Thanks Obama

World+War+II+and+Korean+War+veterans+visit+the+WWII+memorial+on+the+third+day+of+the+shutdown%2C+%C2%A0Oct+3%2C+2013.%C2%A0

World War II and Korean War veterans visit the WWII memorial on the third day of the shutdown,  Oct 3, 2013. 

A slim down, not a shutdown.

As part of what many critics call a presidential “temper tantrum,” the Obama administration has been hard at work trying to make the partial federal government shutdown feel as painful as possible.

Various media outlets are encouraging the spread of this phenomenon by pathetically asking Americans to submit their personal sad shutdown stories for purposes of propaganda. CNN, a recipient of recent ridicule for trying to dramatize the partial shutdown, has asked readers: “Are you affected by the shutdown? Send it to iReport and be part of CNN’s coverage.”

Fortunately, other news sources are beginning to focus on the growing anger of the American public and the failing antics of President Barack Obama’s administration.

Countless news reports from across the country have revealed that Obama is actually going out of his way to make this shutdown hit home, as hard as possible. 

The White House has directly ordered federal police to force the closure of hundreds of parks nationwide. This is a lesson to all Americans that, apparently, we need government permission to take a walk in the woods.

The Obama administration has even shut down parks that are not even using government funds.

According to the Washington Times, park rangers have closed the parking lot at Mount Vernon – George Washington’s home, which is a favorite tourist destination. Interestingly enough, the government does not own Mount Vernon. The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association privately owns it. Nonetheless, feds closed access to the parking lots this week despite the fact the lots are jointly owned with the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association.

The Grand Canyon National Park has also closed, even though Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has offered to pay for it with state money, according to an article by ABC News. Her proposal was rejected Thursday by a park official who said that as long as the federal government remains shut down, so does the Grand Canyon.

However, some Americans are ignoring the government’s “off-limits” signs and fighting back in acts of civil disobedience. Pictures of people throwing orange cones aside, moving barricades and urinating on “closed” signs have gone viral on Internet sites such as Twitter and Instagram.

The most popular act of recent civil disobedience occurred when visiting veterans ignored barricades and stormed the World War II memorial in D.C. The administration squandered more taxpayer funds to build barriers around a monument that was overwhelmingly paid for with private donations. Yet the designed spectacle of “government power” backfired as CNN and Washington Post reports broke about federal employees trying to prevent elderly WWII veterans from visiting the site that was erected in their honor.

One of the most revealing glimpses of what is really going on is a quote from an angry park service ranger in Washington who said, “We’ve been told to make life as difficult for people as we can. It’s disgusting,” according to an article by the Washington Times.

There you have it. The closure of parks and monuments is not to save the government money.  In fact, numerous media sources reveal that Obama is wasting additional taxpayer money on trivial gimmicks to purposely inconvenience the public.

The whole charade serves to inflate the consequences of the government shutdown in hopes the public will increasingly put pressure on Republicans to adhere to Obama’s demands. This spectacle is also meant to show Americans how much they need the government.

Yet, Obama’s tactics are backfiring and the public is quickly losing its patience. Instead of “showing” America how much we need our government, Americans are finally starting to ask why the government is even involved in so many areas of our day-to-day lives.

According to U.S. News, after the shutdown the feds furloughed about 800,000 bureaucrats who they deemed “non-essential,” but have kept more than 80 percent of the 4.1 million federal employees on the job.

Contrary to recent headlines, the government has not shutdown. It has only slimmed down by cutting the most visible and appreciated services provided by the government such as national parks and monuments. If the TSA was deemed “non-essential” and Americans suddenly escaped the routine harassment they are normally forced to endure while traveling, no one would complain about the government shutdown.

While Obama and federal authorities seem determined to make the public suffer as much as possible during the government shutdown, they did not expect the public to discover much of the effort was costly, deliberate and largely unnecessary. They also hoped people would not realize Obama is one of the first presidents to outright refuse to negotiate with the House of Representatives.

Despite Obama’s underlying plan, and there is always a plan, the shutdown should be considered a welcome development. It has angered the public and exposed the problems of our national government that has grown too big and powerful in defiance of the Constitution.

We should thank Obama for putting on his latest charade that has exposed the corrupt and overreaching nature of the government for all to see.

-Ashley Lynn Fisher is a junior English major from Gig Harbor. She can be contacted at 335-2290 or by [email protected]. The opinions expressed in this Column are not necessarily those of the staff of The Daily Evergreen or those of Student Publications.