What I want from our next president

I'll vote for anyone who can promise me they will do these ten things:

1. Restoration of Habeus corpus;
2. Repeal of NSPD-51, a directive signed by the current President that empowers the Executive to legally seize all powers of government;
3. Cessation or severe curtailment of the use of Signing Statements;
   
4. Cessation of all extralegal activities of the Executive Branch with regard to FISA;
5. Cessation of all extralegal or otherwise inhuman methods of treatment of captured "enemy combatants";
6. Assertion that the Vice-Presidency is in the Executive Branch;
7. Restore freedom of opinion to scientists within the government;
8. Cessation of all stonewalling tactics employed by the current administration with regard to Congressional oversight;
9. Refusal to grant pardons in which they have a vested interest;
10. A solemn vow that they will not seek a second term.

Yep. I'm removing any political ambition from their term. All I want is a President who is a decent, honest individual whose only goal is getting the US Government back to a state in which I can recognize it as a government I can be proud of. And this is all I want them to accomplish. No ambitious agendas. Just fix the broken stuff, then get out of the way.

(Update, 11:10am, 1/17)
BD made me realize that I need to expound and explain just a little bit more. So, taking his comment as a launching point...

I agree that Bush's load-in took longer than a load-out would take... they always do. However, before we get back to business as usual in the Government, I want an Executive whose primary and singular goal is restoring that branch to its rightful place in the triad of government. I purposefully didn't ask for a visionary, a strong agenda. All I really want is a repair-person.

Maybe what I'm spec-ing out is not a four-year job. Even better! I would love to see all these things happen by, say, mid-2011. Then, with their stated goals met, the president lays low for the rest of the term, rebuilding international goodwill, reintroducing the concept of civility to Official Washington... just being a Good Egg.

We will have had sixteen years (no, I don't hold Clinton blameless in this) of truth-stretching, winking and nudging and open, petty hostility between the people you and I and all our friends and everyone else have elected. All of the front runners (Democratic and Republican) have been harping on change, but I think that's disingenuous. I think all of them want change only to the point where it doesn't interfere with business as usual.

The over-arching theme to all of my points is simple: Be decent to one another. I want a candidate who will - by example, not by rhetoric - bring back a spirit of civility. And no, this is not a "can't we all just get along" moment. I have strongly held opinions about some issues. I wouldn't want to compromise just for the sake of compromise. But I am insisting that we stop throwing slurs on the floor of the Senate, or calling names (I mean, really... we can do better than that - or are we all still six years old?), or insisting that conservatism or liberalism really is a mental disease. Knock that shit off, all of you. This country deserves better.

The Wednesday Night Ambush

Gang, I don't know if you've been following the troubles over at the Justice Department. You should probably start tuning in. I'm sensing some Grade A dung in mid-flight for yon wind-blowing mechanism.

The Washington Post, in the wake of Comey, has this rather actively-verbed editorial today. Here are some choice snippets:

• On Bush's evasion of the question posted yesterday about Comey's testimony: No one is asking Mr. Bush to talk about classified information, and no one is discounting the terrorist threat.
• Laying it out on the table in neat, even rows: [T]he president authorized the program the Justice lawyers had refused to certify as legally permissible, and it continued for a few weeks more, according to... Comey. Under the Constitution, the president has the final authority in the executive branch to say what the law is. But as a matter of presidential practice, this is breathtaking.
• "Oh yeah‽ What are you gonna do about it?": The administration... was willing to go forward, against legal advice, with a program that the Justice Department had concluded did not "honor the civil liberties of our people." Nor is it clear that Congress was adequately informed. The president would like to make this unpleasant controversy disappear behind the national security curtain. That cannot be allowed to happen.

Wow. Man, if ever there has been a call-to-arms for the WaPo investigative teams, this is it. The hounds have been released.

Civics Lesson

(From the "Seems-Simple-Enough- But-Gets-Awfully-Smelly- If-You-Think-About-It" Department)

Scene 1: The Encounter. May 10. Department of Justice (DoJ) knocks on the door of the office of National Security Agency (NSA)

NSA: [from behind door] Yes?

DoJ: It's Justice.

NSA: Come in. [DoJ opens door.] Have a seat. [DoJ steps in hesitantly, then steps forward, stumbling over a table near the door. More bumbling, stumbling.] Oh, right. I forgot. You're blind. [Remains seated.]

