Malakatude is even more ubiquitous this week than usual up in Shutdown City. Some of it is coming from previously obscure tea party Republicans with deeply silly names, which seems to be quite common deep in the heart of Texas.In the loopy tradition of Louis Gohmert Pyle, I give you Rep. Randy Neugebauer:
Rep. Randy Neugebauer (R-TX) got into a heated exchange with a
National Park Service Ranger at the World War II Memorial over the
closure of the park because of the government shutdown.Neugebauer, one of a number of Republicans who have tried to use the
closed memorial to bash the Obama administration and Democrats on the
shutdown, confronted the ranger while surrounded by a crowd of
onlookers.Neugebauer asked the Ranger how she could turn World War II veterans away.
“How do you look at them and…deny them access?” the congressman asked.
“It’s difficult,” she responded.
“Well, it should be difficult,” Neugebauer snapped.
“It is difficult,” the Ranger said. “I’m sorry sir.”
“The Park Service should be ashamed of themselves,” Neugebauer said.
“I’m not ashamed,” the Ranger said.
Members of the crowd then chimed in. One person shouted “This woman is doing her job, just like me.”
“I’m a 30-year federal veteran — I’m out of work,” the man continued.
“Well, the reason you are is because [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid decided to shutdown the government,” Neugebauer said.
“No, it’s because the government won’t do its job and pass a budget,” the man responded.
Congressman Noogiebooger is not only a wingnut, he has no manners whatsoever. I have a slogan to suggest to Malaka Noogiebooger and his ilk: “We’re right, so we don’t have to be polite.” I doubt if they’ll adopt it because it’s vaguely Jacksonian, Cochranesque, and Sharptonian.
I don’t know about you but I was raised to be polite to the “little people,” and to never play with matches or insult a park ranger. That’s one reason I’ve never lit a leprechaun ablaze or ranted at someone who’s just doing their job. Empathy, of course, is not a strong suit of big macho Texas teabaggers with silly names like Randy Noogiebooger. He sounds like a horny nose picker…
If you’ve seen the video, you know that the Ranger was exquisitely polite to the Randy Malaka. I would have called him a fuckhead but that’s just me. I for one am proud of her as isJoey the Shark. It’s not easy standing your ground politely but firmly when the hot air is gusting at 30 MPH.
As entertaining as the hostage crisis is in so many ways, it’s time for it to stop. I realize that House Gopers think that all guvmint workers are lazy, meddling bureaucrats, but they have jobs to do and bills to pay. It’s way past time for silly named malakas like Randy Noogiebooger to STFU and stop playing out their delusional fantasies in public.In the immortal words of born again pugilist, Harry Reid, it’s time for them to get a life.
Definitely an ill-mannered jerk showboating for the cameras (to the point that you said a crowd member corrected him that the ranger was just doing his job). Although I should have know from R-TX
As a philosophical question, does true Malakatude necessarily have to be something the person naturally does without thinking about it – as opposed to being a jerk?
Spearing of Jerks- saw on the news that Boehner has made an announcement bhat to resolve the current crisis, that there are going to have to be discussions between the 2 parties. Really interesting is for the last 1/2 year Obama has been calling for such discussions. I guess like the ACA, once it works, the repubs will take the credit?
Jerkdom and malakkatude are variations on the same theme.
For some reason, I get the feeling that Mr. Neugeberger will make it his personal mission in life to get that Ranger fired, and if possible, get the fellow in the bike helmet (the one who identified himself as a 30-year veteran of government service) fired as well. I was pleasantly surprised to see the video of Neugeberger being a colossal jerk played on the NBC Nightly News last night.
I know that Texas is supposed to be trending Democratic, and Neugeberger is probably in one of those ultra-safe gerrymandered districts, but really: Can’t Texas do any better than the likes of Neugeberger, Gohmert and Cruz?
For some reason, our hero has gotten an ethics complaint lodged against him. Soomething about using his position as a Congress Critter to unduly threaten a park ranger.
Article also links to his Facebook page – where his posting has him smiling while leaning down to talk a a guy in a wheelchair. But a lot of the public comments aren’t so kind:
http://www.forwardprogressives.com/republican-who-scolded-park-ranger-at-closed-wwii-memorial-hit-with-ethics-complaint/
@Gratuitous, I agree without your comment but was rather glad to see this latest development.