Steven I. Platt, The Daily Record Newswire
With the new year upon us, all of us traditionally hope for a better time than the past year provided. This year, that hope — for the first time in my 65-year-old memory — is tempered for many of us by recent events that limit our expectations in a way that makes them seem at best uncertain and at worst, not equal to or less than what they have been in the past.
Indeed, the combination of the prospect of falling off the fiscal cliff and the seeming inability of our leaders to sensibly avoid it until the last minute coupled with the slaughter of innocent children and their protectors in Newtown, Conn., cast a bit of melancholy over the celebration of the advent of a new year.
With that in mind, and with (I hope) the proper degree of humility — as well as a recognition that our hopes and dreams should not be born out of naivete or unrealistic expectations for the human race and more particularly those who are elected or appointed to lead us in this country and in the world — I offer the following suggested New Year’s resolutions for politicians and policy-makers:
Resolution 1: Politicians and policy-makers should resolve not to confuse the world as it is with the world as they may wish it to be.
Implementing this resolution would eliminate many so-called impediments to the enforcement of existing sensible gun control laws, as well as legislating a few more, such as an assault weapons ban. It would also eliminate the silliness or insanity of passing legislation legalizing and thereby encouraging the carrying of concealed firearms in churches, schools, parks, movie theaters and other public places by untrained civilians.
In addition, it would sensibly ban the maintenance in our homes, cars and businesses of military arsenals, including assault weapons, clips of more than 10 rounds of ammunition and ammunition such as armor-piercing bullets that could not possibly serve any purpose other than the destruction of innocent lives — those of law enforcement personnel and others. I am not sure which is worse: the silly or dumb politician who sincerely believes that untrained civilians shooting at each other — even in self-defense — in a crowded school or theater or other public forum is a good idea or the one who cynically advocates such nonsense for political gain. In any case, as conservative columnist Michael Gerson has said: “The first necessary response to the unacceptable is not to accept it.”
Resolution 2: Politicians should resolve never to justify either advocacy or opposition to an action on the basis of anything resembling a domino theory.
A domino theory essentially suggests that government should or should not take an otherwise sensible action because it will inevitably lead, like falling dominoes, to a nonsensical action. One example is the notion that we should not enact and enforce sensible gun regulations because it will inevitably lead to confiscation of all firearms and the end of hunting and the rights of hunters.
There is no evidence whatsoever to support this opinion, which is largely confined to the unreal world of right-wing talk show hosts and other conspiracy-oriented talking heads. A short footnote: This country escalated its involvement in the Vietnam War, which we all now regret, based on the now totally discredited theory that if Vietnam fell, all of Southeast Asia would be taken over by communists. I cannot think of a single instance in history where a domino theory was based in reality.
Resolution 3: Politicians should resolve never to oppose any executive or legislative action just because it would not have prevented a specific killing.
The real-world goal should be to reduce the overall risk of violence. No public policy or law can totally eliminate incidents of violence, but that is not an argument for doing nothing — complexity does not dictate public policy paralysis. Our statutory scheme of gun regulation needs attention, reform and resources. So does our mental health system.
Resolution 4: Politicians and policy makers should resolve never to rely solely on talking points developed by individuals, organizations and even agencies of government with an agenda of their own.
I am sure that Ambassador Susan Rice will in retrospect agree with and indeed in the future enthusiastically endorse and implement this resolution — as will, I hope, the elected officials who have heretofore slavishly adhered to the NRA line and mindlessly mouthed its talking points.
We have just buried 20 innocent children and six heroic adults who tried to protect them from a deranged mass murderer. Those whose response to this is to lament that we are powerless to prevent future incidents like this, or for that matter that we are powerless to prevent kids from being caught in the crossfire of gang warfare on our streets, have surrendered their faith in justice to the forces of evil and have given up when they should have resolved to reaffirm their faith in the human race by recognizing that the implementation of ideas has both positive and negative consequences.
Doing nothing is an idea that can have either positive or negative consequences. A politician’s responsibility is first and foremost to understand those consequences and to prevent them from doing harm. Let’s all resolve to hold our leaders accountable in 2013 if they do not discharge this primary responsibility.
In the meantime, a happy and fulfilling New Year to all.
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Steven I. Platt, a retired associate judge on the Prince George’s County Circuit Court, writes a monthly column for The Daily Record. He can be reached at info@apursuitofjustice.com.