DoJ: I'll just stand.

NSA: Suit yourself.

DoJ: Hi. I'm here to investigate the warrantless wiretap program to see if it was conducted legally and within the limits imposed by the Fourth Amendment of our Constitution.

NSA: No.

DoJ: No? But I'm Justice!

NSA: Do you know the ultra-double-super-dooper secret code word?

DoJ: No.

NSA: Do you know any code words?

DoJ: No.

NSA: Ah. Then I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of this office, myself, or this conversation.

DoJ: Huh. [Beat.] Okay. [Beat. Looks expectantly to NSA to continue the thought or something.] Right. Well, I want to ask you about the program —

NSA: Good day.

DoJ: I'm sorry.

NSA: I said, "Good day."

DoJ: So, that's it? You're not going to let me ask you any questions about —

NSA: Good day.

DoJ: Ok, wait. You said something about a code word, right?

NSA: I can't confirm or deny I said any such thing.

DoJ: I know you did! It just happened! [NSA stares.] If I got one of these code word thingies, would you be able to talk to me then?

NSA: [A beat. Then...] Perhaps.

DoJ: Hot dog! Now we're getting somewhere. Now, where might I be able to get one of those code words?

NSA: I might have some here in my desk. Or I might not. I'm not confirming or denying the existence of this desk, by the way.

DoJ: I know.

NSA: Just so we're clear.

DoJ: So, how can I get a code word?

NSA: Have you tried asking?

DoJ: [Jackpot. Broad smile.] Hi. I would like to request a code word.

NSA: [Considers briefly.] No.

DoJ: What?!? Why not?

NSA: Good day.

DoJ: Wait! Why can't I have a code word?

NSA: I'm sorry. That's classified.

DoJ: Pretty please?

NSA: Good day.

DoJ: Er... okay. Good day.

NSA: Good day.

DoJ: [swivelling head about] Do you think you could tell me where the door is? I got a bit turned around when I came in here.

NSA: I'm sorry. That's classified.

[DoJ turns to leave, stumbles on approximately the same route in reverse to exit. Lights fade on the shin-busting hilarity. ]

Scene 2: The Press Conference. May 11. DoJ and Mainstream Media (MSM) are sitting at a table at an outdoor cafe. DoJ is lovingly feeding bits of cake to MSM, which MSM eats seductively. They coo.

DoJ: ...and then the jerk wouldn't even help me to the door! The nerve!

MSM: I'm sorry, baby. And he wouldn't tell you why you were being denied?

DoJ: As I stated, he wouldn't even tell me where the door was!

MSM: Huh. I feel like I should be asking more questions, but I'm just held in awe of your courage in this plight.

DoJ: Yeah. It's hard work.

MSM:
Want a couple of softballs today?

DoJ: Mmmm, that sounds lovely.

Scene 3: The Argument. May 16. Split stage. Pentagon (DoD) and Office of Personnel Managment (OPM) sit opposite each other at their respective desks, on their respective phones. A gulf of darkness separates them.

OPM: Dammit! You said yourself that you'd throw some extra my way if I took care of your clearance problems.

DoD: And?

OPM: And!? You signed a contract, for the love of George! You owe me!

DoD: You ungrateful whelp! I oughta come over there and box your ears.

OPM: Look, it's very simple. You need to get these new employees their clearances. You asked me to handle the checks for them. You agreed, in return, to pay a fee for this service. It's pay-to-play around here, buster. You don't pony up, I'll just come over there and take the money myself.

DoD: You and what army? [Finds himself funny.]

OPM: Fine. That's the way you want it? I'm cutting you off. No more clearances.

DoD: [Scoffs.] You can't do that. You'd be helping the terrorists. The folks we've hired for these positions need the clearances to see the untranslated documents and whatnot.

OPM: Seems to me we're at an impasse.

DoD: Why do you hate America?

OPM: Uh-uh. That ain't working on me, buster. 'O, but why would you want to defraud your own government?'

DoD: You pansy-ass punk!

[Great crash of thunder. OPM and DoD look skyward to see The Government Accountability Office (Ineptus Ex Machina, IEM) descending upon a chariot from Heaven. Much hubbub until Ineptus Ex Machina alights from the cart to the stage.]

IEM: [Grandly.] I have seen your squabble. I have come for judgement. I shall arbitrate. [Regards both parties.] I will now hear the grievances. You first.

