Tuesday, June 26, 2018

Don't Trust the Polite Civilized-Appearing Bastards of Government



At the post, Where is the Libertarian Consistency?, a commenter writes:
Sarah also handed her self very professionally(she offered to pay for the food she did not eat) good for her.
I know a woman from an Eastern European country who was a child during World War II. She said that when the German troops marched through her town they were polished and civilized---aside from rounding up the Jews in her town. When Russian troops later marched through they were not as polished or civilized, but they didn't round anyone up.

In the new book,  Reporter: A Memoir, which is a fascinating insider look at U.S. history since the Vietnam War and also a fun gripping read, by  Seymour Hersh, who broke the story about the My Lai Massacre and its cover-up during the Vietnam War and also the US military's mistreatment of detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison, Hersh recounts a 1960s run in with then-Defense Secretary Robert McNamara s, who Hersh knew at the time was covering up U.S. bombings in Hanoi that were killing civilians:
There was a personal reason for my anger toward McNamara. Earlier that winter my wife and I had gone skiing for a long weekend in Colorado. We had little money to spare and did the trip on the cheap, crashing with a college pal who had rented a condominium at Vail, flying on a low-cost ticket, and renting a car from a budget outfit whose check-in desk was a long bus ride away from the Denver terminal. We landed during a heavy snowstorm, good for skiing but bad for driving. Initially we were the only passengers on the bus to the rental agency but at a second stop another family got on-McNamara, his wife their two teenage children. I was knocked out; here was a guy from Camelot who was going skiing on the cheap. There was no Pentagon plane, no security, and no one to help him put on the tire chains that were essential for driving in the mountains in heavy snow. I was pretty sure he barely knew me, if at all—at that time I had seen him up close only a few times and never one-on-one—but I introduced myself as the new AP guy, got a nod, and that was that. I was awed by his integrity-no glitz at all—and his obvious desire to be a good husband and father to his immediate family when on vacation. It was hard for me to accept that this decent-seeming man was so willing to look the other way when it came to war.
The few people in power that I have personally come across in government have always been polished and civilized-appearing but they all have done evil deeds. The civilized cover is all it is a cover.

The fact of the matter is that Sarah Huckabee Sanders is the face of the Trump Administration who goes out to the media every day and lies about what the Administration is up to.

Never trust government bastards--even when they are polite and smile.

-RW  


5 comments:

  1. --- The fact of the matter is that Sarah Huckabee Sanders is the face of the Trump Administration who goes out to the media every day and lies about what the Administration is up to. ---

    No, she doesn't lie! No! She just refers you to counsel whenever the information she previously gave was utter BS. Her credibility is higher than the Media's --she said so herself with much modesty and humbleness.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Charisma is a sneaky-dangerous quality for political leaders.

    ReplyDelete
  3. “It’s not personal. It’s strictly business.” Michael Corleone. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qvpcfYFHcw

    Bullshit! Business is personal. Gangsters, politicians (I repeat myself) and those in service of politicians, soldiers, cops they are all doing their jobs implementing unethical policies, enforcing victimless crimes and in the case of Sahara Huckabee Sanders lying and twisting facts in favor of her organization.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Her actions didn’t end when she left the restaurant. She later made a tweet implying she hadn’t been treated respectfully, unlike how she treats others. This naturally stirred up the Trumpists online:

    “Last night I was told by the owner of Red Hen in Lexington, VA to leave because I work for @POTUS and I politely left. Her actions say far more about her than about me. I always do my best to treat people, including those I disagree with, respectfully and will continue to do so”
    https://twitter.com/PressSec/status/1010536237457924096

    Her tweet prompted the former director of the Office of Government Ethics, Walter Shaub, to make some tweets on the matter. Here are 2 of them:

    “Sarah, I know you don’t care even a tiny little bit about the ethics rules, but using your official account for this is a clear violation of 5 CFR 2635.702(a). It’s the same as if an ATF agent pulled out his badge when a restaurant tried to throw him/her out.”
    https://twitter.com/waltshaub/status/1010608206429581312

    “Sanders used her official govt account to condemn a private business for personal reasons. Seeks to coerce business by using her office to get public to pressure it. Violates endorsements ban too, which has an obvious corollary for discouraging patronage. Misuse reg covers both.”
    https://twitter.com/waltshaub/status/1010651510659846145

    Then Trump tweeted on the matter.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She was kicked out of the restaurant because of her job not because her or her family's personal behavior or habits. That makes the use of her professional Twitter account to describe an event that occurred solely because of her professional position right and appropriate. Also, there was no condemnation. Shaub's use of hyperbole is unprofessional. The owner acknowledged that her business may suffer due to her position and was prepared to accept the consequences of her actions.

      Delete