Just so you know, next Tuesday is National Government Bureaucracy
Appreciation Day. How do I know this? Because I have declared it so.
I always thought there was some government bureaucracy in the
deep bowels of Washington, D.C., that approved national days of this or that,
but it turns out there is no such bureaucracy. There is nationaldaycalendar.com, a
website that makes a valiant effort serving as a gatekeeper of its officially
approved national days of this or that. But anybody can declare a national day
and promote it on social media, or if they've got extra money laying around, a
full-page ad in The New York Times. Thus we have National Coffee Day, National
Hazelnut Cake Appreciation Day, National Squirrel Appreciation Day and the
quaint National Heimlich Maneuver Day. That squirrel day really fries me as I
have spent many an hour trying to keep squirrels from pilfering in our back
yard, but let the squirrels have their day of appreciation.
And now, thanks to yours truly, we have National Government
Bureaucracy Appreciation Day—please mark your calendar for next Tuesday. Why on
earth would I declare such a day? Because, having spent 32 years as a
government bureaucrat (I preferred to think of it as public service) many a
time I suffered the slings and arrows of public comment along the lines of I
was feeding at the public trough and wouldn’t be able to make it in the private
sector if I tried. For the record, I did work in the private sector and got
along quite nicely; and, for the record, most of the public vitriol aimed at me
was because I wouldn’t or couldn’t do what the commenter was demanding and I
was therefore deemed a miscreant.
The worst slings and arrows were often, unfortunately, from the
press. This is not a media bashing article, but I do wish to point out that in
their role as government watchdog, some members of the fourth estate rely on
tired stereotypes of government officials, assuming we are clueless,
insensitive and cavalier.
Here’s an example. In his January 11 commentary column in The LasVegas Review-Journal -- he could have subtitled it “Give up your cars!” -- columnist Victor Joecks
held court on his theory that global warming is highly over-rated and unloaded
the usual vocabulary about government officials when you disagree with them. In
this case said officials were bringing forth such proposals as more high
occupancy vehicle lanes and reduced use of natural gas, which Mr. Joeck’s
vehemently disagreed with. So said officials were naturally described by him as
pen pushers and bean counters.
I have no problem with Mr. Joecks opposing HOV lanes and such.
But he could show a little more respect for those who work in the public
sector. Pillory the proposals if you wish, but let’s not get into stereotypes
about pushing pens and counting beans. There are many tired stereotypes of
journalists (see Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant in “My Girl Friday”), but I’m
not going to go there because it is a disservice to journalists and the
country. I submit the same holds true of public servants.
Finally, now that the Super Bowl is over and our great nation
prepares to celebrate National Government Bureaucracy Appreciation Day, may I
call your attention to the President’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, the famous
expert on Middle East relations, who according to The Washington Post has
created the Office of American Innovation, dedicated to improving how the government
works. Speaking as a former government bureaucrat, I can confidently advise Mr.
Kushner this office will require bureaucrats to run it. There is delicious
irony in his creating a government bureaucracy to address the government
bureaucracy.
Personally, I’m kind of fond of most government bureaucrats, such
as the ones who get me through the airport safely, make sure the road gets
fixed, etc. It isn’t always pretty and there is sometimes corruption and
certainly room for improvement, but it’s a pretty good system in my view.
As the famous journalist Linda Ellerbee says, “And so it goes.”
