To the Editor:
I have followed government and politics since Watergate. To “wrap my head around” profound, highly impactful actions implemented in 3 months’ time, I needed to set them down. Here’s what I came up with:
Pardoning and release of Jan. 6 convicted cop beaters and trespassers, many of whom vandalized the Capitol (some of whom threatened to harm or kill members of Congress and VP Pence)
Defunding billions in U.S. foreign aid, a tool of America’s “soft power” abroad, including:
Defunding PEPFAR’s (President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) HIV treatments in Africa (credited with saving 25 million lives) and TB treatments (credited with saving over 58 million lives)
Defunding children’s malaria vaccines (to date saved 20 million lives) and a project in Nigeria treating severe and acute child malnutrition. 77 health facilities stopped treatments putting 60,000 children under the age of 5 at immediate risk of death.
Defunding America’s primary (40-language) news service for millions under repressive regimes.
Defunding research into treatments or cures for: Cancer, ALS, Kidney Disease, Diabetes, COPD, Dementia, Alzheimer’s, Psoriasis, Arthritis, PTSD, AIDS, Drug Addiction, (too many to list but research funding for my own genetic disease has also been ended).
Defunding veteran mental health services, cancellation of VA contracts for chemical waste disposal, monitoring of VA hospital air quality, storage of veterans’ private records. Firing 80,000 VA staff.
Defunding public schools and allowing private school use of taxpayer funds.
Banning news organizations from briefings and from Air Force One and the White House.
Banning more than 250 words or phrases from use by government, or private or public entities working with government.
Banning of hundreds of book titles from government libraries – including military institutions of higher learning.
Removal of security protection from members of prior administrations, including the past Secretary of State, as well as a top General.
Repeal of the Clean Water Rule and rewriting EPA’s pollution-control policies (including policies known to pose serious health risks to children).
Defunding FDA, TSA, Air Traffic Control, National Weather Service, NIH, PBS, NPR, FBI, NSA.
Defunding NOAA –impairing emergency preparedness, weather forecasts, storm warnings, climate monitoring, fisheries management, and marine commerce.
Defying and challenging federal court decisions and precedent about due process.
Revoking visa types which have allowed the world’s brightest minds to study, research, work, live and establish businesses in the U.S.A.
Issuing 130 executive orders, 36 memoranda, and 35 proclamations compared with 5 bills signed into law by the President.
Confiscating cell phones from Americans and foreigners entering the U.S. from abroad.
Detaining and imprisoning foreign scientists working in the U.S.
The above list is only partial and breathtaking. Many applaud it, many decry it.
The swiftness of the above outlined actions have happened in other periods, and, in other countries. None of these historical parallels have ended well (whether via severe economic shocks ending in recessions and depressions), or in conflicts (both homegrown and via external actors).
Changes such as these (often made in the name of one or more group depicted as downtrodden) are often followed by economic dislocation, unemployment and inflation, which can occur rapidly and lead to loss of buying power and jobs.
Time will reveal how President Trump and his actions (including tariffs, relations with allies, etc.) will be viewed. I believe that the standing of the U.S. in world affairs will never be the same.
Countries we have worked with (and relied on) as allies post-WWII no longer feel they can trust us. How they will respond to our future requests for support in conflicts, for intelligence as well as military and economic assistance is a huge question.
Chuck Newman
Yorktown Heights
