Comments on: The War on Drugs: Nonsense and Insensibilities http://politicsandpress.com/2007/the-war-on-drugs-nonsense-and-insensibilities/ The interaction of the press and politics; public diplomacy, and daily absurdities. Tue, 06 Jan 2009 09:15:46 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.3 by: jeff http://politicsandpress.com/2007/the-war-on-drugs-nonsense-and-insensibilities/#comment-1973 Sun, 30 Dec 2007 21:56:29 +0000 http://politicsandpress.com/2007/the-war-on-drugs-nonsense-and-insensibilities/#comment-1973 Alas, i have to agree with Cole Cordray on his two final points - It is very difficult to get the bureaucracy's attention if you are only Joe Citizen (you know, the guy who pays your salary) and we would need a sea change to get action on making the bureaucracy more competent and committed to actual service. And I do not hear anyone of the candidates saying that it would be important to spend the resources needed to improve the quality/competence of government service. i suspect there are a lot of reasons for this including fear of taxes, the myth of the efficiency of the private sector, a commitment to large corporations, and the willingness of the American people to vote against their own interests. Alas, i have to agree with Cole Cordray on his two final points - It is very difficult to get the bureaucracy’s attention if you are only Joe Citizen (you know, the guy who pays your salary) and we would need a sea change to get action on making the bureaucracy more competent and committed to actual service. And I do not hear anyone of the candidates saying that it would be important to spend the resources needed to improve the quality/competence of government service. i suspect there are a lot of reasons for this including fear of taxes, the myth of the efficiency of the private sector, a commitment to large corporations, and the willingness of the American people to vote against their own interests.

]]> by: cole cordray http://politicsandpress.com/2007/the-war-on-drugs-nonsense-and-insensibilities/#comment-1971 Sun, 30 Dec 2007 15:00:26 +0000 http://politicsandpress.com/2007/the-war-on-drugs-nonsense-and-insensibilities/#comment-1971 ok jeff, i have here on my desk an email from a ICE (God, what an acronymn)supervisor regarding a young border guard i complained about on our last trip 'over the line'. this kid was using his 'ASP' as an instrument of inspection on a vehicle in front of me at the Oroville, Wa crossing. he was aggressively poking and prodding the back seat and cargo area of a 4 door pickup, as if he were killing rats or something. since i am in the business of searching vehicles and people for the us gov, i am somewhat familiar with proper technique, and this was not it. it was intimidating, frightening for the subject being inspected, and an improper use of what is for all intents and purposes, a weapon. anyway, long story short, the supervisor asked for the particulars which i gave him and he assured me he would dress down the individual. my point is this: i corresponded with him thru official gov channels, and used my title, etc. would he have responded to joe citizen in the same way? i regretfully say i doubt it. i have seen it. our problem (or one of them) is the lack of professionalisim in our civil service system - you know, the one that bush runs. bad training, poor screening of applicants, and inadequate follow-up on complaints and examples of unprofessional work ethics abounds. give me a solution please. i can't think of one candidate who would overhaul this burdensome, cumbersome inefficient system and make it something worth writing home about, eh? cole cordray colecordray@msn.com ok jeff, i have here on my desk an email from a ICE (God, what an acronymn)supervisor regarding a young border guard i complained about on our last trip ‘over the line’. this kid was using his ‘ASP’ as an instrument of inspection on a vehicle in front of me at the Oroville, Wa crossing. he was aggressively poking and prodding the back seat and cargo area of a 4 door pickup, as if he were killing rats or something. since i am in the business of searching vehicles and people for the us gov, i am somewhat familiar with proper technique, and this was not it. it was intimidating, frightening for the subject being inspected, and an improper use of what is for all intents and purposes, a weapon. anyway, long story short, the supervisor asked for the particulars which i gave him and he assured me he would dress down the individual. my point is this: i corresponded with him thru official gov channels, and used my title, etc. would he have responded to joe citizen in the same way? i regretfully say i doubt it. i have seen it. our problem (or one of them) is the lack of professionalisim in our civil service system - you know, the one that bush runs. bad training, poor screening of applicants, and inadequate follow-up on complaints and examples of unprofessional work ethics abounds. give me a solution please. i can’t think of one candidate who would overhaul this burdensome, cumbersome inefficient system and make it something worth writing home about, eh?

cole cordray
colecordray@msn.com

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