I'm probably as populist as they come, in a lot of ways. I cut my teeth in politics working for "America's #1 Progressive Populist", Jim Hightower. But when populism dives into hyperbole, it's a dangerous, combustible mix.
This diary has set me off down this road (in particular, the claim that "everyone in the government is bought"), but I've seen this kind of rhetoric before on this blog and elsewhere. People get mad at their government -- and rightfully so -- but then make wild claims against all government employees, including members of our civil service, and it stirs up the pot some more.
And we've got to be better than stirring the pot in the name of populist outrage, because if we don't, we will become indistinguishable from the right wing crazies out there.
Remember, the progressive value is to see the good in government. If it is not working, we will fix it. We need to give credit to the civil servants -- hundreds of thousands of them -- who seek to serve. Do a lot of them cash in after their service? Sure. But many, many do not. And they are not "bought," no matter how much you'd like to believe that.
The answer is to make government service "cool again," as our President has said. The answer is give incentives to those in the private sector to consider public service.
The answer is not to deride civil service as somehow corrupt. I'm a local government attorney. My wife is a federal attorney. We CHOSE our career path because we believe in service. And the vast majority of people we work with are doing it for the same reason.
Believe me, if it was for the money, those like us could make 5 to 10 times in the private sector. We do it because we believe in our work.
And to take a poison pen and write off our government is a tragic mistake. The height of my outrage at my government came during Hurricane Katrina. I personally knew good people that worked for HUD and other agencies begging their political appointee bosses to do what needed to be done to help the region. They were and are excellent civil servants.
Shorter point: there's a difference between our leaders and those who work in public service. Target our leaders all you want. We voted them in there, after all. But don't demonize the civil servant trying to do his job.
Frankly, when I read that kind of rhetoric that simply bashes the government and all its employees, it sends chills up my spine. We are not even one week removed from a nutjob flying a plane into a government building with the goal of killing government employees. And his "damn the government" rhetoric was all encompassing.
Populism is good. Hyperbole is not.
And we better learn how to walk that fine line.