207 Comments

Any government worker participating in flying an upside down flag should be fired immediately. If You want to do that as a private citizen, I have no problem with it. But the flag code is very specific, and government employees in particular should be held to it.

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Also our National Parks are the jointly owned property of all American citizens, not a venue for the political grandstanding of government employees. It’s an act that is disrespectful one of the most magnificent places in our nation and demonstrates a lack of respect for the land as well as the flag. Everyone involved in this desecration needs to be summarily fired.

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There’s a certain perverse reciprocity:

The Biden Admin denied South Dakota (Kristi Noem) permission for a fireworks display over Mount Rushmore at July 4 for 4 years straight.

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Before criticizing that, I would want to check to see why. Fire danger is a very real thing in the summertime.

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Agree. Doing that on our taxpayer funds is unacceptable. If you work for the U.S. government, you represent the people and work for the people. Go protest on your Facebook page on your personal time. Employees doing that should be fired, because they do it deliberately, knowing they are causing a scene and are creating propaganda and public messaging that will draw attention.

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Yes they are. The Alt National Park page on Facebook has been nonstop hysteria. I hope they find out who is running the page and fire them too! The gall of these people.

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No kidding!! That’s quite a task for a disabled veteran too. Just sayin’.

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Pretty sure that's desecration of a national monument. A felony. Hope their 15 minutes of fame was worth it. Bondi?

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You think the government will indict those I moved or will let it slide out of fear of optics?

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Think or think should? For optics doing nothing encourages more of it. Not doing anything for fear of optics got us priceless national monuments destroyed in the first place, hence the passage of an act making defacement felonies.

If those in charge of government prosecutors wanted to send a message and uphold the law that was passed to prevent BS just like that they'd indict them. Or find themselves helplessly watching hoodlums deface everything all over again, "to get Trump."

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Rhw same needs to be said to our military when they decide to involve themselves and publicly Comment on political matters. I've seen several videos lately of staff non-commisioned officers making barely hidden political comments as well as one master sergeant making veiled threats against the administration. When I was in 1991-1997, if you engaged in any public political protest or rally in uniform or not and it was discovered, let's just say God himself would have needed to help you out of that one. What makes these SNCOs feel like this is ok? I mean have regulations relaxed that much?

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Do they know how many lose their jobs when our absurd debts come home to roost?

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Like this?!:

https://x.com/SBA_Kelly/status/1893070684957348301?s=19

So this is how much the SBA cared about all the business that went out of biz during c19 and those who lost their jobs.Selfish mother effers. I have zero sympathy for them. It'd be different if they cared...but they don't.

You'd think every single employee would be there when she showed up. Bunch of entitled cry babies. NOBODY on earth except a federal employee would be able to get away with what they've been doing and then getting a more than fair 8 month severance

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Even if you've been working in your pajamas for 3 years, you show up when your new CEO comes into the office for the first time: it's polite; you know your new boss doesn't like work-from-home; and who knows what it might lead to. Imagine if she'd walked around that part of the office and you were the ONLY employee working -- what a great opportunity with your boss' boss' boss.

That makes me wonder if this was just a photo-op. She doesn't actually go anywhere in the video. Perhaps she just found an unused part of the building (any company has some of those) and used it for a corny PR stunt that played into Trump and Elon's "lazy bureaucrats" motif. I hope not, since it's a crappy thing to do to your new employees.

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Exactly. Well said.

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“Imagine if she'd walked around that part of the office and you were the ONLY employee working -- what a great opportunity with your boss' boss' boss.”

INSTANTLY, the scene in “Patton” came to mind where he walks into his new HQ early and stumbles over a soldier sleeping on the floor. The soldier stands up sleepily, realizes who’s in front of him and snaps a salute.

Patton: “What were you doing down there?”

Soldier: “Sleeping, sir.”

Payton: “Get back down there, son. You’re the only sonofabitch in this place who knows what he’s doing.

