Public Servitude

Here we are: day 24 in the longest shutdown of the U.S. federal government...ever. So sad. I want to give a big shout out to all the folks who have chosen to devote their careers to public service. I'm not including the military in this statement, not because they don't deserve but because folks already give them plenty of props. It's almost a national fetish: how many times can we all scream, "We support our troops!" at the top of our lungs. We're only to happy send them to their potential deaths in the battlefield and equally happy to let them rot upon their return from overseas...but I digress.

Let me instead focus my appreciation on U.S. federal government employees. Both of my parents devoted significant parts of their professional careers to public service, working in or with all three branches of the government. I'm proud of their contribution to good governance here in the U.S. as well as imparting on me an ethos of service, solidarity and advocacy with and for those who have been historically marginalized and treated unjustly by our society's institutions.

And then there is Donald Trump, who has never met a vendor or contractor he hasn't stiffed with his slime ball business practices. Rather than pay good working women and men for services rendered, he prefers to sic a pack of rabid shysters on them, threatening a whole lifetime of litigation. It's no surprise then that he has had to declare bankruptcy a half dozen times. He's only been able to maintain his lifestyle of the rich and famous with huge infusions of cash from his daddy and with systematic massive tax dodges (see previous point - pack of rabid shysters).

So is it any surprise that he's treating U.S. federal workers like crap, the same way he's treated contractors and vendors? And you don't hear much from the GOP, certainly not after it has spent the better part of the last 35 plus years, demonizing the institutions and people of the public sector. Meanwhile, they - and let's be honest, the Democrats, too - have lionized the private sector as the source of all things dynamic, innovative and worthwhile. Sorry all of you corporate groupies, enablers and sycophants. As Elizabeth Warren and Barrack Obama both said, "You didn't build that."

"That," of course, would be the physical, legal, regulatory and social infrastructure that sustains our society and economy. "That" was built by public servants working for the government, which is to say, us - you know, the government of, by and for the people? So let's get off of our collective duff and stand in solidarity with our furloughed sisters and brothers. They deserve better than this, and it's long past time for us to end this nonsense so that they can get back to work and ensure the safety and fairness of our food, environment, transportation and financial systems.

Hey, Donald! Time's up. You need to go to your room now, where you can tweet, whine, grab, grope and mope as much as you like, so that the adults get back to running our country.