record suggests a more nuanced approach tO roles in drug traffcking. As Sessions pointed out crlme and punishment, at least, than some at hiS confirmation hearing, the initiatlve was give him credit for. AS Congress considers his opposed by George W. Bush's Justice Depart- ment3"Istepped out against my own Republi- nthy supportersanct.s ome reform advocates say his past iS evidence he can admimstratlon. When Sessions introduced the legislation may be open tO compromise on future criminal on the Senate floor in 2001 , he acknowledged JtlStice reform efforts. However, as Democrats highlighted at Sessions's hearing, his confounding positions on cases like NOdd's raise real questions about his TH 1986 LAW ENSNARED commltment tO equal Justice. THOUSANDS OF MOSTLY 'WE CAN WAIT NO LONGER' YO G, AND MOSTLY B I. uACK, More than 15 years ago, long before problems with mandatory minimum LO -LEVEL OFFENDERS. sentences and prison overcrowding inspired a movement offiscal conser- vatives, Christians and progressives tO relll in the system, Sessions was that the 1986 law had failed to halt the crack one Ofthe few in Congress raising the issue. His CRIMINALMINDED: epidemic. And while he denied that the dispro- initial bill proposed reducing the ratio 0f crack Some RepubIicans have embraced portionate penalties on crack were explicitly tO powder cocaine for sentencing purposes tO criminal justice discriminatory, he suggested that "we should 20- tO -1 , and it sought tO decrease the manda- reform, which has tory penalties for those wh0 played only minor listen t0 fair-minded people wh0 argue that led tO changes in red states such as these sentences fall t00 heavily Texas and AIabama. on African-Americans. 十 lt was another mne years before the U. S. government rallied around that call. By that time, Obama had succeeded Bush in the White House and the Democrats controlled Con- gress. Sessions, however, was already sounding more skep- tical about sentencing reform, and while the senator recog- nized that crack cocaine penal- ties were unfair, he adamantly opposed 叩 plymg the changes t0 the sentencing law retroactively, denymg early release t0 people like Nodd. ln a 2011 letter tO the し S. Sentencing Comnuss10n, which was weighing that deci- sion, Sessions and 12 Other GOP members Of Congress seemed particularly agitated by sentenc- ing reforms the commission had made in 2007—without con- gressional approval. He pointed ーー out that inmates release as a result had a similar recidi- VlSm rate as Other cnminals. lt iS evidence, he argued, that early release merely getS cnminals back intO action faster. Ultimately, the sentencing dV 、 31 一工 M3 コ ddVLIOOS ら 00 NEWSWEEK 17 01 / 27 / 2017

the right school for our kids, it only seemed fair that for inner-city kids. And in the long, heated, name- C LASS they could d0 the same for theirs. ” calling, lawsuit-filing history ofschool vouchers, that DISMISSIVE: The DeVoses began their prolonged assault on combination eventually may prove tough tO beat. The DeVoses began their Michigan s public education system in earnest in The voucher measure failed to pass, but DeVos, prolonged wh0'd headed the Michigan Republican party for the 1990 , when Dick DeVOS won election tO the state s assault on Michigan's school board. Three years later, the couple led a latter half of the 1990S , redoubled her efforts. She public educa- successful push for legislation that would welcome began t0 establish groups like the Great Lakes Edu- tion ⅲ 1990. charter schOOls tO Michigan (the first charter schOOl cation Project (GLEP), founded in 2001. The group s goal is "supporting quality choices in public educa- in the nation had opened in 1992 in St. Paul, Minne- tion for all Michigan students,' in part by shaming sota). But while charter schools bloomed there, they didn't thrive. As early as 1997 , the state auditor found public education. For example, one ad campalgn, the state has shown limited effectiveness and eff- called G0t Literacy?, featured misspelled school ciency in monitoring charters. TWO years later, the signs: Ⅳ elco 川ど Ba じ日叩ビ物リ 44 4 G00d B 尾 4 Michigan Department Of Education worried there われ厄れ gs 4 0 2 みなん側な . The campalgn was 第 0 defined system 0f quality control in regard didn t mention that the first sign was from Arizona, tO charter schools,' despite there being 138 institu- and a student j0ke besides, while the second was tions that enrolled 30 , 000 students across the state. made for an lndiana school by an ad agency. The DeVoses persisted in advocating for more Supporters 0f DeVOS argue that Michigan's choice, disregarding calls for oversight. ln 2000 , schools were dismal and that her only mission has they pushed for Michigan t0 adapt a voucher sys- been tO provide a life raft tO those stuck on a sink- tem, which proposed to give students about $ 3B00 ing ship. Matt Frendewey, communications direc- tO attend a private schOOl Of their chOice, including tor at the American Federation for ChiIdren (AFC), another group DeVOS founded, calls her a "relentless a religious one. T んビⅣ 4 〃 & 匆リ川 wrote, By advocate for students," particularly poor children of focusing on the worst-of-the-worst schools, the campaign also has helped recast the image ofvouch- C010r. SchOOl choice, he argues, is the first and neces- ers from a middle-class pipe dream t0 a lifeline sary step tO better educational outcomes. NEWSWEEK 40 01 / 27 / 2017

