Best of the American columnists NEWS 196February 20 21 THE WEEKAnation
dazed by
“rule stupor”
George F. Will
The Washington Post
TheCovid-19tragedyhasproved“abrutal,and henceeffective, tutor”,says GeorgeF. Will.It has
taughtusthis:“governmentismoreapttoachieveadequacywhenit does nottrytoachievepurity”.
Analysisof the wildlyvaryingsuccess rate ofdifferent USstatesinadministeringvaccinesshows
thatthetopperformerswere all“rule-breakers”.Unlikeotherstatesthat stuck doggedly tooverly
prescriptivefederalguidance aboutwhogetswhatwhen–resultingindosesofvaccinebeingwasted
–these statesusedtheirinitiativeandjustgotonwithit. Alas,thatapproach hasbecome alltoorare
in recent years.As the lawyerandwriterPhilipK.Howard recentlylamentedinTheYaleLaw
Journal,moderngovernmentis“structured topre-emptthe activeintelligenceofpeople onthe
ground”.Itsoperatingphilosophyisthatideal governancecan beachievedthroughrulesthatreplace
fallible humanjudgement. Inpractice,though,thesteadyaccretion oflawshasmerely led towhat
Howardcalls“rulestupor”,and a“senseofpowerlessness” withinpublicinstitutions.Byprompting
someoverstretchedpublicofficialstothrowtherulebookaside andusetheirown witsagain,the
Covidemergencyhasusefullyremindedus ofthe follyof seeking“agovernmentbetter thanpeople”.Online trolls
should be
unmasked
Andy Kessler
The Wall Street Journal
The“sirencalls”fortheregulationofsocialmediaare gaininginvolumein thewake ofDonald
Trump’sbanishment fromTwitter,Facebook and othersites,says AndyKessler. Most would-be
reformerswant torewriteSection 2 30 ofthe 1996 CommunicationsDecencyAct, whichlargely
exemptssocialmediacompaniesfrom legalliabilityfor what userspostontheirsites.Butattempts
to“fix” Section2 30 could massivelybackfire bypromptingtheseplatforms tostartcensoringevery
controversialpostforfear ofbeingsuedintooblivion. Weoften forget,however,that nothingin this
law preventslegalaction againstusersof social media.The realproblemtoday isanonymity: the
nastiest andmostirresponsiblepostershide behind fakenames andhandles.Thesolutionis tooblige
users toregisterwith,say,acredit card or otherID, anduse theirrealnames.Thosewhoposted
threats or libellousattacks couldthenbeheldto account.True, suchapolicy mightlead to fewer
peopleusing thesesites, but itwouldalsolimit theneedfor “tensofthousands ofcontent
moderators”. InWall Street it’scalled KYC,or “knowyourcustomer”. Itworksagainstmoney
laundering. Maybeit canworkfor “rhetoriclaundering” too.WhatwillDonald Trump’s presidential library be like? Punditshave variouslypredicted that itwill
be a“shrineto his ego”,atheme park, ora“full MAGA” exercise in rebranding his presidency, says
Anthony Clark, buthere’s amorelikelypossibility: there won’t bealibrary.This isn’tbecause
Trumpleft officeunder acloud–sodid RichardNixon, andhehas alibrary.No, it’s becauseit’s
“nearly impossibletoimagine”Trumpovercomingthecomplex challengesinvolvedin creatingone.
Theselibraries–partarchive,part museum–are ahugelyexpensiveundertaking. You havetoraise
hundredsof millions ofdollars from donors to buildand equipone.Andif youwant the federal
government torecognise it as an officialfacility andcommit to looking afterit, youhave to donate
all or partof itto thegovernment and stumpupanadditional 60% ofthefullprojectcosts as an
endowment.Findingasite is alsoarealheadache,even for popular presidents. BarackObama’s
efforts tobreak groundonhis“ObamaCentre”havebeendelayed for years by community
oppositionin hishomecity ofChicago. His experienceshows just howhard it wouldbe forTrump
–aman who, whilecertainlyhungry for validation, is “notknownfor focusorpersistence”.Why Trump
won’t get
his library
Anthony Clark
Politico
Themuch-anticipated“Republican
civilwarisoverbeforeitevenbegan”,
saidJonathanChaitonNYMag.com.
Afterthe6JanuaryCapitolriot,
itseemedpossiblethatSenate
Republicansmightactuallyjoin
DemocratsinvotingtoconvictDonald
Trumpof“incitementofinsurrection”
athisimpeachmenttrial,whichbegins
nextweek.Evenloyalistsexpressed
theirdisgustwiththeoutgoing
president.Butafterthedamage
wasclearedup,Trump’sgriponthe
GOPwassoonre-established.State
Republicanpartiesrushedtocensure
thetenHouseRepublicanswhovoted
toimpeach–itsOregonwingevenclaimedtheCapitolriotwas
a“falseflag”operationby“leftistforces”.IntheSenatelast
week, 45 ofthe 50 GOPsenatorsvotedtodismissthecharges
againstTrump,onthebasisthathe’dalreadyleftoffice.TheRepublicanshavegoodreasonsfornotwantingtopursue
Trump’sconviction,saidJimGeraghtyintheNationalReview.
They’re“terrified” that supportingitwillturnthe base against
themand,frankly,they’vegotbetter thingsto do.Now Trump
isoutofofficeandnolongereven“rage-tweeting”,impeachment
seems “likeasolution toaproblemthatalreadyresolved itself”.Thesadrealityisthatthepartyno
longerrecognisesthelinebetween
“whatisandisn’tacceptable”,said
KarenTumultyinTheWashington
Post.That’showitendedupwith
a“dangerousloon”likeMarjorie
TaylorGreeneasoneofitsCongress
members.Beforeherelectionlastyear,
shewasalreadyknownforspreading
crazyQAnonconspiracytheories
aboutaneliteofSatan-worshipping
paedophiles.Ithasnowemergedthat
Greenealsoendorsedasocialmedia
postin 2019 thatsuggestedgetting
ridofHouseSpeakerNancyPelosi
with“abullettothehead”.Greeneisn’trepresentativeofmostRepublicans,saidNicholas
KristofinTheNewYorkTimes,butherpresenceisabad
sign.TheGOPneedstoescapethe“maligninfluence”ofthe
“charlatans”whopeddleparanoia.Americawouldbenefitfrom
aresponsiblepartythatstoodupforconservativevaluesand
challengedliberalassumptions.“Halfacenturyagowedidn’t
needtheracist GeorgeWallace wingofthe DemocraticParty,
andtodaywedon’tneedthewingofthe Republican Partythat
embraces conspiracytheoriesand winksatviolence.”Thebig
questionis:“Withoutthatwingof today’sGOP,what’sleft?”Marjorie Taylor Greene:a“dangerousloon”?Trump’s impeachment: Republicans circle the wagons