Federal workers vs The People - Part 1 - The reality Check
Bottom Line: Quick history quiz. Who uttered these words? God, shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
Honestly, I’d be pleasantly surprised if even half the country knows the answer. I’d also be shocked if even a quarter of the news media does. Either that or they just don’t care. As we’re coming up on MLK Day I figured it was especially appropriate to quote Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. It also speaks exactly to what the federal government is and was meant to be. For the people.
If you were an extra-terrestrial dropped into the US and didn’t know anything about our government other than what’s being reported incessantly in the news about the government shutdown what would your impression be of our form of government? Would you think that the federal government is there to do the bidding of the people or that the people in the federal government are there to be supported by “the people” not in it?
To anyone who understands the role of the federal government and appreciates liberty, the coverage of the portrayed victim class of furloughed federal employees isn’t just 180 degrees out-of-touch with the role of the federal government as constructed by our founding principles, it’s offensive. Here’s a question for all who didn’t know Lincoln was behind those words at the onset of this story. Who pays for the federal government?
If you answered with Obama money, I can’t help you. If by chance you answered with “the people” - the rest of us – ok... Let’s take another step together. What happens if “the people” lose their jobs? If you lose your job. Will news reporters cover your plight day by day? Will Chuck Schumer and company walk down the capitol steps with five-foot-tall images of you? Will they forego their pay to make sure you have money for your family? And remember, this is the government that’s working for us..? Also, the news media tasked with holding the government accountable to us? Who is it that these federal officials care about most, those within their ranks or the rest of us that they’re supposed to be working for? Who is it that most news media cares about most? The federal government or you?
Think about it. What’s the news media’s top priority, holding the federal government accountable to us or portraying them as victims to us when adversity strikes? Don’t get me wrong, as I’ve said from the outset, I hold no animus towards rank and file government employees impacted by this partial shutdown. But I do blame news media and related leftist interests for misrepresenting the role of the federal government. For placing the interests of those within the bureaucracy over those who pay for it. And here’s one more question for you to consider...
What’s worse? To lose your job and not know what the future holds for you and your family or being furloughed for 28 days with a promise for full pay at a later date? In the second part of today’s story I’ll illustrate the degree of the offensiveness of media’s reporting and the contempt for “the people” demonstrated by those who place higher priorities on the adversity of non-essential federal government employees over you.