Clap Out at the RRB
Today, take time to hug a public servant.
USAID’s headquarters at the Ronald Reagan Building in downtown Washington, DC is being shuttered. Today, staff got a very brief window (~15 minutes per person) to clear their workspaces and collect their personal belongings.
In the lead-up, USAID personnel received a list of prohibited items they would not be allowed to bring into the building. And honestly… it was deranged. This is only a snippet of the full list:
Did the administration expect violence? Did they assume that USAID staff would attack their own offices? I don’t know what some of these weapons even are — let alone how I might use them to assault a federal building.
This morning, instead of bringing weapons, USAID staff–along with friends, family, and random fellow Americans–stood for hours (in the rain) to cheer for each and every person as they emerged from the building with their stuff.
Regardless of how you feel about foreign aid as a policy matter, these are the public servants who have been so demonized and devalued by Elon Musk et al. They’re parents, friends, neighbors, and patriots. And today–instead of violence–they chose community.
That’s the vision of government (and of this country) I choose to hold on to.