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Seriously! I could definitely use 8 months of salary handed to me for barely doing any work for years. Too bad I couldn’t stomach DC or bureaucrats 😂

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A friend of mine bought a MiG-29 from some Russian fighter pilots stranded in East Germany in 1989 - for $500 US dollars - they didn't have enough money to eat or get back to Russia...

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they've already sold us out to the Chinese, so I won't be surprised at any additional treason. However, I would expect some legal repercussions under this administration.

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How could Russian fighter pilots sell us out to the Chinese if they are in East Germany, which hasn't existed since 1989?

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since that's obviously an absurd scenario, maybe that's not what I meant

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They don't do math. That's for those capitalist oppressors.

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Yes yes it's all about the jobs. Definitely not random goons and their random goon homies planning to become small-time warlords. We're definitely not discussing wardrobe options inspired by Momar Gaddafi.

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It did take some work, and assumption of risk, to pin the flag to that rock wall. It's more than just social media complaining, I mean.

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They only pinned it to the top. They used weights on the bottom. Maybe batteries?

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Good one, Phisto.

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Maybe the upside down flag is someone signaling that they’re trapped in the restroom, since nobody else is a locksmith? 🤷🏼‍♀️😂

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They need an on staff locksmith? (Salary, benefits, housing??) vs an on call contract with a local supplier? Washington is a populated state.

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Ditto for on staff HVAC guy.

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Staft HVAC probably does "other duties as required" as is normal.

Nearest real town is Mariposa close to an hour away.

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Its California.

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Park Locksmith probably does "other duties as required" as is normal.

Nearest real town is Mariposa close to an hour away.

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I believe that NPS rangers have keys to the biffys. If they don’t, then the NPS is lame, and needs a serious overhaul.

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Actually Oakhurst is much bigger, 2 hrs away.

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There's only one guy with a key to the bathrooms...so they had to hire another hundred to turn the building around in a circle to unlock the door...lol. they could've just hired 3 blondes to do that....;)

Actually that makes perfect sense for a bureaucrat!

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🤣Yes. The flag signifies there is someone trapped in the bathroom. 🚽 The lock broke, and since they sent the locksmith home, there is no locksmith available to rescue the bathroom user. Also, the heating unit broke, and since the extra HVAC tech was sent home, the poor guy is trapped in a freezing bathroom. And since they sent 1-2 hospitality employees home, there is no one to cook food and hand it through the window at the very top of the bathroom wall so the poor person trapped inside the freezing bathroom doesn’t starve to death. Even worse, because there is no extra biologist (beside the other biologists still on staff) available to monitor the scavaging activities of the wild bears, the bears have surrounded the bathroom, knowing there is food (a human) inside the bathroom and have started tearing at the walls. It’s a pretty drastic sight, and a frozen, starved man who has been locked in the bathroom for two hours is about to get eaten alive by dangerous wildlife. IT’S ALL ORANGE MAN’s FAULT!!! Any ethical person, if they value doing the right thing, will NEVER eat nonGMO, regenerative-agriculture oranges EVER again!! Only lab-grown artificial oranges which require no sunlight, manure, soil, or water in order to be produced!!!!🤬🤬🤬

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That's pretty good propagandizing. LOL

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Sure, when the #Resistance does it, it’s ok, but when Samuel Alito’s wife did it, it was NOT OK!!! https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/18/upside-down-flag-at-justice-alitos-home-another-blow-for-supreme-court-under-fire-00158772

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Dude!

This is bogus. I am so sorry. You just got murdered so hard again By Trump. It's like a mob hit only worse, because this time it involves campfires, possibly bears, and trees. I remember the last time you got murdered, or had a hangnail, I don't know. The ketamine makes it hard. This is like the 15th time this year. Each time you get murdered harder, but somehow you always come back from it in the face of Orange Man fascism by the evil MAGA people. I really respect your ability to get murdered and keep writing.

Viva los burócratas!

