Posted on 10/04/2013 6:50:53 PM PDT by chessplayer
When and how did the National Park Service become “the shock troops of the punitive bureaucracy”?
The Park Service appears to be closing streets on mere whim and caprice. The rangers even closed the parking lot at Mount Vernon, where the plantation home of George Washington is a favorite tourist destination. That was after they barred the new World War II Memorial on the Mall to veterans of World War II. But the government does not own Mount Vernon; it is privately owned by the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association. The ladies bought it years ago to preserve it as a national memorial. The feds closed access to the parking lots this week, even though the lots are jointly owned with the Mount Vernon ladies. The rangers are from the government, and they’re only here to help.
“It’s a cheap way to deal with the situation,” an angry Park Service ranger in Washington says of the harassment. “We’ve been told to make life as difficult for people as we can. It’s disgusting.”
Sad to say, but there’s precedent here. The extent of the barricade mentality may have deepened over time, with some memorials being shuttered now that stayed open in ’95, but the NPS has apparently always been a lead actor in shutdown-theater pageantry. Andrew Stiles interviewed former Bush Interior Secretary Gale Norton about it, and she said it’s nothing new:
“The National Parks Service has a long history of dramatizing budget issues by inconveniencing the public,” she says. ”They often choose the most dramatic type of action in order to get their message across. It’s something I had to guard against when I was secretary — not letting them play budget games.“
NPS has engaged in such behavior for decades, Nortons says, recalling at least one occassion during the Reagan administraiton, in which she worked as an attorney for the parks service, when NPS decided to close Skyline Drive, a scenic highway running through Shenandoah National Park, in order to make a statement during an appropriations fight on Capitol Hill…
“Given the fact that they have closed so much, and acted so broadly, I imagine that decision was made at the highest levels of park service leadership, in cooperation with department leadership and the White House,” she says.
Is the entertainment branch the only Federal branch that is closed?
Is the entertainment branch the only Federal branch that is closed?
Before they could get to the beach they had pulled the docks and locked up the porta potties.
There is a mobile home park on leased land from the federal government there and they were told to get out of their homes and go find a motel!!!
Barrycades have only been used, so far, in outdoor Park, outdoor Monuments, and outdoor Mall settings.
Construction of larger Barrycades to be used on the US Mexican Border had to be canceled when the income from the Fast and Furious uncontrolled gun control “investment” went the way of all other Obamanation investments.
Potential construction of Barrycades to be placed on Obama’s Red Line in Syria is being jointly studied by the US Military, and Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, Vladamir Putin.
Ambassador Dennis Rodman, no relation to Mrs. Bill Clinton, is rumored to be trying to put together a syndicate of his best friends to provide funding for the construction of these Red Line Barrycades.
North Korea spokesmen would not confirm or deny this rumor.
a president who orders federal agencies and employees to cause pain to the American a public should be IMPEACHED
what say you Congress?
how low do we have to fall as sovereign citizens to tolerate this BS as just another obama stunt
when was the last time we had a president who used the feral govt as his personal staff to punish ordinary citizens, even to the point of causing the possible deaths of some of those citizens (as in the NIH cancer drug cut off)
In that case, why aren’t the obamas being evicted from the White House? They are only renting
It is not the responsibility of the Federal government to do either. How people live their lives be they 'difficult' or 'comfortable' is not a Federal responsibility and none of their damn business.
creepy
do you wonder what was the last thing he said to his grandmother?
very odd situation that was
oh and some stories about the drone attacks indicate Obama selects the targets and takes way too much pleasure in the details of the kill, so maybe you are on to something
a kid raised as he was is a candidate for sociopathy
“Stay under the damned pillow!!!”
“.....resignation of Mary A. Bomar on January 20, 2009, the day of President Obama’s inauguration.” Was she the last person with dignity? Will there be no one who will resign in protest? Will there not be one Ranger who will go on TV incognito and tell the truth?
they aren’t renting, they are squatting since they pay nothing!!
They turned off the water and power and condemed them as unsafe with no water or power!
bookmark
I can only respond to that one with a most abused and misused phrase, but which is proper and fitting in this case:"That would lower us to their pathetic level."
In their case, they are "just following orders," which has a most evil connotation, and illustrates perfectly the age old admonition that "the only thing necessary for evil governance to exist, is an endless supply of evil administrators."
I would simply look them in the eye, and ask respectfully, "Does it really feel that good to be 'following orders?' Is any job worth that?"
And watch them blush if they have even an inkling of morals and ethics.
No way to tell if it would affect them, but it would sure make me feel better!
What a meaningless useless phrase, because if anywhere near reality, "we" could instantly fire them.
The best we can do is show our justified contempt.
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