OPM: This jackass won't pay—

IEM: ENOUGH! And you?

DoD: We need the clearances—

IEM: IT IS FINISHED! [Thundercrash.] I shall deliver judgement. [Blackout.]

Scene 4: The Runkus. April 9. The Nefarioso and The Decider are on comfy chairs The Decider is looking around. The Nefarioso stares straight ahead. Neither is well-lit. A Random Person brings in two mugs and a pitcher and sets them on a table next to the Nefarioso, then leaves.

DECIDER: Slooben booble runkus ipar frandle doodle. [Points at the sky.] Grell?

NEFARIOSO: Yes. [Pours pitch black, bubbling liquid into mugs, hands one to The Decider.] Drink up.

DECIDER: Lopo ignit frenk rimpant dee frontus evil-doers! Chump chump chump dronk reeble. [Drinks.] Are you sure this is good for me?

NEFARIOSO: Yes.

DECIDER: Poot rentle jiggle ret, wert er glup nuke evil-doers!

NEFARIOSO: Yes. And when she asks about investigating the spying,... you're going to say...

DECIDER: [blinks] Nuke!

NEFARIOSO: [Smacks The Decider in the face.] Dammit! Repeat after me...

Scene 5: The Decision. June 31. IEM, OPM and DoD exactly as before.

[Time passes while IEM looks at DoD, then at OPM, then stares off into space. Rinse and repeat. Finally...]

DoD: Ahem.

IEM: What?

DoD: Well? What's the decision?

IEM: I'm writing the report.

Scene 6: The Lesson. May 18. The Decider in the comfy chair. MSM at his feet, head resting on his knee. The Nefarioso is around somewhere, in the dark.

DECIDER: You suck.

MSM: You suck. [Beat.] Will you please answer me? I think I deserve to know.

DECIDER: Umtum opal krizzle tug jooboo lomp tromp. Tromp!

MSM: You've ceased making sense to me. What about the way NSA treated DoJ? Are you just going to let him get away with that?

[Somewhere, The Nefarioso clears his throat. MSM ignores it.]

DECIDER: [well-rehearsed] It's a turf battle, plain and simple. These are two grown men with a difference of opinion, and here in the Republican Party, we tolerate all the opinions we can find. We've got a tent here as big as the sky in Texas. I'm not going to swoop down from on high and command these fellas to reach a decision one way or the other. The GAO's working on the answer, and whatever they decide, we'll implement.

MSM: [sheepish] But... I thought you were the decider.

[Somewhere, The Nefarioso growls. MSM ignores it.]

DECIDER: [smirk] I am. But I'm not a tyrant. You got to have respootle froprootle.

MSM: What?

DECIDER: You've got to have respect for the process.

MSM: But what about OPM's contention that DoD's hissy fit is holding up the clearances, thus endangering national security and allowing actual terrorists to go free?

DECIDER: Um.

MSM: [scales dropping from eyes] If you, beloved Decider, continue to allow this to go on, thus preventing people from getting clearances, people like DoJ, who need those clearances to conduct investigations—

DECIDER: Now, let me stop you right there. There are no investigations. DoJ gave up trying to find illegality because there wasn't any to begin with. It was just another effort - which you're aiding and abetting, by the way - to derail the effort to smoke America's enemies out of their holes. And I intend to smoke 'em out. I hate America's enemies. I love America, and anyone who tries to derail the de-holing efforts doesn't. I won't let the de-holing be derailed. I intend to keep the effort on the rails. Because I'm The Conductor. Next question?

MSM: Can I ask a follow up?

NEFARIOSO: Go fuck yourself!

MSM: [scribbling furiously on note pad] Thank you, sir. [MSM rushes offstage.]

DECIDER: Don't mention it. [To audience.] I hope you've learned your lesson.

The Ultimate Packrat

I'm referring, of course, to the NSA. It so happens that they (being the awesome folks they are) are keeping track of everyone who calls me, and whoever I call. They're probably doing that for you to, and your neighbor, and their parents, and their friends, and their priest, and his choir director, and her daughter's boyfriend, and his roommate... etc..., and maybe... juuuuust maybe somewhere in there they're tracking the calls of someone who may have once expressed sympathy for al-Qaeda.