Layoffs are the same as concentration camps, which are the same as nuclear holocausts or was it the same as no fry sauce at In-N-Out burger? I forget, but anyway, it's really bad. The struggle is real.

Resist!

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Reno 911, unfair! LMAO!

Chris- I DO NOT want to see you out there in short shorts skating. Just sayin'

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You just murdered me, I laughed myself to death.

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Oh my Leapin' Lizards, O, I can't stop myself. Laughing into hysteria, Wait, I'be been here before, how did I do this? I think it was the "Viva los burocratas!"

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These are the same people who scream that if you don't GIVE your tax dollars, you are TAKING from the government.

Only our university system could produce such idiots.

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The government applies the highest marginal tax rate to GDP, and regards anything less than that in collections as a ”revenue loss.” They really are like the mafia.

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The 11 were likely in the probationary period. How does this make one Hitler? It’s like the email that went out yesterday with civil service running to social media to groan. My husband is civil service and retired military. His answer? JUST ANSWER THE DAMN EMAIL. The end.

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The first sentence here is the most rational comment in this question thread.

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If we were living in the information age, we are now officially in the post truth era. I give you example number two: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7C49BJASYA (FOX "news" report on National Parks)

The comments are amazing. One side believes it hook, line, and sinker. The other side scratches their head and goes...WTF, that doesn't sound right?! I lived 30 minutes away from the parks in question, I frequented them. I sent an email to Fox...to no avail, but I had to try. You are on point as usual Chris.

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One of the comments:

“2 days ago

Every nations park is closed part of the year . There is no staff at the park in my state for months . Stop dramatizing shit.” Another said Mt Rainier (one of the ones mentioned by Mr We Love Public Servants) is always closed in the winter. I think high school drama clubs are working overtime.

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My theory is half the country, especially the leaders they pick, are nothing but theater kids. They don't live in a realistic state of mind. The "report" I shared (and Chris shared) is the fine point example of that. Because they don't like the decisions the current leadership have made, they have to create a reality that doesn't exist to deal with it and explain it. The "reporter" should have stuck with making a report saying "I hate Donald Trump and conservatives" and left it there, but she had to propagandize the story and manipulate emotion: It's all they have left.

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Parts of Mt. Rainier are closed during the winter months, though others are accessible *weather depending*. Same for Yellowstone and Olympic NP.

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As one who lives in a country suffering under the "leadership" (or something) of an actual drama teacher...as opposed to actual Hitler...trust me. You don't want the teacher.

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The National Parks near me open 365

Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Yosemite,.Death Valley.

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Did they close those trails out of politically motivated spite? Those eleven employees, especially the locksmith, were integral to popular trailhead maintenance? I thought seasonal employees and volunteers did most of that?

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I live 1/8th mile from the Great Smoky Mountains NP. There is a 1 lane motor trail out of the park (actually several) named Parson Branch Road that is the ORIGINAL road cut by settlers in the 1800s out of Cades Cove. It is marked: Water crossings / 4WD HIGHLY recommended / NO services / No NPS rescue / Use 100% at your own risk. More NPs should consider that approach.

We used our MDX in the Fall and it was OK, but at it’s limit on a couple of crestings. If it had been in the Spring (runoff through 16+ stream crossings), I would have been averse to testing the car’s claimed 22” fording capability.

I though WE were bold until some beat up Chevy sedan passed us doing 15-20 mph. We were SURE we were going to see him with a ripped open oil pan.

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I would sympathy quit rather than get all sweaty and dirty carrying that heavy flag up that rock.

I better not find out next week that I paid for that flag.

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I would be quite surprised if you didn't pay for that flag.

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Of course we did!

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You — we — paid for the flag, the equipment to affix it to the mountain while leaving no trace, the overtime, insurance premium in case someone fell, another locksmith to unlock the Park Service Forest Green Jeep that Sonny left the keys in…

I used to admire the Park and Forest Service. They missed a huge opportunity by whining here instead of taking the reins and saying “the feds have underfunded the service for years, deferred maintenance backlog is mission critical. I’m sending ten pros to sit down with the folks Elon has assembled to show them exactly what to cut and where to direct needed funds.” Public lands do belong to all of us. It’s in our best interests to do this correctly.

