Commemoration of Presidents' Day this week has brought with it a good opportunity to reflect on how I would have done it very differently, had I been the Chief of State of the United States in the year 2010.
With all due respect to the Democratic Party Incumbent who's our current U.S. President, I would like to offer an alternative agenda for the Presidency of this country that's dramatically different from his own:
--Urge Congress to approve a comprehensive series of bipartisan national goals for the United States of America and American society, including the bipartisan national goal of making the United States the most energy-efficient of all of the industrialized nations of the world. Another such bipartisan national goal would be for the high school dropout rate throughout the United States to be lowered to zero percent. Another such bipartisan national goal would be for the U.S.A. to achieve zero population growth as soon as possible, with help from family-planning services, increased reliance on vasectomies for men, and, as a last resort, abortions for women.
---Insist on sponsoring a White House Conference and Symposium on Unwanted Pregnancies that would devote particular emphasis to exploring proposed public-policy strategies to help deter unwanted pregnancies throughout the United States.
---Repeatedly emphasize a principled approach to any and all human rights issues. My Administration would promulgate the very crucial point to all Americans that "America is world-renowned for human diversity and the great creativity and societal vitality accompanying that Freedom of Speech-protected diversity. However, America will not tolerate illegal or significantly injurious forms of human diversity."
My Administration would repeatedly champion the human and legal right of any and all Americans, for instance, to enjoy full freedom from injurious noise pollution. My Administration would repeatedly champion the human and legal right of any and all Americans to enjoy full freedom from fraudulent communications or dishonest communications or criminal mischief such as pranks. My Administration would uphold the legal right of all Americans to enjoy full freedom from stalking or attempted homicide. My Administration would repeatedly champion the human and legal right of any and all law-abiding Americans to set their own priorities in life, and to enjoy full privacy rights as they set their own priorities and decide for themselves how they will live their own life. My Administration would uphold the human and legal right of future generations of Americans, including those generations of Americans not yet born, to enjoy full access to the great wealth of natural resources and recyclable goods (plastic products, for instance) currently found in this nation.
---Preside over the establishment of a "21st Century America Options" website in which I as President would invite brainstorming ideas and advice from members of the general public on what they want to see as the best possible current or future scenario for American society and the federal government in the 21st Century. One such respondent might note, for instance, that "I like to imagine 21st Century America as a nation that prohibits the deliberate use of man-made noise pollution as a political or religious weapon, or as a means of harassing or stalking or censoring someone who is being subjected to that noise pollution against his wishes."
--Insist on the hiring of numerous conscientious energy-efficiency consultants from the U.S.A. as well as friendly nations such as Japan and Sweden and Great Britain and Switzerland and Germany that currently excel in the field of energy conservation, with a panel of such experts to provide me with an advisory report I would then draw from in asking the U.S. Congress to approve a series of new laws aimed at making America number one in the world among industrialized nations in per-capita energy efficiency and fossil-fuel conservation.
---Insist on a healthy and morally justifiable permanent realignment of our nation's economy, with help from financial incentives and other public policies. That realignment would help significantly reduce the roles held by the tattooing industry, the drinking alcohol industry, the tobacco industry, the addictive licit-drugs industry, the commercial sex parlor industry, the profane and violent-lyrics music industry, the gambling industry, the professional automobile-racing industry, the professional boxing industry, the cosmetics industry, and the frivolous products industry, respectively.
---As part of that realignment of our national economy, propose a truly comprehensive nationwide recycling program making it as easy as possible for any and all persons residing in the United States, regardless of whether they reside in a rural area, to each fully participate in recycling of recyclable items (glass and plastic and paper products, for instance) from their residence or place of employment with as little effort as possible. The American Nationwide Recycling Program could feature hundreds of government contracts with private-sector service providers, which would help to directly create thousands of new jobs in this country, and indirectly create many thousands of additional jobs as well.
---Seek an Amendment to the Bill of Rights that fully upholds the human and legal right of all future generations of Americans to enjoy full access to the natural resources of this nation and to recyclable materials found in this nation. The needs of that "silent constituency" must and should be addressed in a very clearly delineated manner through our U.S. Constitution.
