Gordon Forgey

Three TSA guards on airport security duty stood in a tight group and talked to each other for more than an hour. One had a dog and was on K9 duty. The dog was more attentive than the humans. Presumably, these guards were there for more than just socializing.

Now, security breaches at the White House are being revealed. Bullets have hit the White House, and the secret service did not know it until maintenance personnel discovered the bullet holes. The incident had been previously discounted by those on duty who assumed the rifle shots were only backfires from passing traffic.

More recently a man armed with a knife made his way deep into the White House before being apprehended. Reportedly, a security device on the main door had been disabled because it sometimes went off accidentally, annoying those on duty.

Then, of course, government workers and managers have been known to put their own personal interests ahead of their responsibilities. The Veterans Administration and the Internal Revenue Service are two government agencies recently in the news for abuses of their public trust. Congress is even more dysfunctional than many bureaucracies.

“Government” is widely criticized for such failures, but the criticism misses the mark in many cases.

The attitude of entitlement and a slipping sense of responsibility are becoming prevalent in the people in government. Guards who do not guard are just the tip of the iceberg.

Perhaps it is time to start looking beyond the monolithic structure of government and into who is actually employed to do government’s work.

After all, it is the people’s work they are being paid to perform. And, it is the people who should change the old adage to “Nice job if you can keep it.”

Gordon Forgey

Publisher