Yesterday, we had an incident in our nation’s capitol. Two members of law enforcement were injured, seriously enough to be hospitalized. One was a member of the Capitol Police; the other was an FBI agent detailed to protect the White House.
Members of the House responded with a standing ovation, big whoop. And they tweeted their gratitude too. Wow. How underwhelming. That is the personification of the phrase lip-service.
lip service noun
insincere expression of friendship, admiration, support, etc.; service by words only: He paid only lip service to the dictator.
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy The shutdown has meant that the Capitol Police work without getting paid. The House ovation is meaningless, even an insult, while these men and women risk their lives to protect the wrinkled old white behinds of the House Republicans who are responsible for this shut down. The Capital Police deserve the applause, they all deserve a warm handshake and a pat on the back, too; but that is gratuitous. What is not gratuitous is being paid for doing their jobs. THAT they have earned.
But conservatives hate government employees, especially those who belong to unions. The portion of the clip featuring Fox News contributor Varney exemplifies what is wrong with the right wing notions about public service and government employees. The reality is that there is no significant difference between the public sector and the private sector, for employment, there is no valid factual basis for asserting that public sector employees are ‘bloated tics on our backs’.
Conservatives chronically and persistently believe things that are not true, usually things that are derogatory about other people.
The reality is that public sector employees are our fellow Americans, our friends and family, our neighbors, honest, hard working and even heroic. They are not the enemy — unless you wear a tin-foil hat.
The reality is that the conservatives like our own Republicans in congress are lip-service patriots, because you cannot love this country, but hate large segments of those who are your fellow citizens, just like applause while not paying the Capital Police is not very genuine gratitude.
