One of the most surreal reverberations of the government closure is that the Right is in a snit over the closure of war memorials. They’re dumbfounded that government stuff is actually closed.
Reading report after report that wingnut congressmen and their stooge followers are all pissed off that parks are closed and that the government shutdown has actually shut down the government. What exactly did they think would happen?
The guiding principle of the GOP for decades has been to make government so small you could drown it in the bathtub. We’re not to the drowning part yet, but right now the Republicans are getting the next best thing, which is giving the American people a royal swirly with a shutdown. You’d think this would make them happy- it’s what they wanted, it’s what they fought for, it’s what bill after bill coming out of the house the past few weeks was designed to do, and yet, for some reason, they are pissed they got their way.
The government is shut down, people are suffering. That’s what you all wanted, right?
According to NBC News, yesterday a group of Vietnam vets found the way to the Vietnam Memorial on the Washington DC mall was blocked.
News4’s Mark Segraves said two U.S. Park Service Rangers manning the gate asked that the group respect the government’s shutdown but moved aside.
Segraves described the exchange as pleasant and respectful.
The veterans then moved the barricade and walked down to the wall to pay their respects. But a flood of tourists followed even though the memorial is closed to the general public.
“The consensus among the group of Vietnam veterans was we’re going to go anyway. We’ll go through the barricade,” North Carolina resident Reid Mendenhall said.
U.S. Park Police arrive to the scene, asked everyone to leave and put the barricade back into place.
In the fevered minds of one rightie blogger, the vets stormed the “barrycades,” and then the Park Police came to oppress everyone into order. The Weekly Standard headline is “NBC: Police Remove Vietnam War Veterans at Memorial Wall.”
The Right thinks that President Obama is closing war memorials just to be mean. It’s not like the government is closed or anything. Oh, wait …
What did they think would happen? Most of the park security and custodial staff were sent home. Do the baggers want days and days of trash to accumulate while John Boehner is out looking for his manhood? That could take some time. And if I were a terrorist, I might think this would be a swell time to set a bomb at the Lincoln Memorial, while the few Park Rangers on duty are busy trying to keep the tourists from trashing the monuments. (Note to NSA: I wouldn’t really do this. Honest.)
It’s like they can’t make a connection between action and consequences.
Yes, it’s a damn shame that people planned trips to see Washington, DC, and found so much stuff closed. I’m glad my offspring and I got our trip to Philadelphia in before this happened. But, y’know, that’s what happens when you shut down the government. Real people suffer real disappointments.
What did they think would happen?
Speaking of disappointments, someone I know managed to get admitted to a cancer treatment trial just before the closure. This trial is pretty much his last hope. He was really lucky, because he wasn’t supposed to start until after October 1, but someone else dropped out, so he got in. But I can’t help but think of the people who were counting on that trial to give them, or their loved ones, a chance to survive. And that’s been snatched away from them. And the wingnuts are whining about closed war memorials.
What the bleep did they think would happen?
Actually, I’m pretty sure a bunch of them never really thought about it, practically. They’ve just been fantasizing about how great it would be to “shut it down”, as a great big f.u. to Obama, and the fulfillment of the ultimate “small gubmint” dream. We’ve known for a long time that a lot of Republicans don’t really even understand what the government spends its money on anyway.
I think it’s age related. There’s a set of wingnuts blaming Obama for the VietNam war memorial closure. Then there’s all the other, mostly younger wingnuts who think it’s just great the government is closed, maybe we can get rid of it entirely. Until of course the particular way the government touches their lives is affected. They’re the very definition of narcissists. And of course, Obama is to blame for it.
How about the giant douche bag who picked on the park ranger , telling her she should be ashamed??
I am just not as nice as she is and would have promptly told him ” Bite me prick!, I am AT my job WORKING FOR NO PAY and you are getting paid 175 k per year and instead of being at your job your here harassing me?”
What reason did SHE have to be ashamed? Because she was doing the job she was given whether she liked it or not? That certainly explains , in a nut shell how the baggops view things. Working at their jobs and doing them whether they like them or not is something to be ashamed of.- I guess that makes it pretty clear how they feel about the people they serve, a majority of whom do what they find shame in EVERY DAMN DAY.
