A Short Rant on the Disastrous New US Administration

I’ve commented here and elsewhere on the historic nature of the current US "president" and his administration – that is, how historically terrible he, and it, is – but I always feel like I’m understating the case. Whether it’s the lack of ethics, the terrible nominees and appointees to various key positions, the complete disregard for the truth, the lack of respect for basic political norms such as press freedom, the horrible executive orders, the insanely destructive budget proposal, the signing of awful bills passed by the similarly awful and unprincipled Republican Congress, the stonewalling and misdirection on investigations into Russian interference in the elections, or just the sheer incompetence, there are no parallels in modern US history for an administration or a chief executive this bad. It’s gotten so it’s almost impossible to keep track of all the outrages, since there are so many of them, and a lot of them are quickly buried by new ones.

For example, one of the popular vote loser’s very first acts was to sign the repeal of a regulation requiring fossil fuel and mining companies to report payments to foreign governments. This was a fairly straightforward anti-corruption measure. Of course the big oil companies like Exxon who pushed for its repeal claimed that they were not against transparency in principle, just this particular regulation, but their reasoning was dubious at best. More disturbing was the Republicans’ great eagerness to the companies’ bidding; likewise for their recent repeal of regulations preventing internet providers from selling users’ private information without permission, or the administration’s moves against fuel efficiency standards for vehicles, or to not finalize the new rule put forth by the Obama administration against retirement advisors from giving advice that serves their own interests over those of their customers, or its lifting of the moratorium on leasing federal land for coal mining (the latter not only put in place because of climate change concerns, but because the old system allowed coal companies to pay almost nothing for their use of the land, meaning the taxpayers were being ripped off), or their lifting of the new rule requiring federal contractors to be in compliance with federal wage and safety laws. It’s hard to imagine how anyone who cared anything about the public interest, as opposed to the interests of a narrow group of private companies or individuals, could possibly support any of these things. And yet most people probably didn’t even notice that these things were done, because there has been so much else going on.

It occurs to me that I should keep a list, that whenever I see some appalling thing that these people have done or are trying to do I should write it down, but usually I only remember that idea when I’m trying with mixed success to recall some examples. I have a pretty good memory, but even I struggle to remember the details of all that has gone on, and I’m sure most people are even more unclear on it, if they are even paying close attention at all. One reason such a list would be particularly useful is that a number of the things that have been done are unlikely to meet with approval even from most Republican voters, if they could be made aware of them. Likewise, some of the examples of ethical lapses or incompetence are the sort of thing even most staunch conservatives would find disturbing. Of course, some of them might simply refuse to believe the information, though a lot of it is very easily confirmed, while others might resort to misdirection or arguments based on false equivalence. But at least a few of them, if presented with the right examples, might start to see things differently.

Unfortunately, I’m unlikely to get around to combing back through the last couple months’ worth of news to compile a truly comprehensive list, but maybe I’ll discover a satisfactory list compiled by someone else (there are bound to be some out there, though they may not include everything I’d want to see on such a list, or I may consider some of their explanations of what was done or what was wrong with inadequate). If I had infinite time, of course, I would not only make a list but write in detail what exactly is so terrible about their actions. The budget proposal alone is worth one or more long commentaries on how it is not only cruel and destructive, but idiotically counterproductive it is even with regard to much of what its proponents claim to want to accomplish (e.g., getting rid of Energy Star, cutting job training programs, making major cuts to diplomacy and foreign aid). If Congress seriously considers it, then I may really write more about it. For now, we’ll just have to hope that even congressional Republicans won’t be willing to go that far. Then there’s the ridiculous attempts to references to and steps taken to deal with climate change, as if denying its existence will somehow prevent it from continuing to happen.

How did the US get into this mess? How could a substantial minority not only vote for such a president (and his cohorts in the Republican party) but persist in supporting him –while his approval rating is lower than Obama’s ever was and worse than any recent president has ever had this early in their term, it is still far higher than it should be – despite how unsuitable he clearly is for the job? The real problem is a lack of critical thinking ability, a deficiency which is not exclusive to Americans and which affects a multitude of issues. This is something I’ve been thinking about frequently over the last few months, and I intend to eventually write a lengthy essay on the topic. For now, however, here are a couple of other writers’ ruminations on the related subject of how people get their news and how they digest it. The first deals with how people can end up believing entirely different things about the same event based on where they get their news. A second editorial explicitly talks about the importance of critical thinking, in this case focused on how it’s a necessary skill for news consumption. But there’s a lot more to be said on these topics, and I hope I’ll get around to getting some more of my own thoughts down.