George Rebane
A couple of weeks ago I sent The Union a letter mostly to see what they would do with it. It was time sensitive and related to the cynical aspects of the partial shutdown. Since the letter was not published during the shutdown, I assumed that it was rejected. But lo and behold, several readers informed me that it was published today (also available online behind their paywall) under the title ‘Who told National Parks to ‘make life difficult?’ For the record, I reprint it below –
It will be harder than ever for our progressive neighbors to deny that platoons of federal agency workers are just a phone call away from reverting to local units of government goons. Recall that these people are in jobs of last resort. They would not be hired by anyone in the private sector. They are utterly loyal to the only hand that will feed them. And the beast reveals itself more with every passing month and opportunity.
Of all the reports coming in about the conduct of federal agencies during this government shutdown, the editorial “The Park Police” in the Oct. 21 Weekly Standard is most revealing of what we are really dealing with. No surprise then that one park ranger explained to the Washington Times last week, “We’ve been told to make life as difficult for people as we can.”
The first question that comes to mind is: ; 'Who did the telling?' But my more urgent question is: 'Where in hell are the local county sheriffs when the federal government straps on their brown shirts and jack boots?'
George Rebane, Nevada City
A friend who is also the ‘designated reader’ of local leftwing literature emailed some comments that my letter drew from their fans and followers. As you would anticipate, none of the comments addressed the government’s cynical response to the so-called shutdown – that would have been worth a headline itself – instead, their response was the usual attack on your friendly commentator. Still, nothing newsworthy there.
However, I do want to highlight one comment from the litany of inanities because it again illustrates the inner workings of the liberal mind, in this case as typified by Mr Peter Van Zandt, former Nevada County supervisor, presumably still administering a liberal NGO, and definitely a thought leader for those locals in need of such leadership. Peter apparently found the egregious behavior of the federal government a bit too big to grapple, but was able to focus on my inclusion of RR's long-repeated indictment that most public employees are working for their employer of last resort.
That contention apparently was the red meat that The Union wanted to hang out there, even though my letter’s ‘moment’ had long passed. Bingo!
Peter’s immediate reply was “In a striking turn around it appears that Mr. Rebane now considers law enforcement and fire fighters are in “jobs of last resort”. Sad…” (Interesting that he left out the EMT people and the military.) His “turn around” comment leaves me puzzled, but throwing in first responders with the hundreds of thousands of faceless bureaucrats and armed thugs who now populate the ranks of federal employees was a bit of a stretch surely meant to strike a chord with the thoughtless.
Emergency response is truly an uncontroversial jobs category of government. Except for their egregious benefits packages and occasional instances of corruption that contribute to the line of jurisdictions today standing at the Chapter 9 window, these men and women perform a service needed to assure our quality of life. Apparently the Van Zandts of the country do not understand that all public employees are not created equal.
But that doesn’t change the point of my letter. Once a young person commits to a career in fire fighting or law enforcement, it is hard even for them to return to the private sector and find work that sustains their quality of life while in public service. Nevertheless, given the available career paths in police and fire work, this sacrifice is not seen as being too great when we witness the hundreds of applicants queuing up for every available job.
Given this, we all understand the value of first responders and have been more or less sanguine when their retirement packages come due, often at multiple millions of net present value per retiree. And here’s the rub. We also understand the value of the legions of faceless minions who are nothing but extremely expensive anchors holding back the public weal while sinking our country deeper into indebtedness. These employees number many times that of the first responders, and these lead weights are invisible to the progressive elites who at every turn seek to increase their number.
When such critiques as mine are encountered, the best that the liberal mind can do to combat these ideas is to scream that ‘Rebane (or whoever) hates the police and fire fighters!’ And that usually is enough to deflect the argument – here, about government corruption and overreach. Meanwhile, they will hire more militarized guards to keep us out of public memorials, monuments, and parks, even to the point of not allowing us to look at them from a distance. The liberal mind does not question such government.
rebanesruminations.com 
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