There are termite nibblers in the Trump cabinet. Name any agency and you’ll notice that like termites, Trumpsters are nibbling away at a wide variety of norms and freedoms. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Education may be two of the most obvious — one eating away at scientific standards and the other devouring civil rights enforcement.
A little out of the limelight, the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security are doing their share of nibbling. The Department of Justice is overhauling a standard manual used by federal prosecutors.
Buzzfeed.com explains that the manual, called the “US Attorneys’ Manual” but referred to as “Main Justice,” features high-level statements about department policies and priorities as well as practical guidance on every facet of legal work that comes through the department.
And what’s in and out with “Main Justice”? In: Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ tough-on-crime policies. Out: A section titled “Need for Free Press and Public Trial.” References to the department’s work on racial gerrymandering are gone. Language about limits on prosecutorial power has been edited down.
The manual’s last version was published in 1997, so under normal circumstances it might seem innocent enough to update it now. But there is nothing normal with Trump and his termite henchmen.
Despite having been in office for over a year Trump has nominated no one to fill the third ranking associate attorney general position at the DOJ. And: The review is taking place while the Justice Department is still missing several Senate-confirmed officials, including heads of the Criminal Division, the Civil Division, the Civil Rights Division, and the Environment and Natural Resources Division. Nominees for those posts are waiting for a final vote in the Senate.
While Jefferson Beauregard Sessions’ DOJ is re-working “Main Justice,” the Department of Homeland Security is chewing away at press freedoms.
From Bloomberg.com: The DHS wants to track more than 290,000 global news sources, including online, print, broadcast, cable, and radio, as well as trade and industry publications, local, national and international outlets, and social media, according to the documents. It also wants the ability to track media coverage in more than 100 languages including Arabic, Chinese, and Russian, with instant translation of articles into English.
One amazing thing here is that the DHS plan drew attention because they put out a request for a private contractor to help. The DHS requested contractor bids to monitor traditional news sources and social media
According to Bloomberg.com, DHS requires that [t]he data to be collected includes a publication’s “sentiment” as well as geographical spread, top posters, languages, momentum, and circulation. No value for the contract was disclosed.
“Services shall provide media comparison tools, design and rebranding tools, communication tools, and the ability to identify top media influencers,” according to the statement.
Sure, the DOJ and DHA are just taking a little nibble here. But it’s worth noting that an average termite colony can eat about one foot of a 2×4 in six months, but certain species of termite can tear through homes at a much faster pace. In eating wood, termites are also making tunnels inside the wood in order to help foster and grow their colonies, each of which contains about 60,000 termites.
Typically, the damage is hidden until it’s too late. Maybe we need some DIY termite eradicators to get to work.