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Federal News Radio
Frog’s-eye-view
of life in D.C. swamp
By Mike Causey
January 30, 2017
When you run for president of the U.S., it is better to be an outsider
— like Jimmy Carter vs. Gerald Ford or Bill Clinton vs. George H.W.
Bush or Donald Trump vs. Hillary Clinton. Bashing bureaucrats,
Washington, all creatures who live inside its infamous beltway, is
by-and-large a good PR move. Some believe that before we build a wall
on the extended Mexican border, we should dedicate 70 miles of fencing
to keep folks from inside I-495 and their rules and regulations in
quarantine.
Washington, D.C. does do some incredibly stupid things. And it is
definitely out of touch with much of the nation. But many, maybe most
by a lot, of the stupid ideas that we foist on you come from
politicians from your state and district. You may hate politicians,
but, thanks to the bipartisan rigging of congressional districts and
general apathy, you keep sending in the same clowns. Most people agree
our tax code is a complex joke. But blaming bureaucrats in the IRS for
it is missing the mark. They do what the politicians tell them. Same
for many other operations.
The latest congressional assault on bureaucrats comes from House
Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) He’s leading the charge to
break the stranglehold he says bureaucrats have on Washington. He wrote
in The Wall Street Journal that the “federal bureaucrat … poses the
greatest threat to America’s people, economy and Constitution.” Does
that sound like the people you work with? Obviously, he’s got lots of
fans and supporters. People who say the nation is mired in debt and red
tape because of life-tenured bureaucrats.
So who are these people and just what do they do, besides not much?
First, take this faceless bureaucrat’s test. Can you identify:
Frances Kelsey? How about Jacob Chestnut? Ever hear of Leslie Coffelt?
Does the name Neil Armstrong ring a distant bell?
All of the above were bureaucrats.
Frances Kelsey became a household name in the 1960s. She was a doctor
(M.D. and Ph.D.) at the Food and Drug Administration. She withstood all
kinds of pressure by blocking approval of a drug European women were
using to ease some of the effects of pregnancy. Kelsey said it needed
more testing. By late 1961 scientists figured out that many of the
European women who took the drug — thalidomide — had babies that were
born with flippers instead of arms or legs. Thousands of them. A few
American women smuggled the drug in from Europe, but thanks to Kelsey
and her bureaucratic red tape, the U.S. was spared the horror that hit
Germany and other countries with more “progressive” drug approval
rules. Politicians went after her. The drug company put pressure on
politicians and the FDA to fire or transfer her. Fortunately,
bureaucratic procedures and formalities kicked in saving her job, and
tens of thousands of families from tragedy Kelsey died at age 104.
Think of all that pension money she must have collected. Shocking!
Leslie Coffelt was a uniformed member of the Secret Service. He was
part of a team guarding the Blair House where President Harry S. Truman
and family were living as the White House was being renovated. Puerto
Rican nationalists tried to enter the residence. Coffelt and another
officer blocked them. But he died in the line of duty.
Jacob Chestnut was a U.S. Capitol police officer and John Gibson was a
detective. In the summer of 1998 they were assigned to the detail
protecting the several House leaders. One of them had previously
referred to some federal law enforcement officers as “jack-booted
thugs.” If Chestnut or Gibson were offended, they didn’t tell anyone.
They just went on with their jobs. To make a long story short, a man
with a .38 revolver got past security, then shot and killed Chestnut
and also Gibson, who, while mortally wounded, returned fire and shot
the would-be assassin Russell Eugene Weston Jr.
Neil Armstrong. The first human (except according to my Uncle Nick) to
walk on the Moon spent most of his government career as a pilot, but
was a card-carrying, GS civil servant with NASA when he took that one
giant step for man. Maybe you’ve heard of him.
There are lots of bureaucrats out there we never hear about. Yet many,
as a part of their job description, do heroic and important things that
we never hear about.
So as we drain the swamp in the coming months, let’s hope politicians
get to know some of the critters — whether in D.C. or Yellowstone
National Park, or as guards at nuclear plants — and find out why we
hired them in the first place. In the immortal words of author Steven
Covey, measure twice, cut once.
Read this and other articles at Federal News Radio
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