The National Park Service race to rewrite history becomes a slog

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Politico

03/15/2026 06:46 PM EDT


The Trump administration’s campaign to remove National Park Service exhibits that “inappropriately disparage” historical figures is bogged down more than nine months after Interior Secretary Doug Burgum set it in motion.

The sheer volume of park signs, panels and museum exhibits flagged by park rangers because they mentioned topics like slavery, climate change or violence against Native Americans overwhelmed the Trump administration from the beginning, said three people familiar with the process used to evaluate potential changes, granted anonymity because they feared retribution. “They bit off way more than they could chew,” one of those people said.

But even as parks rushed to meet Interior deadlines, NPS last year dissolved in just a few months a team of experts created to decide if the material flagged by parks had violated President Donald Trump’s prohibition on excessively “negative” portrayals of U.S. history, said two of the people familiar with the process.

Many park personnel on the ground now are unsure if NPS will soon demand changes at many parks or leave things as they are, said a park superintendent, who was granted anonymity because they are not allowed to speak to the media.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/15/inside-the-national-park-service-push-to-rewrite-history-00792849

[2naSalit]

1. The slower...

The better. Most of the NPS employees are probably seriously disgusted at the demands.

[OldBaldy1701E]

2. "...said a park superintendent, who was granted anonymity because they are not allowed to speak to the media."

The Park Service.... who rely on the public... cannot speak to the public?

Well, that is not suspicious in the slightest, now is it?

[BumRushDaShow]

3. If they were named

they would be immediately (and illegally) "fired" and would have to spend a lot of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and time to get their situation through the courts to get their illegally-removed jobs back.

[OldBaldy1701E]

4. That seems silly to me.

Why spend a lot of money on getting back a job that treated you in that way?

The fact that it happened means that it could easily happen again. Does one really want to be in such a stressful environment day after day? And, for what amounts to peanuts? Why keep doing that? Because we have no other choice?

Why is that, I wonder?

It seems to me that the oligarchs desire to make us believe that the only way reality itself exists is to do their bidding, and that's what is going on here.

Why are we continuing to pay along?

I guess the reality is that they do own us, eh?

[BumRushDaShow]

5. In many cases

you have whole groups of people - notably POC - where "private industry" will NOT hire them. Period. Regardless of any EEO "laws" that are now being systematically dismantled.

People usually put up with a lot before choosing to leave and in this case, something like the NPS was never a "politicized" entity (versus the federal agency I used to work for). In fact, IIRC, it was often known as the "best place to work", because those who chose to work there (at least outside of the administrative staff) tended to embrace the outdoors and anything needed to enhance and preserve it.

So more and more "under the radar" agencies like the NPS, are getting impacted by and are dying from, the parasitic infection known as "the 45 administration".

[OldBaldy1701E]

6. People 'put up with a lot' because they have been programmed to do so.

[BumRushDaShow]

7. Or it's a necessity

particularly those at the bottom of the "99%".

The U.S. has no "Universal Basic Income".

[OldBaldy1701E]

8. They created the 'necessity'.

We don't have to play that game. There are other options.

Of course, those currently in power would lose that position.

That should not be a deal breaker, but for some reason, it is.

I wonder why?

We don't have to be held under the boot of corrupted capitalism, nor a corrupted political system.

We choose to be. We love our sociopolitical masochism.

The ones in power don't care about you. They care about being in power.

And, we seem to believe that this is more important.

The programming worked.

(By the way, I am one of those 'at the bottom'. I have nothing. I am one health issue away from both complete socioeconomic collapse and my end. But, I am willing to suffer a bit more than usual if it means that our general society will improve. To be honest, I did not think that I would see the day when wanting things to be more equitable and ethical is seen as 'radical', or 'undesirable'. I guess I have lived too long. )

[BumRushDaShow]

9. You are talking on the lofty "macro" level

But the average person is not tuned into the evils and vagaries of U.S. capitalism.

And as a note, other than an option of maybe going to library to get on the internet, you are "above" quite a few who have no internet access nor home (or living with many others or living out of a car or on the streets trying to do "side-hustles" ).

They see a different side of "capitalism" but are far from any levers of power to do anything about it. Their lack of residence alone precludes any voting.

IOW, the people who the "Working Families Party" are tapping into that we haven't reached or even reached out to (other than a few charlatans like Tavis Smiley and Cornel West).

[OldBaldy1701E]

10. "You are talking on the lofty "macro" level."

Yes, that is a variation of one of the usual things I hear when I mention what needs to be done. (I love how wanting equality and justice is considered 'lofty', by the way.)

But the average person is not tuned into the evils and vagaries of U.S. capitalism.

