Remember when federal employees were refused service in restaurants and motel rooms?

[KansDem]

This anti-federal government hysteria has been going on for quite awhile now...

#24, December 1999
Former Montana Forest Service Supervisor Resigns Over "Jarbidge Rebellion" in Nevada

On November 11, Gloria Flora resigned her position as supervisor of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, citing her desire to speak out against the "anti-federal fervor" displayed in northern Nevada. She said federal employees are refused service in restaurants and kicked out of motels because they work for the government, and local officials "actively support" this type of behavior. She said many federal employees fear for their safety. For Flora, the situation came to a head with a controversy over rebuilding a road in Elko County which is under U.S. Forest Service jurisdiction. Local officials claim they have the right to the road, because it was used by miners before the land was declared a national forest. The road, which was washed out by a rainstorm, hasn't been rebuilt because of the endangered bull trout in the Jarbidge River. This isn't the first time Flora's been embroiled in controversy. She served as supervisor of the Lewis and Clark National Forest in Montana and was instrumental in keeping exploration for oil off the Rocky Mountain front. The Network is bringing Flora to Montana in January for a speaking tour.

Human Rights Network

Of course, I don't recall any "anti-fed" protests when the Bushistas were in power. Guess it's O.K. to deceive, rob, and kill the American people if you're a Republican and in charge of the federal government...

[appamado amata padam]

1. Wow, I had never heard of that,

I guess some areas are still more redneck than I realized.

[KansDem]

3. I remember during the 1990s that there were sporadic reports...

...of federal employees, especially Forest Service agents, being denied service in restaurants, particularly in states with large mining and timber industries.

I would imagine there were a lot more not covered by the media...

[appamado amata padam]

18. Yeah, shame how some would allow their sense of

righteousness, and narcissistic need to stir up sh*t, to cause them to illegally discriminate against someone else. I'm glad there's nobody here like that. :-)

[imdjh]

2. I have to applaud shunning federal employees as a political statement.

I have repeatedly wondered outloud on this board how it's possible for people like Michelle Bachmann, and various othr anti-gay mouthpieces in Washington to get service at restaurants and other services which are largely staffed by gay people.

So I can't really maintain that a waiter at The Marriott or Au Precious Pretense should refuse to serve Bachmann while condemning Nevadans for doing the same thing.

[redqueen]

5. Yeah, cause a forest service worker is exactly the same as Michelle Bachman.

Good point.

[imdjh]

8. So you aren't boycotting Walmart and all those low wage employees?

You're only boycotting Michael Dukes and the Walton family (and a million shareholders and pension funds)?

[redqueen]

10. Stop assuming things. It can make you look pretty stupid.

Hah... "look"... I slay myself.

Enjoy your little demonstration here. Good day.

[AspenRose]

12. Don't even bother. Not worth it.

[imdjh]

23. OK, I really just like the idea of treating park service employees like shit.

Seriously. It's payback.

"park closes at dark"

"no fires"

"no gasoline motors"

"stay on paved roadway"

And Michelle Bachmann of course.

[AspenRose]

6. There's a difference between a politican in Washington who campaigns on a particular agenda

And a common federal employee who has been employed through numerous administrations and is trying to make a living for their family.

[imdjh]

9. Who is it that won't let the locals rebuild their road?

The guy in DC or the guy at the Park Service HQ nearest them?

Sorry, but this is just more of the "I only work here." shit. If you work here, you are the hands of the leadership.

[AspenRose]

11. Well, pardon me if I disagree, since my husband is a federal employee.

And has been through several administrations with several different leaders and agendas - some you would agree with and some you wouldn't.

I will suggest to him that he quit his job when an administration he doesn't agree with is in power.

[imdjh]

13. Feel free. But when you get a parking ticket, the sullen minion at the counter...

... is the face of the government which put up all the confusing signs, blocked access to things you could once easily get to, and is using parking as a source of revenue because they are angry that you dared to cut your own taxes. You can't get to the person who gave the order.

[PVnRT]

16. So you should simply punish whoever is available?

Uh-huh.

