Thread by @alexthechick

🧵I haven't fully worked this through yet though I do think there is something here.

The battle over Federal employees having to return to the office and being asked to provide a brief report on prior week's work is a proxy battle for accountability on the Federal level at all

There has been building for decades an immense frustration by the general public over how those who work for the Feds only ever seem to fail upwards. I look at matters from the perspective of the Right, due to my personal political beliefs. It is not only from the Right.

I'll start with my bête noire: the utter failure to hold those in the DOJ and FBI accountable for point blank lying in court. The FBI labs scandal. The Ted Stevens prosecution. The Bundy ranchers trial where the alphabets lied to the Court's face.

Let's toss out some others: FISA warrant abuse. The IRS targeting of conservative groups. COVID origins. COVID lockdowns. Vaccine mandates. The shifting stories on what the vaccines would do. Russiagate. Gold King mine disaster. Put your own peeve here.

At no time have any of those who worked for the Federal government faced negative consequences for their actions in those events. To the extent that any negative consequences were handed out, those were later rescinded. See re: Ted Stevens prosecutors.

There is absolute, and absolutely justified, rage about how those who work for the Federal government appear to be immune from negative consequences for their actions. People retire with full and generous pensions. Members of the public who speak out end up targeted by the Feds.

Now along comes Trump who is setting out very simple guidelines for Federal employees. You must return to the office to work. You must provide a brief weekly status report. Both of those are matters that employees in the private sector have dealt with for years.

Either you return to work in the office or you find another job is something that a large swathe of people have faced over the last few years. It is irrelevant for this discussion whether that is good or bad policy. What it is, however, is reality for private sector employees.

It is also commonplace to have to provide some variant of a status report. Not only is it commonplace, it is assumed this will happen. If you work stocking the shelves at Walmart, you'll have a task list for your shift as to what must be done and you better finish it.

The howling in rage response by Federal employees (of course I'm painting with a broad brush here), large portions of the press, and various and sundry politicians is viewed by much of the public as proof positive that those who work for the Feds think they are above the public.

You have to go back to the office. You have to say what you did last week. These are the lowest possible bars to cross for any kind of accountability. And yet these are considered too high? If this cannot happen, then there can never be any kind of accountability at all.

The caterwauling about how you are being so mean and have you no empathy and what about the people who will lose their house and they have children and DO YOU WANT THE CHILDREN TO BE STARVING AND HOMELESS is seen for what it is, yet another attempt to avoid accountability at all.

These fights are about the actual actions. These fights are also proxy fights for the larger concept that the Federal government and Federal employees are not beyond accountability. They are not beyond reproach.

What is going on with return to work and provide a status report is the smallest attempt to lance the boil vis a vis rage over accountability. People are running around waving lit flares in rooms full of open containers of kerosene in trying to deny even this low level response.

The Tea Party was the polite request. Trump is the less polite request. It does not get more polite from here. Accountability will come. I rather desperately want it to come not in the traditional manner. Here. Have a red panda. /fin