---Also as part of that urgently-needed realignment of the American economy, propose financial incentives and public policies aimed at promoting the following private-sector industries as soon as possible: (1) the energy conservation industry; (2) the renewable energy industry; (3) the environmental-protection industry; (4) the preventive medicine industry; (5) the continuing (lifelong) education industry, including adult-education programs and education programs and educational media for any and all younger persons; and (6) the building renovation industry.
---Insist on the establishment of an official federally-sponsored, regularly updated inventory of each and every natural resource found in the United States, along with an estimate of how long the reserve supplies in this country for that natural resource are currently expected to last.
--Insist on the development of a first-rate and comprehensive nationwide network of treatment programs available to any and all Americans seeking those services, that help to cure Americans of addiction to alcohol, tobacco, any illicit drug, or any licit drug. The goal should be for each American, no matter where he resides, to have the opportunity to request and be provided with first-rate treatment program services significantly benefiting himself or herself in any of those four categories.
---Preside over a new annual tradition in which the White House in Washington, D.C., would sponsor an annual "Sadomasochism Deterrence Symposium" exploring strategies being pursued, including public-policy strategies, that are designed to help reduce the per-capita incidence of sadomasochistic practices in American society. Among the sadomasochistic practices that would be explored at that symposium are: the alarmingly high percentage of all Americans who habitually inflict deliberate lies or prevarication on others on a year-round basis, pathological mendacity being a form of sadomasochistic conduct that's pervasively injurious to all of American society; direct participation or complicity in organized crime, including "youth gangs," by a shockingly high percentage of all Americans of today, organized crime inflicting significantly injurious torture and grief and suffering on millions of Americans each year; the shockingly high percentage of all Americans of today who request and obtain the infliction of body-piercing tattoos emblazoned on their own body or others' bodies; the physical beating and physical whipping of a sex partner or romantic partner; the shockingly widespread practice of "slavery" or quasi-slavery throughout the United States; so-called arranged marriages that are intrinsically sadomasochistic in nature, in addition to their being illegal in the United States; the infliction of sexually transmitted disease on a sex partner, regardless of whether that infliction of an STD on another human being was deliberate in nature or occurred because of negligence by one or both persons; the sadomasochistic use of censorship of the beliefs and values and ideas and opinions of a so-called romantic partner or spouse or sex partner; and the alarming number of violent "snuff movies" and other violent movies being filmed or videotaped in the United States.
---My Administration would sponsor a public ceremony at the White House thanking former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in person for his very courageous 1970s televised address to our entire nation in which Carter expressed grave concern about an alarming moral crisis besetting American society in the 1970s. I would point out at that 2010 public ceremony that President Carter's speech was ridiculed or disparaged at the time by many Americans, including U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts (who on behalf of the people of the Bay State glibly dismissed Carter's address as the "malaise speech," or words to that effect). I would then emphasize that that sociologically insightful speech by Jimmy Carter had great moral vision to it. At the 2010 ceremony at the White House, I would invite President Carter to please offer an updated version of his historic speech on that very important subject. I would also ask President Carter to offer suggestions to Americans of today on how America in the year 2010 can foster a greater sense of shared devotion to conscientious and ethical and law-abiding and moral conduct on the part of all Americans, regardless of their own religious or political beliefs.
---Insist on the establishment of a nationwide network of "Conventional and Clean English as a Second Language" instructors who would help not only foreign citizens seeking to learn English, but also natives of the United States who currently cannot speak conventional English with fluency and ease. My Administration would emphasize the view that promotion of upward mobility at the workplace for all Americans requires an admirable devotion by all Americans, including all African-Americans and all Hispanic Americans, to each of them learning how to speak conventional and non-profane English in their career-related pursuits and overall lives as good citizens of this country.
---Propose federal sponsorship of a nationwide health-insurance program, accompanied by comprehensive health-education programs available online, that is exclusively for any and all Americans under age 30. This would limit the total cost of the health insurance program, and would help each and every American citizen to achieve a strong and healthy start in that individual's life.
---Deliver a series of public-service announcements urging all Americans to help protect the national security of this country by each of them choosing to completely abstain from the consumption of marijuana or any other illicit drug, tobacco products, or alcohol products. In those mini-speeches, I would emphasize the extensive ties to the illicit drug, tobacco, and alcohol industries on the part of organized crime and, particularly in the case of illicit drugs, by some Arab terrorist groups. "Stamp out illicit drug consumption from your own lifestyle," I might declare to the American people, "and you can help to deny Arab terrorist groups the financial backing they're dependent on for their production of bombs and weapons of violent destruction they ruthlessly inflict on law-abiding persons and American society."