[AspenRose]

21. Yeah, because they ASKED for it.

(do I really need to put :sarcasm: ?)

[imdjh]

24. nothing wrong with your sense of proportion nt

[Name removed]

33. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

35. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[imdjh]

25. Only if he is sullen or unapologetic.

[Rabrrrrrr]

30. Good. Then I hope when your house burn downs, the firemen tell you to go fuck yourself.

Because they're obviously part of the problem.

And also, please stay the hell off our roads.

Thanks.

[havocmom]

22. Usually, the guy at HQ nearest gets HIS orders from D.C.

Next stupid non-argument?

[DBoon]

14. like the difference between a common soldier and Donald Rumsfeld

And if these people have a problem with the Forest Service and roads, the forum for it is the court system.

As if so-called conservatives have any respect for our centuries-old legal system

[AspenRose]

17. Exactly.

The argument being espoused here isn't much different from any fed-hater on the other side. They don't do nuance.

[havocmom]

20. While ALSO working very hard for the public they serve

Those who deride honest, hard working, caring people just because they are PUBLIC SERVANTS are short sighted people who don't engage the critical thinking part of their brains.

Sad to see them here at DU, isn't it?

[drm604]

19. There's a major difference

There's a major difference between refusing service to an individual due to that one individual's actions and a blanket refusal of service to all federal employees. Surely you can see that?

[imdjh]

26. I got the impression that the woman in the OP was using "federal employee" and "park service....

....employee" interchangeably. How else would a restaurant know not to serve someone if he wasn't in uniform?

[drm604]

28. Same thing.

There's still a difference between refusing service to one individual because of that individual's actions and a blanket refusal to all Forest Service employees.

[imdjh]

29. Rightly or wrongly, some people in the West view the national park service as an occupation army.

I've never quite understood why they feel that it's a special circumstance that large areas of the West are national parks, but national parks elsewhere are not some egregious "land grab" by the federal government, but that assumes that they even care what happens elsewhere. Many of these people are admittedly and deliberately provincial, and feel entitled to be so.

[muriel_volestrangler]

36. Well, obviously wrongly

Such people hate America, literally. Not 'provincial', but antisocial separatists who don't want to be part of the US.

[izquierdista]

4. And who spits on the soldiers?

Isn't there always a huge (and usually false) outrage by right wingers that it's LEEEEEEE-berals who spit on soldiers (federal government workers with DOD paychecks)?

[AspenRose]

7. I have never heard of this! This is damn scary.

[undeterred]

15. I thought you were being ironic but I guess not.

I've never heard of this either.

[old mark]

27. When I was working as a state civil service employee in PA, we were

given parking numbers that clipped on the car's inside mirror because state employees who had the old parking stickers on the bumpers of their cars had been threatened. We also got training on bomb threats and attackers in the buildings and on the grounds. I worked in a mental hospital, and evidently someone had threatened to blow us up.

This was back in the Republican revolution in the '90's.

mark

[PVnRT]

32. A friend of mine who used to survey roads in Georgia

was advised he would be allowed to carry a gun on the job to defend himself. And, yes, he did get threatened with a gun on at least two occasions while surveying land for new roads.

[old mark]

38. Many of the employees - including me - carried guns to work each day.

We felt safer in the hospital than on the road to and from work.

FWIW, you could be fired immedioately if a gun was found in your car on the hospital parking areas, but there wer so many people carrying the rule was not enforced.

mark

[Rabrrrrrr]

31. Especially in rural areas, fed employees have had a rough time - revenuers, cops, and census esp.

Some of the people who live in rural areas are there because they're paranoid, hiding something, or otherwise just kind of fucked up in the head.

We used to see this a lot in Appalachia, though I doubt it's as rampant now as it once was.

[FarCenter]

34. Tensions between the country and the cities/government have existed since at least Shays' Rebellion

[Taverner]

37. I remember seeing all kinds of graffitti praising Tim McVeigh after the Oklahoma bombing

The mouth breathers are out there - only a fool would dismiss the danger