Seth Pecksniff, Press Secretary
by digby
Yes, it’s hissy-fit time. You can always tell by the unctuous sanctimony:
WW II veterans were and are essential personnel. The WW II Memorial should be considered their place of work.
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) October 2, 2013
Here comes the “investigation”:
House Republicans have already started probing the decision by the Obama administration to close off Washington’s World War II monument in an effort to turn the videos of veterans in wheelchairs pushing past barriers to visit the site into a defining image of the government shutdown.
House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa is “in the early stages of examining it,” spokesman Frederick Hill told POLITICO. “I don’t think we’ve sent any letters or requests at this point, but they’re possible.”
Senior House Natural Resources Committee Republicans sent their own letter Wednesday to National Park Service Director Jonathan Jarvis to ask him to “take steps as necessary to keep and not destroy documents related to the decision this week to restrict public access” to open-air memorials and monuments in the Washington area, including those honoring veterans of multiple wars, Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King.
The committee is “considering an oversight hearing in the near future,” wrote Natural Resources Chairman Doc Hastings and Public Lands and Environmental Regulation Subcommittee Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah).
And here’s a real GOP jerk for you, having a truly embarrassing hissy fit on camera:
var nbcLP={};nbcLP.aRandomNumber=Math.floor(Math.random()*10000);nbcLP.currentPageLoc=encodeURIComponent(window.location.href);nbcLP.currentSiteLoc=encodeURIComponent(window.location.host);nbcLP.defaultWidth=652;nbcLP.defaultHeight=367;nbcLP.cmsID=”226223731″;nbcLP.vidPid=”KHb4CgiZ7Y8j”;nbcLP.vidSec=”TK”;nbcLP.vidSubSec=”TK”;nbcLP.vidFrame=document.getElementById(“nbcLP226223731″);nbcLP.vidFrame.style.border=”none”;nbcLP.vidFrame.width=nbcLP.defaultWidth;nbcLP.vidFrame.height=nbcLP.defaultHeight;nbcLP.vidFrame.scrolling=”no”;nbcLP.vidFrame.src=”http://www.nbcwashington.com/templates/nbc_partner_player?cmsID=”+nbcLP.cmsID+”&videoID=”+nbcLP.vidPid+”&width=”+nbcLP.defaultWidth+”&height=”+nbcLP.defaultHeight+”&sec=”+nbcLP.vidSec+”&subsec=”+nbcLP.vidSubSec+”&turl=”+nbcLP.currentSiteLoc+”&ourl=”+nbcLP.currentPageLoc+”&rand=”+nbcLP.aRandomNumber;
“How do you look at them and … deny them access?” said Neugebauer. He, with most House Republicans, had voted early Sunday morning to pass a funding measure that would delay the Affordable Care Act, a vote that set up a showdown with the Senate and President Barack Obama. With the parties unable to agree on how to fund the federal government, non-essential government functions shut down Tuesday.
“It’s difficult,” responded the Park Service employee.“Well, it should be difficult,” replied the congressman, who was carrying a small American flag in his breast pocket.
“It is difficult,” responded the Park Service employee. “I’m sorry, sir.”
“The Park Service should be ashamed of themselves,” the congressman said.
“I’m not ashamed,” replied the ranger.