While Kamala Harris is asking for the number of the truck that hit her, Donald Trump should put that trash truck in gear. And don’t tell me he’s not inaugurated, so he doesn’t have any power. Not so fast! What would this not-so-humble pundit suggest that he do promptly?
First, even though he is not yet behind the Resolute Desk, he can start the ball rolling by demanding that all federal employees preserve all their emails and other records. That can be accompanied by a reminder that he’s only telling them to do what the Federal Records Act already requires. This includes all communications between federal employees and media companies of any description. Failure to do so will be regarded as obstruction of justice. The use of encrypted apps to communicate will also be regarded as obstruction.
Next, he should announce that because the Supreme Court rejected racial preferences in the Harvard case (“Eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it.”) such preferences are not legal anywhere in the federal government. Any federal employees in DEI (Didn’t Earn It) jobs who wish to resign on January 20 will be paid through the end of the fiscal year. Of course, any other federal employees who wish to resign on January 20 will get the same deal. Ditto for LGBTQIA alphabet soup instructors.
convention to propose amendments. VP-Elect Vance has already announced his support for one. Right now, the number of states calling for one seems to be nineteen, with thirty-four needed. If Donald Trump were to announce his support for such a convention, it’s likely we’d get enough in no time. So what would we ask them to do?
The two most obvious Amendments would be Term Limits and Balanced Budget. If that’s all we got, it would be a success. Suppose members of the House and Senate were limited to twelve years in either chamber. The fossils who run the show now would be long gone. Institutionalized corruption would be very much reduced. And members would actually have to convince their constituents that they were somewhat more useful than a rubber crutch. Ideally, we’d repeal the Seventeenth Amendment, returning the Senate to its original function as a body that directly represents state governments while the House directly represents the people.
Just to allay any fears about a runaway convention, consider this. No amendment proposed by the convention can become part of the Constitution until three-fourths of the states ratify it. So if a proposal comes to outlaw red-headed stepchildren, thirty-eight states have to say “Yes” before it becomes law. So that’s not happening.
I’m sure that there are lots of other good bits that might come out of a convention, but for today, let’s get our movement moving. There isn’t any need to wait for January 20.
Ted Noel is retired physician who posts on social media as Doctor Ted. His Doctor Ted’s Prescription podcast is available on multiple podcast channels.
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