What is even more troubling (on par with how many teenagers think the First Amendment goes too far) is that two out of three of you (in the general sense) don't give two shits about whether or not the government is collecting data about who you're in contact with.

Now mind you, I don't have anything to hide. I talk on the phone occassionally with a couple of my friends, quick calls to my girlfriend, and regular calls to my mother. If the NSA wants to spend time and money figuring that out for themselves, they're dumber for it, but there's nothing nefarious about it.

A diarist over on Kos has summed up why that two-thirds number should be much, much small. Let me say that again: If you think it's okay that the government is randomly collecting data on who you talk to, thus creating the largest database in the world, in an effort to find any potential terrorist activity, you need to go read this thing over on Kos.

Tonight's SOTU: Liveblogging!

Here's a handy-dandy checklist of things that the President will surely touch on in the address to Congress tonight. It's distilled and adapted from Arianna Huffington's post here. I'll come back afterwards armed with quotes where this actually happened.

1. Iraqi elections are bringing peace to the Middle East (or its corrolary, Democracy is making the world safer); Check. 9:17 PM. Still going on this point at 9:29.
2. The Patriot Act needs to be approved into perpetuity; Check. 9:34 PM. Just didn't say "in perpetuity". But you know he was thinking it.
3. There's nothing about the economy that's going wrong, and; Check. 9:38 PM. Trotting out the numbers for his smoky reflections of dogs and ponies.
4. The tax cuts from 2001 need to be made permanent; Check. 9:41 PM. Nailed this one exactly.
5. Alito is a good choice for the Supreme Court; Check. 9:56 PM.
6. The unwarranted NSA wiretaps were "necessary" and "legal"; Check. 9:35 PM. Falsehoods abound. I'm gonna have to look at the transcript to pull all the individual strands of bullshit apart.
7. Alternative fuels are still a priority in the energy policy. Check. 9:49 PM. Advanced Energy Initiative.

I can safely guess that he probably won't talk about upholding the Fourth Amendment, the First Amendment, the Fourteenth Amendment, or Article II. Just a hunch.

9:00 PM: Might liveblog this a bit. This is a pic I just took (yes, I know my camera sucks) right outside my house. The lit up Capitol is there in the background. No, really. I can see that shit from my house.

9:01 PM: Christ. A huge cheer just went up when they introduced the justices of the SC.

9:12 PM: Where's Tom Delay? Odd that he wasn't seen leading the Prez in on his triumphal entry.

9:14 PM: He dared bring up civility?!? What umnitigated gall.

9:15 PM: This isolationist bit seems to point toward intervention in Iran. Oh boy.

9:16 PM: Only took 4 minutes to bring up 9/11.

9:18 PM: Seems like what he just said about radical, fundamentalist Islam could also be said of their similar ilk in the Christian faith.

9:19 PM: Only the terrorists have adopted the weapon of fear? Me thinks not.

9:26 PM: Missed the past seven minutes, but he's still talking about the military. By the by, there are plenty of examples of veterans of the current Iraqi conflict who disagree. Their service is equally as heroic, but I don't see them in the chamber.

9:31 PM: On Iran now. Sounds like he's dropping the gauntlet. Translation: "We'll be at war in six months."

9:37 PM: Really pounding away on the anti-isolation thing. Is this really what the debate has been about? Isolationism?

9:39 PM: Here comes the economic policy stuff. It's titled, "How I Will Outspend All Liberals From the Past 40 Years."

9:41 PM: I wonder what he considers "nonessential priorities" as he's talking about programs he's going to cut.

9:43 PM: What?!? Didn't the Supreme Court rule the Line-Item Veto an unconstitutional breach of the separation of powers? Is this a thinly-veiled play to put even more power in the hands of his own Imperial Presidency.

9:44 PM: Ah, yes... he pulled out the "put aside partisan politics" canard. I'd almost forgotten to expect that one.

9:49 PM: Just went 6 for 7 in my checklist. Hot damn. [PS: My attention is starting to fade.]

9:53 PM: This is my own little pet issue, but why is there only such a damned focus on math and science in education. These are not the only things to life.

9:54 PM: Did he just try to take credit for the welfare reduction? And I need to pull out that graph from Atlantic about abortion and teen pregnancy rates... I think they've actually gone up during his administration.

9:55 PM: Ooohhh, goody. He's talking about the Culture War! This is going to be AWESOME.

