I read today (H/T americablog) about retribution to an employee for doing his job and running up against the FORMER head of OSHA. Why would it be OK to discipline an employee for not following the directive of a FORMER superior? I saw a report on MSNBC (sorry, no link) about the same type of action against an air marshall. The air marshall story is old, but meet me below the fold to see where I'm going...
The pervasiveness of the corruption of the beaurocracy is a challenge. I'm not talking about bribes or kickbacks directly. The person that fired the air marshall and the person that suspended the OSHA officer were just following the orders of someone that does these kinds of things for ideological reasons, not for direct financial gain, IMHO. The beaurocracy is supposed to insulate the institutions of government from incompetence and illegal activity. When the beaurocracy is "salted" with ideological extremists at the expense of beaurocratic pencil pushers, the insulation breaks down.
When the next Democratic president is elected, the beaurocracy will need to be scrubbed with a steel-bristled brush before any real competent functioning can be expected. I just hope that there are enough "officious beaurocrats" left to rebuild our government.
As a subtext, while the Democratic Party, liberal institutions, and the progressive community work to rebuild this country's government, the people that tried to destroy it will blame us for the government's institutions inability to function in the interests of the people.