---Ask Congress to approve a proposed "American Amnesty Program" exclusively designed to help any American citizen who confesses to the federal government that he or she is a drug addict, a tobacco addict, or an alcohol addict, and that he or she wishes to obtain treatment for any of those addictions. Under the proposed American Amnesty Program for addicts, they would be guaranteed of a paid leave of absence from their current employer, if applicable, in order to themselves register for and successfully complete a drug-addiction-treatment, tobacco-addiction-treatment, or alcohol-addiction treatment program in the United States. Individuals who graduate from a government-approved program of that type and who later confess that they have retrogressed by again developing an addiction of any such type, would be granted one unpaid leave of absence from their employer in order to achieve a permanent cure for their addiction.
--Urge Congress to approve legislation prohibiting or restricting any additional construction of one-story buildings, whether that be residential or commercial properties, anywhere in the United States. This will conserve land and energy.
---Urge Congress to approve legislation enabling the United States and American society to fully and comprehensively convert to the metric system as soon as possible. Full conversion to the metric system as soon as possible will be much more energy-efficient than the current system of measurements primarily being used in this country.
---Promote tactful and constructive honesty and civility in all aspects of American life, through a variety of public policy strategies.
---Repeatedly pledge to the American people, and to people throughout the world, that American society and the U.S. Government will be very straightforward and refrain from participation in anonymous communications or knowingly fraudulent communications that violate the privacy rights of an American citizen. My Administration would fire or dismiss any federal official or federal employee hired by the U.S. President who was ever determined by me to have participated in anonymous communications or fraudulent communications violative of the privacy rights of any American citizen.
---Publicize each week or each month the best or most promising new public-policy idea that was recently submitted by a private citizen to the U.S. Government. In this way, the U.S. President can make it very clear that ALL Americans have the power to participate in and contribute toward governance of their own nation.
---Preside over a monthly ceremony honoring an American citizen with a felony criminal-conviction record who has successfully completed a criminal-recidivism treatment program and has been an honorable and law-abiding American for at least 10 consecutive years. Also at that monthly ceremony, U.S. President should publicly honor and praise a law-abiding American citizen who has recovered successfully from being victimized by a felony crime against himself or herself.
---Insist on leading a lifestyle as U.S. President in which the President of the United States is himself completely sober and never under the influence of alcohol at any time. Also, I would completely abstain from any consumption of tobacco products, or any ingestion of tobacco products, at any time during my tenure in the White House. Also, I would help to promote mutual-consent, mutually-beneficial, privacy-respectful platonic relationships for all Americans by publicly praising personal friends of mine on a regular basis in terms that cite specific ways in which they have inspired me or helped me as a human being and as Chief of State. In this way, I can set a good example for the American people as someone who wishes to promote the development of mutually-beneficial, mutually-enjoyable, stricty-mutual-consent personal platonic relationships featuring honest communications for any and all Americans and any and all residents of the United States. Those platonic personal relationships or friendships have a pervasive bearing on the quality of life and emotional and medical health of all American citzens, I would repeatedly emphasize to the American people.
--Insist on presiding over a monthly "White House Salute to the Platonic Love Couple of the Month" or the "Platonic Affection Couple of the Month" ceremony at a variety of cities of this nation. That monthly public event would honor a biological man and a biological woman, or, in some cases, a male youth and a female youth, who were currently mutual-consent personal friends, and who who had each significantly befriended each other in an honorable manner. In this way, I as President could help to promote greater appreciation by all Americans for the potential of mutual-consent platonic personal relationships between biological male Americans and biological female Americans.
---Insist on leading a lifestyle as U.S. President in which the President of the United States refrains from ever using profane language in a direct conversation with any person, regardless of whether that be in a career-related or private context.
---Insist on leading a lifestyle as President in which I hold an American version of the British "high tea" every afternoon in the White House---a friendly daily tradition in which I would meet with friendly acquaintances or friends of mine for an informal shared enjoyment of tea and public-policy-minded conversation.
---Insist on having all of my own financial assets as U.S. President be put in a double-blind trust account that prevents me from pursuing any actions as U.S. President that are aimed at unfairly financially profiting from that role as Chief of State.
