19 thoughts on “Civil Disobedience”

  1. The reason we created National Parks in the first place is that the states wanted to develop those areas. Read about Ralph Cameron and the Grand Canyon. If he’d had his way, you’d be paying his company to see it.

    1. As opposed to paying the National Park Service?

      Why is it (apparently) wrong in your opinion to pay his company, but not the government?

      Would he have done a worse or better job managing it? How do you know?

      The suggestion in the OP was to turn the parks over to the states. Today. Not back then, via some method of time travel. Has anything changed between then and now that might influence how states operate and maintain the parks now versus how they would have or did handle them back then?

      1. That would make sense, except some of us are talking about parks developed by private funds, operated by private companies, and are now closed by supposedly furloughed government employees because the land is federal.

        So apparently having an NPS doesn’t prevent companies from operating national parks, but having an NPS can prevent access to those parks. Further, the companies operating the parks bring in direct revenue to the federal government, when they are allowed to operate.

      3. turn the parks over to the states

        And let D.C. government run the National Mall, Lincoln Memorial, etc.? Why not give D.C. the Smithsonian museums as well?

    2. If Ralph Cameron had had his way, we could see the Grand Canyon now, and no elected idiot in DC would be able to stop us. I’d far rather have the obstacle to seeing the Grand Canyon be that I couldn’t afford the fare, and not that an irresponsible Senator and President want to make a political point, as now.

      1. No, if Ralph Cameron had his way the rim of the canyon would be lined with private homes and no-trespassing signs. Or rather, the part of the canyon that wasn’t flooded with a private lake, that is.

        1. You’re right. No-one who owned land there would want the massive income from allowing tourists to come in to see the view.

          So, did Obama get around to barricading the Grand Canyon yet?

    3. We didn’t create them as a partisan political weapon to use against innocent civilians and foreign guests. Obama and the Democrats are off their rockers.

  2. Claiming it to be unrelated, there is a link to The Atlantic reporting that a group of veterans were rounded up at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and placed in a paddy wagon.

    OK, these veterans were conducting (peaceably, as far as it is known) an anti-war vigil at The Wall. I guess they were conducting this vigil past a 10 PM Curfew.

    Would people agree with me that the Administration is out-of-control, or is it important to crack down on aging veterans conducting a peaceful anti-war vigil?

  3. Here’s the really sad part.

    Spend 15 minutes watching CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, CBS and listen to what is being discussed and how the issues are framed. They don’t mention that this administration is going well beyond anything that has been done in past shut-downs (was the WW2 Mall EVER closed?) and simply blame Republicans for all of the problems being felt by the American people.

    Obama knows that he needs to inflict the maximum amount of pain in order to get the maximum political gain, simply because no ‘mainstream’ news organization will report on it. Very sad day for the US.

    1. was the WW2 Mall EVER closed?

      The last shutdown was in 1996. The WWII memorial was opened in 2004.

      simply blame Republicans for all of the problems

      The Republicans are the ones refusing to re-open the government until their demands are met. Of course they are to blame.

      1. No, Harry Reid and Obama are refusing to negotiate. Their sole position is complete surrender and I doubt even that would be enough. They’ll likely demand not just surrender but concessions. Sorry, but compromise means no one gets everything they want. Obama and Reid are refusing to compromise.

  5. Or rather, the part of the canyon that wasn’t flooded with a private lake, that is.

    Have you seen the Grand Canyon? The Hoover Dam? Lake Mead? Read the story of the NPS evicting the octogenarians from their home on Lake Mead because of the shutdown?

    1. Yes, I’ve been to the Grand Canyon and Lake Mead, created by the Federal government.

      Cameron wanted to create a private Lake Cameron and sell lots around it, so you wouldn’t have been able to see the canyon.

      1. Yes, I’ve been to the Grand Canyon and Lake Mead, created by the Federal government.

        So it’s fine when the federal government created it, eh? Ever been to Tennessee and checked out the valleys?

        1. Let’s not forget that Hetch Hetchy was created to meet the needs of the City and County of San Francisco. That wasn’t some group of robber barons and private operators who conspired to flood that valley, but politicians catering to the whims of “progressives”.

          (Also, it appears that trying to post from a phone on AT&T slams up against the proxy filter.)

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