Use Caution When Draining the Swamp

For those who have never worked at any level of our government, it's easy to think of "government" as a single entity with a political face.  The actual image is far more complex.  While politicians are both admired and despised based upon their known actions, literally tens of thousands of people are often behind the scenes of these public faces doing the daily work of our government.  There are mailroom clerks, administrative personnel, embassy staffers, foreign-service administrators, etc., who are career government employees, not elected to office, but who serve the goals of our government operations.  Add to this the teachers, police, fire, road crews, water and sewer workers, safety inspectors, city planners, and thousands of other positions that make life in this country possible. 

The heartbeat of our government was no more readily apparent than during the recent political hearings where the American public saw highly intelligent apolitical government employees who were very good at their jobs.  They were articulate and showed passion, dedication, and expertise in their respective fields of endeavor.  For them to be singled out and ridiculed by this president is unconscionable.  They did their jobs and reported facts without elaboration and for this, they were condemned because they didn’t tell this president what he wanted to hear.

When you talk about draining the swamp, have an objective.  The job is too important to go in without a plan.  If you drain the swamp and end up with a desert, what have you accomplished?  This president isn’t draining a swamp he is just a 3-year-old having a tantrum.  He breaks or sets fire to everything he touches.

Trump the Firestarter

Our government is huge for a reason; there is a lot of work to be done.  Could it be done more efficiently?  Of course, it could.  Is there corruption?  Yes, there is, but I would venture that the vast majority of it comes from the elected political component rather than the dedicated career professionals.  You are not eliminating corruption by firing employees who disagree with you, you are adding to the corruption problem.

As we watched the hearings surrounding the impeachment trial there was a stark contrast between the politicians who were playing to the cameras trying to make new sound bytes for the evening news and then there were the hard-working professionals who give us all hope.  No matter what position you may hold regarding the necessity for these hearings, it was disgusting to watch career government employees being insulted and their integrity impugned by politicians trying to score points for some political advantage.  Those who participated in such obscenities should feel the wrath of their constituencies at the ballot box.

I fear that there will be further shenanigans during the Senate portion of this process.  All senators will be required to swear an oath prior to the trial that reads...,

"I solemnly swear (or affirm) that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of President Donald John Trump, now pending, I will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws: So help me God.” 

It is difficult to believe that Mitch McConnell won't burst into flames spouting such blasphemy.  He has already declared the innocence of Donald Trump and has coordinated his efforts with the accused.  "Impartial justice" would appear to have a different meaning in the rarified atmosphere of political euphemisms.  We all know the predicted outcome for the Senate charade but even I thought they would go through the motions and give the appearance of fairness.

Mitch McConnell

It would appear that, even though Donald Trump came to his office with no experience in political matters, he has managed to exploit the weaknesses of our democracy.  He figured out that, as long as he holds a majority in either the House or Senate, he will never be removed from office.  It took him three tries, but he also found his Roy Cohen in the persona of William Barr.  With control of the Attorney General's office, the legality of his actions can be twisted and spun to fit almost any scenario.  Donald Trump will never be a good politician but he can certainly show the rest of them what it means to be really good at corruption.  Our president has decades of experience in all things corrupt.

Roy Cohen (rt) was Joseph McCarthy's "witch hunt" chief counsel

Elected official corruption can be lessened with term limits and independent oversight.  Full transparency of officials’ finances should be a requirement for all elected offices.  No elected official should be able to vote on legislation if they have received any financial support from any person or a business that might benefit from that vote.  Perhaps we could have all congressional leaders sign, under oath, a statement that they will never vote on a piece of legislation that directly involves an entity from which they have or expect to receive something of value.  Therefore, violations would be seen as perjury of their oath in addition to any other violations of law.  Laws are meaningless without enforceable consequences.