Sorry I am a little pissy about the issue.
justme277… Yeah, he was not only a douche bag, he is a coward and a scum bag too. He provided the perfect display of the character of a coward and a bully. He verbally abused a woman who was wearing a park rangers uniform knowing that she is bound by the uniform she wears to act as a representative of the American people. He knew she couldn’t respond honestly to his abuse without her suffering unfairly to his abuse. That shows his cowardice.
He grew silent when he was challenged by people who were free to express their personal thoughts. He’s a typical coward!
What I enjoyed most was the flag sticking out of his pocket. I guess he was concerned that people might mistake him for a foreign tourist.
Personally, I carry my honor for the sacrifices of the men and women who have served our great nation in my heart… not on my lapel, and especially not in my jacket pocket.
If the Repugs truly want to pay a tribute by honoring the memory those who fought and died in service of our country…then they should tend to the welfare of the American people. Denying the less fortunate among us participation in the gift of their sacrifice doesn’t honor their memory.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/fox-news-mistakenly-airs-parody-of-obama-offering-to-personally-fund-muslim-museum-233837793.html
Well said, Swami. As a Federal Government employee for 37 years, I was often greeted with a lot of verbal abuse from people like the Republicans who like to claim that all Fed employees are worthless and just stealing the taxpayers’ money. Yet, I always wanted to ask one of those Republicans why they bad-mouthed their very own jobs. They actually are saying that even their jobs are not needed. People talk about us being overpaid; when, in reality, the perks we have (e.g., sick and annual leave, health insurance, etc.) were developed to make up for the low salaries we receive in comparison to the private sector salaries for the same work. Every agency needs professionals such as lawyers, doctors, engineers, etc., but could never compete with the salaries that any of these professionals could get in the private sector; thus, the benefits were used in an effort to get quality workers. I was always proud of my Federal service and secure in the knowledge that I gave a day’s work for a day’s pay–often going above and beyond the call of duty. I don’t like the piecemeal way they are trying to get some of the government working. However, it does show that the Republicans were wrong about shutting down the government and that it wouldn’t even be noticed. Personally, I think all Fed employees should be furloughed including all the air traffic controllers, heads of the agencies, park rangers, etc.–every one. One of the results of these actions will the inability of the government to attract quality people any more. Who wants to work for jerks like these guys?!
Jefferson up to date:
I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is not stoopid.
Apparently, as I pointed out, they believe that trash picks itself up, that tourists never destroy the national resources they’re observing, and that the toilets all clean themselves. It’s magic! And then when the money for all that is cut off, they’re upset, upset I say, that they aren’t allowed in to trash the place. Morons. Frickin’ morons.
That is all.
If I wanted to find John Boehner’s manhood, I’d kick Ted Cruz in the pocket after I kicked the Cruz-ader in his manhood.
Conservatives are ideologue’s.
And all ideologue’s care about is their ideology – they care nothing about the consequences of their ideology, because they aren’t smart enough to realize the consequences of their ideology.
“YAY! We shut the goddamn government down! What do you mean I can’t go in this Federal park? It’s my God-given right as an American to go into any park I goddamn I want!”
Yeeesh….
Destruction smells like victory! Many years from now, such people will put on their little grey outfits and re-enact the great government shutdown of 2013.
This is just sad.
Yes, Swami, well said.
As Bonnie said, government employees often receive less pay than they would in the private sector and some of the benefits attempt to offset the difference. My wife is considered a State employee. Her salary is about 20% less than it would be in the private sector. One of the perks is a good old fashioned pension. I used to joke that that was just “one Republican governor away” from being lost. Now, with our current governor, it doesn’t seem like such a joke.
And by the way, my wife’s job doesn’t provide any real sick or vacation time at all, in one sense. If she takes time off for a vacation or sick time, she generally has to work extra to make the time up. If one of the other midwives is out sick or quits, everyone else has to work extra until they can hire and train a replacement..
One of the many things some mean spirited “conservatives” simply don’t understand is a genuine devotion to a profession or vocation. I used to work for a large non profit. We received some government grants, so the “small government” types always took it as a given that we were just lazy time servers and clock watchers. I was on salary and sixty hours was just an average week, some weeks were much longer.