9:56 PM: Seven for seven, bitches! I'm going to apply for positions over at Roll Call tomorrow.

9:58 PM: Creating human-animal hybrids? Is this really happening? Because I wanna see that freakshow!

9:58 PM: Oh, be still my heart. Trust in public officials. Hey King George XLIII, how 'bout letting folks see those pics of you and Jack? Or letting photogs you're not personally paying into White House events. What have you got to hide? Hmm? HMMM???

10:00 PM: Can't say the dude doesn't have balls. He actually brought up New Orleans. Can't say that many people associate him and that city in a positive way.

10:02 PM: There's that weird phrase again, a "Period of Consequence." I don't know why, but it makes me nervous. In sort of a DoubleSpeak kind of way.

10:03 PM: Mercifully short. But yes, God (or whomever) Bless America.

10:07 PM: Dammit! I went 7 for 7 on my checklist and liveblogged the whole damn speech, and not a one of you saw it.

Huh.

Huh.

Republicans: It's getting to the point where you would be ill-advised to continue ignoring the 60% of the country who do not support this president any longer.

Democrats: This is not a good thing. Do you not remember how awful 1998 was? It was not a good thing for the country then, and would not be now either.

So funny I coughed up a lung.

It's shit like this that restores my oft-waning faith in humanity.

White House denies spying without Warrant

Everything I Learned About Being a Bad Leader I Learned by Being a Stage Manager

I've been trying to figure out some things about stuff.

More specifically, I'm puzzled why I can't understand the root of my discomfort about Bush. I mean, the news media is clearly still on his bandwagon ("Wanna change the national conversation just three days after a senior White House official was indicted, the first time that's happened in 130 years? Sure thing!!!"), so despite the specifics of why our President makes me queasy as a leader (Abu Ghraib, Big Oil, Big Mergers, press manipulation (e.g., Armstrong Williams, Jeff Gannon), John Bolton, John Ashcroft, John Roberts, Faith-Based everything*, 2000+ American war dead, Osama bin Laden still alive (& free!), Katrina (and the photo ops!), I. Libby, The Grim Cheney, WMD vaporware, mediocre economy, mediocracy embraced, ballot machine hijinx, Terry Schiavo, "Heckuva Job", Sixteen Words, et al)...

Despite all that, I still get the distinct impression that not only will the press never wisen up and look at that bigger picture, I'm still supposed to embrace this president and his administration. So I delved deep into my psyche this morning and found an answer while in my psyche, listening to the news.

He peddles fear. Not only does he peddle it, he manhandles it, twists it like so much silly putty and flings it out in all directions. To add to the laundry list of things we're supposed to be fearing now, he spent this morning at the National Institutes of Health talking about why we should be afraid of the chicken flu.

My point here is not to lessen the perception of the seriousness of the flu, but to look at the way this administration is and is not reacting to it.

The thing I learned in my career as a stage manager (truth to tell, I'm still learning this) is that no matter what sort of problem arises in the course of the run, the stage manager must deal with it quickly, effectively, and with a minimum of fuss. Fuss concerns actors, the poor dears. Alot. As a stage manager, it is imperative to deal with the problem without creating a fuss among the actors.

Expand the analogy to Nation-Sized. [insert nation-sizing sound effect here] Here, the actors (fragile little things) are the populace of the country. The leader of the country is the Stage Manager. (I'm simplifying a bit... I don't actually think the SM is the leader of a production. Mostly.) If a problem arises, it's the leader's job to deal with it without sending the population into a tizzy. But our leader, our President, has built his presidency on making certain we're in fear of something all of the time. Witness Tom Ridge and his call to prevent nerve gas injuries with duct tape, and the consequent run on duct tape. Or the run on flu shots everytime there's a scare of the reg'lar ol' flu. (My personal favorite was the Creamsicle Alert, an Orange Terror Alert the same day a Blizzard Warning was declared for DC.) We've been conditioned to fear everything, and the reaction has been, to the Bush administration, predictable.

My problem with this: It's at the very least unprofessional. Maybe some of it stems from incompetence. But I think there's at least someone in that organization who counts on the 'actors' getting into a tizzy when they see their SM running around squawking about nuclear threats, chemical threats, influenza threats and generally getting little done about them.