THEY COME WITHOUT WARNING, AND SPREAD WRECKAGE AND CONFUSION AROUND THE GLOBE. At American intelligence agencies, they have dec- imated morale, according tO a government OffCial with ties tO that community. Key offlcers whO made personal sacrifices because Of their love Of coun- try are sprucing up their resumes in preparation Of Jumping tO the more lucrative private s e ctor. ln the field, agents are finding a growmg reticence among overseas sources tO continue taking personal riSkS tO provide information tO the United States about activitie s by foreign governments. ln South Korea, theyhave boosted feelings ofsecu- rity, as offcials there have confided tO contacts in the United States that they are feeling more secure. The Ame ric an gove rnment , they believe , will s 0 on take much stronger actlon ln response tO North Korea S the news media and on the internet follow for a few hours—Why can't flag burning be banned? why is a new Air Force One being bmlt?—before movmg on, unre solved, tO another Trump topic d' Tweet. Many presidents have used technology tO commu- nicate directly tO the citizenry. Franklin D. Roosevelt had what became known as his first "fireside chat ” over the radiO in March 1933 , during a time Of great fear about the health of U. S. banks. Dwight Eisen- hower conducted the first televised presidential news conferences. Ronald Reagan boasted Of going straight t0 the people in televised speeches when he believed Congress was holding up his agenda. And Barack Obama used social media, including Twit- ter, Facebook and Flickr. But all of these methods repeated flouting Of United Nations resolutions calling for Pyongyang t0 dismantle its nucle ar program and halt ballistic missile tests. ForAlec Baldwin, theyhave boosted his fame worldwide. They have informed people wh0 pay no atten- tion to TV that ratings for the C 房 i り ス ppr ビ reality show have fallen. For some on Wall Street, one execu- tive told Ⅳビルル々 , they have created a new strategy: betting on Trump slumps, ” in which traders watch tele- VISIOn news reports for a corporate development that might anger Don- ald Trump and then, in hopes he will tweet mean things, enter short-term trades where they would profit if the company's stock price falls. All Of these extraordinary events are the result of government by Twit- 旧 IMPOSS 旧 LE TO KNOW 旧 TRUM 円 SGIVING ACONSIDERED ARGUMENTOR 旧 」 UST REACTING TO SOMETHING HEREADONA CEREAL BOX. 0f reaching the public directly were designed t0 instill confidence or push for particular legislation, not tO attack 立叩 Mght 廱 for lampooning Trump or actresses like Meryl Streep for criticizing him at the G01den Globes. (lmagine for a moment Rea- gan proclaiming tO the nation that Trump was an overrated, failing businessman. Sad! ” in 1987 , when the New York developer criticized the president's foreign policy and ques- tioned his depth ofknowledge. ) Trump s seemingly uncontrolla- ble tweeting was a prominent part of his life long before he began his latest bid for the White House. But throughout the campaign, his Twit- ter obsession struck even hiS allies as bizarre, as he tweeted repeated attacks on the parents Of an Ameri- ter, a bizarre world in WhiCh an internet com- mumcations platform combines with an lmpulsive president tO create glObal chaos in mvestment mar- kets, overseas halls ofpower and domestic agencies. ln the morning or afte rnoon or the middle 0f night, Trump delivers 140-character proclamations on pol- icy and piffe in arbitrary flashes 0f power and spite that shOOt across the virtual firmament without warn- ing. Discusslons and debates about their content in N E W S W E E K 30 can soldier killed in combat, the news media and almost anyone who criticized him publicly. The worst came when he relentlessly tweeted insults at a former Miss Universe who had criticized him for degrading her when he ran that beauty contest; the flurry Of almost maniacal tweets, tapped out on his mobile phone when most ofthe rest ofAmerica was asleep, once again led tO questions about whether Trump had the self-control t0 be president. But 01 / 2 7 / 2 017