---Insist on a "Zero Tolerance for Dishonesty in Communications" policy as U.S. President that invites anyone to prove to me that any person appointed by myself or hired by myself or employed by myself has deliberately told a lie to the American people at any time. Any cases of confirmed dishonesty by any such federal employee could be cited as an automatic basis for firing that federal employee, and for issuing a public statement explaining that that dismissal occurred because of significant mendacity or fraudulent communications for which that federal employee or federal official was held blameworthy.
---Insist on a "Zero Tolerance for Corruption in Government" policy, accompanied by a toll-free nationwide phone number to which anyone could call to report possible evidence that an unscrupulous prosecuting attorney, for instance, had failed to file any criminal-law charges against individuals that prosecuting attorney knew about who had, in fact, committed a felony crime for which that prosecuting attorney had recently obtained legal criminal-law evidence.
--Insist on a Zero Tolerance Policy toward any and all cases of attempted homicide or homicide in the United States. Urge Congress to approve a Constitutional Amendment, with ratification by the various states later occurring, that would authorize judges and juries throughout the United States to impose the death penalty on any criminal-law defendant convicted in a court of law of EITHER attempted homicide or homicide anywhere in the United States. That change in the American constitution would foster a significant drop in the rate of violence throughout the entire United States.
--Ask Congress to approve a new law that would ban the exportation from the United States of any amd all musical recordings that advocate physically violent conduct, it being painfully apparent that American rap music advocating physical violence has played a role in violent conduct overseas by foreign citizens who were brainwashed by and misled by those injurious lyrics. In this way, violent musical lyrics originating in the United States have allegedly played a role in terroristic activities in foreign nations.
---Sponsor an annual event at the White House honoring 10 or 20 of the finest and most benevolent and idealistic foreign citizens who had recently graduated from a university or college in the United States, and who had since then returned to their nation of citizenship. In this way, I as President could highlight the great generosity and idealism of the American system of higher education each year in providing salutary educations and career-related training programs for thousands of foreign citizens.
---Refuse to attend any fund-raising event for any candidate for elective office, and instead insist on a statesmanlike role for the President of the United States at all times. In this way, I as President of the United States could encourage the establishment of a new tradition in the Presidency that permits the Chief of State to devote himself at all times with full energy and full concentration to befriending his country and its citizens in a conscientious and comprehensive manner.
As President, I would ask my political party to appoint someone else to hold primary responsibility for giving speeches at fund-raising events for candidates for elective office from my own political party.
---Host a special "America at its Best" White House Symposium exploring when in American History, including in recent American history, the United States Government or American society has been at its most noble and morally righteous and admirable and idealistic. That symposium, by focusing on what has made the United States morally admirable and creatively commendable on the cited occasions, would encourage American society to develop greater consistency of achievement in that way.
---Ask the U.S. Secretary of Commerce to each month offer a nationally publicized salute to a private-sector business that had distinguished itself for its very high level of honesty and its consistently diligent obedience of the law. An "Honesty in Business" awards banquet or annual symposium tradition could also be sponsored in part by the federal government.
--Uphold the great American tradition of Self-Criticism on behalf of integrity in a democratic nation through all of the policies and conduct of my Administration as Chief of State. When my Administration regretted a previous course of action it had pursued and concluded that it was not wise or beneficial to this country, or was possibly harmful to this country, my Administration would hold a special "Self-Criticism in Democracy" public event to highlight why we had rejected a previous course we had taken, and had adopted a new policy and course of action as a healthy alternative. That type of regular tradition would also encourage private-sector corporations and business owners to establish similar traditions that invite whitle-blowing integrity and conscientious vigilance by all Americans at their workplace as well.
---Urge Congress to conduct hearings at which commendably vigilant Americans who had served as "whistle-blowers" alleging major impropriety or alleged felony crimes on the part of their employer, or on the part of a government-owned institution or indvidual employed by that government-owned institution, were given the opportunity to testify in public. Congress might be asked by me to confer Congressional awards on particularly admirable whistle-blowers in this country. In this way, the U.S. Government can help to promulgate to the entire world that the United States is one country that does openly invite and reward courageous vigilance by Americans reporting alleged violations of the law by a private-sector enterprise or a public-sector entity or individual.