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Today marks the end of four long years for many Americans who have been angered and ashamed at what the outgoing administration did to this country. (1/21)
It’s been difficult at times to talk about this while wearing a “Brookings hat.” I want to reflect on that briefly here, while acknowledging that I speak only for myself and not my Brookings colleagues (though I hope some of them see themselves in these reflections). (2/21)
Brookings prides itself on its reputation for scholarly independence and nonpartisanship. We were founded more than 100 years ago to provide information and analysis to a growing federal Washington, without allegiance to any political party or specific set of ideals. (3/21)
That sets us apart from many other “think tanks” that came of age in a more partisan, polarized Washington. (4/21)
We don’t have institutional values at Brookings per se; we are a collection of independent-minded experts, conducting high-quality research, to improve public policy. (5/21)
But not having clear institutional values over the last four years has at times been challenging. (6/21)
Every day, President Trump and his enablers weaponized hate, denied science, trashed institutional norms, enriched themselves at taxpayer expense, and punished the less fortunate in our society. And threw up their hands as a global pandemic killed hundreds of thousands. (7/21)
They did violence to the values that brought many of us to careers in public policy analysis, and brought us to one of the most prestigious places in which to put those values into practice. (8/21)
Luckily, the federal government is not the be-all and end-all for American governance. My Metro colleagues spend a lot of our time and effort trying to improve policy and practices at the local and state level. (9/21)
But Trumpism has made that job more difficult in a lot of places, too. (10/21)
Giving voice to these frustrations as a Brookings scholar, however, runs the risk that one may be perceived as “too partisan.” That reflects that in the absence of other clearly shared values, “nonpartisanship” is easy turf to police (even amid asymmetrical polarization). (11/21)
And of course, your research can sweat the details rather than engage at the values level, e.g., here’s why Trump’s immigration policy is bad, here’s why his climate policy is wrong-headed, here’s why his tax plan won’t work, here’s why he’s a racist and that’s bad, etc. (12/21)
It just gets a little exhausting, and sometimes it feels like people have stopped listening. (13/21)
Anyway, some of my Brookings colleagues on this platform and elsewhere have stood up for the values we quietly share. (14/21)
A commitment to evidence-based policy, democratic participation, human rights, a stable global order, and the proposition that government can help lift up the less fortunate and do things that we as individuals can’t do alone. (15/21)
And I’m grateful for their voices, and for their enduring the trolls along the way. (16/21)
I’m looking forward, in less than three hours’ time, to a new presidential administration that will help restore--at least for a time--many of those values we share. (17/21)
But the deep challenges to those values have not subsided. They were obvious on November 3, and on January 6. They will continue to shape our political and social order. (18/21)
So I hope we’ll reflect back in the coming months and years as Brookings, and as part of a broader Washington think tank community, on what we really stand for. On the values around which we shouldn’t compromise. (19/21)
Because our relevance and impact as an institution…not to mention the very future of the American experiment…remain at stake. (20/21)
If you read this far, thanks, and I’d love to hear what you think. Now back to our regularly scheduled tweeting about the New Radicals reunion tonight. (21/21)
