Finneran: You've Been Promoted

Finneran: You've Been Promoted

Congratulations. You’ve been promoted. For the foreseeable future, you will be in the West Wing. And you will be in charge of policy development for the President. Good luck.

Good luck indeed! You will certainly need it for the world out there does not behave in anticipated ways. In fact the world is a madhouse at all times.

Consider the dilemmas and the decisions confronting our Presidents. Go all the way back to Franklin Roosevelt….Truman….Eisenhower….Kennedy….Johnson….Nixon….Ford….Carter….Reagan….Bush I….Clinton….Bush II….Obama. And consider the world that the 2016 candidates will inevitably face. Life in the White House is no picnic.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

From the Depression to World War II, from hot war to Cold War, from Communist intrigues abroad to racism at home, from civil rights and integration to unemployment and inflation, from broken homes to broken schools, from oil shocks to rapidly aging populations, from Saddam, Mao, Khrushchev, and Isis to a feckless United Nations, from too many genocides to too few global leaders, our Presidents confront moral, military, economic, and social minefields. Do you still want this job?  Good. Let’s get started………….

Barbaric attacks are made on civilians in Paris. France declares a “state of war” on Isis. France is a strong ally of the United States and Isis is a publicly declared enemy. Isis continues to issue violent threats against all Americans and to engage in blood-curdling crimes against Christians and “non-believers”. What is your advice to the President? Do we wait for an attack on American soil? Do we act aggressively in order to preempt such attacks? What should be the shape or form of our aggression? Bombing runs? Helicopter gunships? Drone attacks? Boots on the ground? Invasion of Isis-controlled territory? Coordination with Russia’s Putin? As I said, good luck with the new job. And oh, by the way, the President wants your recommendation on his desk by noontime today…………….

Of course the rest of the world does not go into a suspended state of animation while you ponder an Isis solution for the President. There are concurrent issues competing for your time and attention. The President also wants your advice and recommendations on the refugee crisis in Europe. Massive tides of refugees are fleeing the horrors of Syria and the Middle East. Those refugees are overwhelming the different cultures, resources, schools, hospitals, and public infrastructure of European countries. There is little or no evidence of comfortable historic assimilation of these populations. There is abundant evidence of self-segregation and hostility. Many European countries have appallingly high levels of youth unemployment and the tide of refugees streaming into those countries adds to the existing frustrations and resentments of many young and volatile adults.

Compounding the issue is Isis’ very predictable effort to smuggle its gunmen and suicide bombers into this surging tide of frightened humanity, crossing borders with ease and establishing themselves in the heart of the European continent which they despise and have sworn to destroy. Many Eastern European countries have had it. They resent the lectures from Angela Merkel and others. They fortify and close their borders. They are determined to control their own destinies. And of course as they stand up for their sovereignty they are quickly denounced as xenophobes, racists, and other terms of endearment.

Of course you have options to consider for the President. You might consider a firm line of no admission. You too are now a heartless vicious racist. Or you might recommend taking in hundreds of thousands of refugees and resettling them here in the United States. If so, you’ve now completely alienated the Governors of half the nation. You have to vet the history and background of these refugees. Good luck with that. They are fleeing the maelstrom of civil war where chaos reigns and phony documents are a dime a dozen. Where will they be held and cared for while this vetting process is underway? Who will do the vetting? Ideologues from the State Department? Their competence is in question when even with relatively serene world conditions, applicants for proper and legal entry into the United States wait for 6, 8, 12, or 15 years to be admitted. The world’s biggest and saddest chumps are those Filipinos and Central Americans and others who go to our embassies and consulates and play by the rules, seeking proper admission to our country. Their yearning is palpable and their treatment is shameful. Oh, by the way, the President wants your recommendation on his desk by noontime tomorrow…………………….
Congratulations on your promotion.

Tom Finneran is the former Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, served as the head the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, and was a longstanding radio voice in Boston radio.