By Michael-Leonard Creditor

I watched (again) the movie “Lucky Number Slevin” just last night, so as soon as the thought hit me, I called it a Kansas City shuffle.

No, it’s not a card trick. But it is an old jazz tune, originally by Benny Moten, who hailed from there.

But, that’s not it either. It’s more akin to the kind of side-step that Charles Durning performs as a fictional Texas governor in another film, “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.”

As used in “Lucky Number Slevin” Kansas City Shuffle is a distraction tactic. When everybody looks one way, you do something else in another direction.

That’s exactly what is going on in D.C. lately, in the administration of 45*. While all the news media are in a dither about what he said about them, and reporting on all the asinine tweets in the night, 45 has quietly (yes, he can actually do some things without a crowing tweet about it) signed a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution undoing a financial disclosure requirement for energy companies and signed legislation quashing the Office of Surface Mining’s Stream Protection Rule, a key Obama administration coal mining regulation to protect waterways from coal mining waste that officials just finalized in December.

As reported in The Hill, this is just “the tip of a GOP push” to undo as much of the regulatory legislation of the Obama administration as they possibly can.

“This week alone, the Department of Health and Human Services delayed two rules: one to protect the privacy of alcohol and drug abusers who seek treatment, and a second to help the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s protect against the introduction, transmission and spread of communicable diseases like Ebola and the Zika virus. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission delayed a rule it finalized two days before the inauguration requiring federal agencies to enact hiring policies that favor individuals with disabilities. Last week, the Federal Railroad Administration delayed new safety rules for commuter trains, while the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) delayed news standards for how animals should be treated if the farmer wishes to sell the meat as certified organic.”

Make no mistake, this is a concerted action that will give Big Business a huge sway over we the people. Just as Ronald Reagan used the executive power to dismantle as much of the democratic New Deal as he could, so 45 is attempting to unravel as much environmentally-concerned and consumer protection regulations as he can. After all, he’s not only a businessman first, he’s an unethical businessman to boot.

The courts and Congress can stop him. (Courts can delay executive actions but, unless blatantly illegal, only legislation can truly overrule an executive order.) And in order for that to happen, we the people must communicate to our representatives in Congress.

Write single emails (or letters, even) to your Senators and Representatives. Signing mass petitions is good, but individual missives that you write yourself are better. Best is a phone call. You will only speak to a staffer, but they’re the ones who see the emails and letters anyway. Tell them that there is a crazy man in the White House who is trying to harm the people they represent (constituents) by eliminating regulations that prevent Big Business from riding roughshod over the land and doing any damn thing they want. Tell them that, Republican or Democrat, they absolutely must not let all that happen.

It’s all going on right NOW, so we must act fast.

* I do not refer to “the president” by name. He does not deserve a name, only a number.

Kansas City Shuffle Benny Moten

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Michael-Leonard Creditor was born in Tucson AZ; reared in Brooklyn NY; lived in Portland OR; currently resides in Clairemont. Three main professions: photographer, folklorist, radio program host. Philosopher, and life-long Liberal.