I had a few bosses who were “good Republicans” as one described herself. She was the one who took over two hours for lunch EVERY day. The others were also gaming the system and leaving the work to others. I guess it is always projection.
Well, sorry for the rant. I consider myself a patient person, but, patience is not always a virtue.
Republicans are dumb-@sses who engage in magic thinking. In their worldview, the world arose in a puff of sky-fairy dust in 6 days; wealth “trickles down”; hormone-charged teens believe in abstinence; pollution is a liberal lie; and FOX news is news.
I am with you on that Tom. One other instance of magical thinking that is especially striking is the “good guy with a gun” fantasy. I think they’ve watched too many of their kid’s adventure movies in the genre of “Star Wars”. The good guys come up against seasoned, battle hardened, bad guys. Bullets or laser beams are flying everywhere and just the bad guys who get hurt.
Guns are magic.
Republicans are dumb-@sses who engage in magic thinking.
In other words, they haven’t matured past 7 or 8 years old. Hence the adulation of celluloid simpletons like John Wayne and Ronald Reagan. Arrested development. Great comment, Tom_B.
The silver lining: GOP in Grave Danger of Losing the House in 2014.
Swami said “
oops…Swami said”What I enjoyed the most was the flag sticking out of his pocket. I guess he was concerned that he might be mistaken for a foreign tourist”
Now see I always thought they wore those flags so that they wouldn’t be mistaken for TERRORISTS.
It’s distressingly similar to the kind of thinking that got us into the whole Iraq debacle. “Let’s take over Iraq! It’ll be great!” “Let’s shut down the government and default on the national debt! It’ll be great!”
Mocking, as only Saturday Night Live can mock:
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/scarce/we-did-stop-government
“Out of Twerk.” BRILLIANT!!!!!
Back in the 80’s, I worked on the pile driving crew for the port of los Angeles. We were also paid less than pile drivers “on the outside” , and working with creosote treated wood was such a pleasure.
On a different but kinda related subject, while the teahadists are spinning like dervishes over the aca, I met two guys last week who put their kayak in the waters of shingle creek, didan 8 mile portage through kissimmee, and are now over half way across lake Okeechobee on a journey to key largo. Their purpose is funding medical research and bone marrow transplants. Their web page is go team bravery.com. check it out along with live GPS tracking up dates, photos, and a thank you from them to yours truly. Go team!!
Yea though I walk through the valley of default. .I will fear no evil. For my Social Security check and my Obamacare they comfort me.
I am officially enrolled in Obamacare through the Veterans Administration. They say my only cost will be a possible co-pay for my drugs.. But I already buy my drugs on the street and unless they legalize medical marijuana that doesn’t seem to be much of a concern.
Swami, I will meet you in Colorado ANY day(wink wink).
Hey Since we are kinda on the topic of ACA I wondered if any of you saw the catch the Washington times article entitled “South Carolina house passes bill making Obamacare implementation illegal” ? It basically allows the attorney general to use restraining orders or injunctions to stop it. They call it the” states freedom of health care protection act” and for violating it one can face both criminal and civil penalties.
Anyhow I don’t know how to link but it is a may, 2 article if your interested and it can be found on line.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/may/2/south-carolina-house-passes-bill-making-obamacare-/
Just more of their game playing. .I would suspect they’d get better results in expressing their dissatisfaction with Obamacare if they shelled Fort Sumter. Especially now that there is a government shutdown.
“What did they think would happen?”
When government is OPEN there are no guards or turnstiles and you just walk up to the wall.
When government is CLOSED they put up a barrier with guards?
Well, they probably didn’t think THAT would happen.
???
I’ve wandered around on the mall several times. There’s plenty of security around. Just try climbing on something you’re not supposed to ciimb on. All of a sudden there will be park rangers there telling you to get down. It’s just that most of the time they are not that obtrusive, so if you’re looking at the pretty monuments you may not notice them. And, of course, the custodial staff is perpetually picking the place up.
The idea that, somehow, restricting access takes more personnel than are usually there is a typical wingnut fantasy, and you’d have to be a fool to believe it.