MAMEWorld Forums - The Loony Bin - Re: As Homer Simpson famously asked, did we lose a war?

> Quotes from Jonathan V. Last
>
>
> Just to be clear, the memorial is an open plaza. There is nothing to operate.
> Sometimes there might be a ranger standing around. But he’s not collecting tickets or
> opening gates. Putting up barricades and posting guards to “close” the World War II
> Memorial takes more resources and manpower than “keeping it open.”
>
>
> There’s a cute little historic site just outside of the capital in McLean, Virginia,
> called the Claude Moore Colonial Farm... A group of private citizens set up an
> endowment to take care of the farm’s expenses. Ever since, the site has operated
> independently through a combination of private donations and volunteer workers. The
> Park Service told Claude Moore Colonial Farm to shut down. The farm’s administrators
> appealed this directive—they explained that the Park Service doesn’t
> actually do anything for the historic site. The folks at the NPS were unmoved. And
> so, last week, the National Park Service found the scratch to send officers to the
> park to forcibly remove both volunteer workers and visitors.
>
>
> At the Vietnam Memorial—which is just a wall you walk
> past—the NPS called in police to block access.
>
>
> But the pièce de résistance occurred in South Dakota. The Park Service wasn’t content
> just to close Mount Rushmore. No, they went the extra mile and put out orange cones
> to block the little scenic overlook areas on the roads near Mount Rushmore. You know,
> just to make sure no taxpayers could catch a glimpse of it.
>
>
> Think about that for a minute. The Park Service, which is supposed to serve the
> public by administering parks, is now in the business of forcing parks they don’t
> administer to close.

Meh, it's all just political theater. The Administration wants as much pressure on the Republicans as possible. Shutting down parks and monuments is both highly visible and highly unpopular, and yet it doesn't cause serious damage the way cutting Medicare or soldiers' benefits would.