The average (U.S.) person is suffering greatly under that system. You really think that they don't know this? That they don't live the bias and unfairness every single day? That they know there are no other options for U.S. residents who are not independently wealthy but to be a good little peon or die?

They see a different side of "capitalism" but are far from any levers of power to do anything about it.

Which goes against the very concept of a government 'of, by, and for the people', by the way. There should be no 'levers or power'. We have the power. At least, we were supposed to.

Are we lying about that? Have we always been doing so?

And as a note, other than an option of maybe going to library to get on the internet, you are "above" quite a few who have no internet access nor home (or living with many others or living out of a car or on the streets trying to do "side-hustles" ).

Yes, these days. However, I have been in that boat before. Homeless, wandering the streets with no idea what to do and how to do it. And, this was in a tiny, southern city. (Which are well known for their compassion and plethora of aid for those who are not 'doing their best'. Yes, this is massive sarcasm.) By the way, this was not due to drug use or the like. This was because of mental health issues. At the time, I had not had a vehicle in eight years due to the costs. I just slept in the wooded areas that usually develop inside of the off and on ramps of the interstate. No bedroll. Just my coat for a blanket and a sweatshirt for a pillow. (If it was warm enough.) The only way I survived was plasma donations. That allowed me to eat a little something once a day. I walked that city from one end to the other almost every day.

Also, back then, there was no 'internet'. I would have lost everything I owned were it not for a friend who allowed me to store it all in one of his barns. I could not even move it once I got it all there. I received very little help for any of it, other than things that were designed to get me 'back out there in the working world'. (I once had a psychiatrist tell me that what I needed to do was to stop going to the county clinic (because that was all I could afford to do) and go out and get a job so that I could start paying to go to his personal, private practice. He was telling me that I should not go to where I could afford to go to address my issues (one of which was my growing inability to go out and find a job, much less hold one), and go out and be a wage slave just to give all of it to him to do what he was supposed to be fucking doing when we were meeting. I gave up on mental health 'help' after that. (No, this was not the first time I was treated like this by 'professionals'.) So, at twenty-seven years of age, I was forced to move back in with my father in a very rural area with zero prospects for someone with my abilities and experience.

That was quite a joy, let me tell you. (Again, sarcasm.)

And, lastly, I am not 'above' anyone or anything. Never was and never will be.

Maybe, just maybe, it is time to stop hiding behind how 'lofty' these ideas are and start to understand that this 'same old, same old' is destroying everything as well as killing us all. Maybe we need to understand that the effort and sacrifice that is required to fix this is still going to be far more acceptable than what is going to happen if we kick the can down the road again.

Or, not. We can always hope that Superman will fly in and wave his magic wand. It seems like the preferred thought process these days.

Of course, you can ignore all of this. I am nobody, so who cares?

[BumRushDaShow]

11. I agree with you 100%

But the average person is NOT posting on political forums and debating ideology or what should or shouldn't be how this country is supposed to operate (although a number of them nowadays might get exposed to that via places like Fakebook). To them, it's not "tangible" and causes them to lump it together as "just a bunch of politicians spouting off".

Instead, they operate through visceral and emotional reactions to their environments, along with the stoking of grievances as an outlet to try to salve the damage being done to them... and that is something that the GOP has successfully tapped into.

That is the sad reality, which is why we are in the mess we are in today.

I think right now, the dire economic situation is really going to resonate here, but this time, in our favor. But we have to find a way to "prove" that we can "fix it". Otherwise it will become a "Well what was the point if neither side won't or can't address this"?

We are in that quandary where even if we took back both the House and Senate, anything we pass will be vetoed, so there will be no change. The only thing that we might do with this as an interim step, is to literally put a tourniquet on this society to "stop the bleeding" until we get to 20028.

[OldBaldy1701E]

12. Then, we are lost.

Gleefully watching as people slowly perish due to things that would be easy to handle, but our society is more worried about our 'dick waving' economy.

You know, the thing created by people that has somehow become far more important than the people who created and sustain it?



Oh well, it won't matter much soon.

I have been having pretty solid chest pains the past few days. Way worse than any before. There is nothing I can do about it.

That seems to be what our society wants. Hopefully, it won't take too long to appease them.

Also, thanks for the discussion. They never seem to get anything done, but they are informative and can be entertaining.

I would hope it is appreciated. I know I do.

[BumRushDaShow]

13. What you are witnessing

Is literal "Bread and circuses" distractions... on steroids. It is a tactic (and term) mentioned nearly 2000 years ago during the height of the Roman Empire (and as you know, there was even a TOS episode about that and the pernicious use of "fakery" to fool the masses to keep them in submission, with draconian punishments).

(including the scenes where production staff were controlling the applause and other crowd sound effects via a sound device)