Because the second part of my problem with this is the fact that we're not safer than we were on September 10, 2001. The response to Katrina is all you need to see that. And I'm not talking about who's to blame here. I'm talking about the response. The fact that Chertoff and Brown and the rest of the country's emergency management infrastructure was "surprised" (their word) by the Katrina aftermath is a damning indictment. If there was actually something that surprised us one horrible, horrible day in the future, could we get 9 million people off of Manhattan Island? Could we get a million people out of DC? No, we couldn't.

Remember the two aspects of crisis control in stage management: Don't frighten the actors, and deal with the problem. This administration is not only not following those rules of thumb, they're acting in exactly the opposite manner. They are trying to frighten the actors and not dealing with the problem. The fear will distract the actors long enough to get re-elected, I'm guessing.

That's why when I'm President, I'm gonna have a Cabinet full of Stage Managers.

* Faith-Based Politics: The faith that politics will be base, yesterday. today and forever. ("O politics, where is thy sting?")

Just more evidence...

That Bush and his Presidency is the biggest disgrace to the spirit of this wonderful country since James Buchanan:

This item, from Brian Williams. This is not spin, this is not analysis. This is Brian Williams reporting the raw fact that the power came back on in the area around the location of Bush's motorcade before he passed through, and gave hope to the folks there that things might be nearing a return to normal. Then, after the President's departure, the lights again went out. Power had still not been restored to the residents more than 12 hours after it went out last night.

I really want to hear an ardent Bush apologist make a case for this one. I mean, really. How in the name of God is this defensible? How does this say anything except that Bush used New Orleans last night as a backdrop for a speech they'll play on continuous loop at the Bush library? What does this say about the Presidential power structure in charge in NOLA that allows so much of their resources to go toward providing America with the veneer of normality when the actual truth is still far, far away from that? Is this President so sheltered from reality that he doesn't know they turned the power back on just for him? Does our President now not know that the normality he saw last night in New Orleans was a fraud?

And at what point do Americans say enough is enough? At what point do we take Bush at his word, and force him to actually take responsibility. You know what... it's Open Letter Time:

Dear Mr. President:

Taking responsibility for something isn't just the words you say, Mr. President. It's being held accountable for that which you are claiming responsibility. So, by your own admission, Mr. President, you are responsible for this fraud. You, Mr. President, have committed just another in a long and historic string of frauds on the American people. You have demonstrated your incompetence. You have demonstrated your inability to deal with a problem far less severe than massive WMD attack on our country (something you told us years ago the country was ready for because of all the money thrown to your old business partners in the name of National Security and fighting the terrorist threat). You have demonstrated the failure of your plan to provide for the people of New Orleans, and any other poor sap of an American who happens to find themselves in dire straits because of a disaster, natural or otherwise.

Mr. President, your behavior is inexcusable, your failures are inexcusable, your "solutions" are inadequate, your ignorance is appalling, and you no longer seem to care about America and her inhabitants. Since you have indicated you are responsible for this debacle, this disgrace, I would be honored to accept your resignation. You serve at the pleasure of the people, and the people are no longer pleased. So for the good of your country, Mr. President, please, resign.

You owe me 1000¢.

Both of these are AP stories, with the times they were originally posted:

Bush Nominates Roberts As Chief Justice
Sep 05 8:05 AM US/Eastern

Bush, Congress to Investigate Response
Sep 06 1:11 PM US/Eastern

So, I was right by over 29 hours.

What a piece of shit this President is.

Take a deep whiff

I spent the first quarter century of my life growing among the shit-covered farm fields of Lancaster County. My schools were surrounded by them, and in the spring the smell wafting in on what would normally have been a fragrant spring breeze was enough to make even us sturdy locals gag.

The stank coming from 1600 Pennsylvania NW and the truth-twisting support network it has is far, far worse.

Most odious of everything that's going on (and there's a lot of odious stuff going on) is this claim being fronted by the heads of FEMA, DHS, and every right-wing blogger out there that the federal government had to play second fiddle to the local governments in Katrina relief operations. Had to. You know, states rights and all that.

I call bullshit.

In June 1963, then again in September that same year, President Kennedy nationalized the National Guard troops to effect the integration of Alabama schools after Governor Wallace literally stood in the doorway of state schools preventing black students from entering.

So, it could be fair to say that in a time of great national need, the President would have the authority to nationalize the Guard.

It would also be fair to say the President fiddled while Rome burned.

It would also be fair to say that the heads of DHS and FEMA are incompetent.