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AMEN, Brother!

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yes they belong to us but not if the UN gets their way. "In 1993, the EPA circulated a detailed action plan on how, over the next eight years, U.S. environmental regulations would conform to those of the UN...An internal Bureau of Land Management document of the time declared: “All ecosystem management activities should consider human beings as a biological resource.” What fun! BLM employees were clearly more human than others. They got to involve themselves with everything, including the height and footprint of barns, the siting of new houses, the evaluation of chicken houses, and the registering of saddle horses. In fact, as it turned out, the exigencies of creating “sustainability” meant they had to measure the depth and speed of flow in your irrigation system three times a week, put four meters on your wells, and drive down any

driveway and be met with a biological resource so servile that one could feel really important for the rest of the day." pp 123-24 from elizabeth nickson's classic 2012 broadside ECO-FASCISTS - How Radical Conservationists Are Destroying Our Natural Heritage

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I don’t know very much about National Park Service but I know the Forest Service can take a job they would expect the private sector to finish in two days with two laborers and by keeping the project “in house “ they can run a crew of six for two weeks. This is considered a savings because they didn’t spend the money outside the USFS. I’m actually not exaggerating. It’s a common occurrence. They also run millions and millions through Native Corps. There’s a budget benefit or woke points or some kind of perk.

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Sounds like over here, when you're working for the local county or region. Tried to explain it many times to politicians:

"Private sector, if you're done early and the job's a good'un, you get a reward of some kind. Public sector if you're done early and the job's a good'un, you get more work and no reward. Do you see the problem?"

So far, I've yet to meet a single politician - of any party - who "gets it".

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They dropped it from the top of the rock.

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When we get fired or laid off in the private sector, no one even bats an eye.

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You are so right, “all day, every day” and I don’t want to unfriend people I went to high school with because I like hearing about family matters but seriously I can’t take much more of their utter nonsense. Yesterday it was a rant about all the children separated from parents due to deportation. Seriously these people will say anything to get attention with absolutely no data to back it up.

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So….hope this will give you a chuckle. Was following a car today with a Trump sign that said, Clean Up on Aisle 46!

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Need another chuckle? This is from the 2016 campaign. It was intended to be anti-Trump, but it had the opposite effect.

https://youtu.be/KU_Jdts5rL0

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The 11 workers stay, or the puppy dies. You choose.

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The puppy is actually a coyote and killing it will keep your chickens safe. Game, set, match.

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To the park service wussies, welcome to the real world. Sucks sometimes. Grow a pair and get on with your life.

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I betcha they turn down that $5k for tax reparations Elon is talking about....not.

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Trust me, they’ll want it grossed up for taxes. Not making this up.

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So boring. Make sure we fire the upside down flag flyers

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Well, just for that, I'd lay off 22 more, and when they complain about that, lay off 44, and keep doubling it untill they STFU! Sooner or later, we'll get to that magic number!

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The beatings will continue until morale improves

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Yes, exactly!

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The linked article noted:

"Yosemite administrators, concerned about insufficient staffing come the busy summer months, have already delayed the sale of reservations at five campgrounds, which can’t be operated without an adequate number of people on the job."

If you didn't know better, you might think that those administrators are trying to make sure the public feels the pain, revolting instead of trying to serve the public with the resources they have available. They wouldn't do that would they, just because Obama instructed them to in 2013?

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Yes to the effort to make the public hurt. The loss of a biologist and a locksmith is preventing us from opening campgrounds, somehow.

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Exactly what they’re doing.

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I had some sympathy for the park rangers before and felt like DOGE should focus elsewhere. After seeing this display I want every last one of them fired. People who play these dumbshit "resistance" games aren't needed in the government.

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