After the last big Republican debate-slash-pie fight I wrote some words about Marco Rubio’s closing statement, which sounded more like a warning than a promise. Today I want to write about Ted Cruz’ closing statement from last night’s debate, which also struck me as odd but for a slightly different reason.
If I'm elected president, on the first day in office I will rescind every single illegal and unconstitutional executive action. I will instruct the Department of Justice to open an investigation into Planned Parenthood and prosecute any criminal violations.
I will instruct every federal agency that the persecution of religious liberty ends today. I will rip to shreds the Iranian -- catastrophic Iranian nuclear deal. And I will begin the process of moving the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
When I heard this, I kept asking myself whether, and why, any of these items would be considered Day One-level priorities for anyone, by anyone, irrespective of whether they make any sense. Each is either unrealistic, baseless, a solution in search of a problem, or something I doubt anyone would find important enough to be a Day One priority. Let’s look at them one by one.
I will rescind every single illegal and unconstitutional executive action.
Well, that shouldn’t take long, since executive action in itself is neither illegal nor unconstitutional, and Ted Cruz knows that very well. He also knows that despite the bluster of right-wing reactionaries like himself, none of the current administration’s executive actions have been illegal or unconstitutional. So he’s either promising to “rescind” nothing, which would be pointless, or to “rescind” everything, which is unrealistic not to mention reckless and stupid.
Executive actions, by their very nature, direct federal agencies and officials on how to do their jobs. It’s expected that a new President will want those agencies run his own way, and issue his own Executive Orders to that effect, so promising to “rescind” the prior administration’s EO’s is essentially pointless. It’s like a new coach promising to throw out the old coach’s playbook. Well, duh.
I will instruct the Department of Justice to open an investigation into Planned Parenthood and prosecute any criminal violations.
So the first thing he’s going to do is sic the DOJ on an organization that’s already been cleared of any “criminal violations” by, what is it now, 12 states? Of all the organizations in America that may or may not be committing “criminal violations,” this is the one that gets singled out for a Day One directive from the President to the Justice Department to crawl up its proverbial tailpipe? Really?
I will instruct every federal agency that the persecution of religious liberty ends today.
OK, fine, that’ll be nice, sure, but what would be the point of doing that? What “persecution of religious liberty” is occurring anywhere in the U.S., let alone by any federal agency? What effect would this “instruct[ion]” possibly have on how any federal agency does its job? We already have the EEOC, and RFRA, as applied to federal employment and federal administrative action. This is a solution in search of a problem — and it’s really not much of a solution.
I will rip to shreds the Iranian -- catastrophic Iranian nuclear deal.
Really? You’re going to sit in the Oval Office, take a paper copy of the accord and “rip [it] to shreds”? Will you be live-streaming this performance on YouTube? Because really, that’s all you can do on Day One to dismantle a complex multi-national accord whose operative terms are already in effect and being complied with. You think you can just unilaterally and instantaneously withdraw the U.S. from a multilateral agreement like that, and that all the other countries involved will just say, “Uh, OK,” and undo the whole thing, on your say-so, with no adverse consequences for the U.S. or any of its allies? Even you are not that delusional.
And I will begin the process of moving the American embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
Wait… what? This is a thing? This is an urgent, pressing, Day One priority for the United States and the American people? Sheesh, where have I been?
So these are Ted Cruz’s Day One priorities: Rescind nothing, order an investigation of an organization that’s already been investigated and cleared, instruct federal agencies to “end” something that isn’t happening, “rip to shreds” an agreement that can’t be ripped to shreds by the President alone, and “begin the process” of doing something no one knew or thought needed to be done. That about right?