Marsha Shearer is a Villager and a frequent contributor to Villages-News.com.
