Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Hatch Act; Intention, practice and selective reality (editorial)
By Laura Leigh on May 13, 2017Editorial, Laura Leigh
As an advocate for the wild wild horse I often find myself in an odd reality; the one I stand in on the range does not match the ones being perpetuated by public relations firms, government officials and political campaigns. This reality extends into areas that can simply be called abuse of power, clean across the board, from million dollar non profits wielding dollars to federal officials that are very selective in how they interpret law into practice to forward one agenda or another for either an entity that puts dollars into their pockets, solidifies a political alliance, a family member or one simply based on prioritizing the interest of their buds.
One example of the amazing hypocrisy is the way the Hatch Act is wielded. (I know a lot of government employees read my website and I suggest you brush up on the Hatch.)
For WHE readers I am going to make todays rant simple to understand when coupled with todays headlines. Im going to keep my ire limited to Hatch and not all the other regulations I have documented tossed in the trash bin when they interfere with personal agenda.
In a nutshell prohibited behavior, according to the Hatch Act, include such things as holding public office while still employed, managing a partisan political campaign or taking part in any activities that attempt to sway a persons vote in a partisan election. Civil servants are prohibited from publicly taking a political side, but must remain neutral always, when in their public capacities.
Mike Pence, as Vice President, is an elected official and an endorsement of a candidate for political office is not prohibited. But what about Ryan Zinke, the Secretary of the Interior? Did he violate the Hatch Act? Zinke is not an elected official, he is a civil servant. (Zinke pushed horse slaughter in Montana, remember that? https://wildhorseeducation.org/2017/03/01/zinke-to-head-interior-heres-your-sign/)
Last night Zinke urged voters in Montana to elect fellow Republican Greg Gianforte to the U.S. House, to help his boss, the President. That is not a statement made as a Montana resident expressing a personal belief on an issue, thats an outright political move as the Secretary of Interior, a civil servant.
Ok, so who cares? The Secretary of the Interior endorsed a Republican running for office, likely his buddy when he himself held political office in Montana, big deal. The big deal is he didnt do it in his civies, he did it using the voice of the sitting Secretary of the Interior.
What if you work for the Department of Interior and have a different opinion? If, as an example, you were the state lead of BLM in Montana and felt that the vote would hurt public land or even endanger the people that work in your office? If you, as the state lead, stand next to Steve Bullock (Gianfortes Democratic opponent) and say Help drain the political swamp in DC, vote for Bullock! Keep public land safe! would you expect to keep your job?
Just a reminder that I was born in New Jersey. Gianforte is a Jersey millionaire. Now what other millionaires, or supposed billionaires, also ran in the streets in New Jersey? Our President? If you want to read more you can go here: http://www.montanademocrats.org/news/montana-newspapers-gave-harsh-words-for-gianforte
In my capacity as an advocate for wild horses I have watched federal employees do a dangerous dance around the Hatch. I have watched (and documented) over and over this buddy system bend, twist and break policy, protocol and even the law, to accommodate politics, family and personal agenda. Ill be writing more on that soon.
As wild horse advocates we face an uphill battle at every single turn. Our interest, wild horses, is the favorite scapegoat of everyone. It is easy to place wild horse advocates into a category of crazy cat lady, Ive watched that over and over. However I have watched that crazy behavior on all sides. But I have witnessed it rewarded, not reprimanded, when the behavior serves a civil servants own interest.
There is nothing fair about multiple use, its a charade. Wild horse advocates are treated just like the wild horse; no equity in practice.
But when we have laws that are supposed to protect public debate, free information and freedom of speech that are dolled out selectively by the biggest bully in the room? It creates a sad situation. Do you become the bullied or the bully? Personally I dont want to be either and thats been a challenge long before I came to Nevada a decade ago, it extends back to growing up in the neighborhood I grew up in. But what are our choices when the federal government wont act like the parent in the room?
Did Zinke just violate the Hatch? What would the memo look like to a state lead of BLM in Montana if he disagreed, in public? Maybe something like Pack your bags, youre heading to Anchorage, or perhaps just a new keycard that says, Greeter, Statue of Liberty restroom.
We have been very busy the last two weeks getting crucial information to Congress. We will have more on that soon.
https://wildhorseeducation.org/
Wild Horse Education (WHE) is a tiny organization with a strong track record. Many utilize WHE as a credible source of information, protocol advice and how to engage the legal process. Our litigation record is impressive. Our field data has been used in process to halt inappropriate actions before they begin.
WHE is small. We do not have the resources other organizations have at their disposal. We have no public relations staff or firms that cut into the contributions made by the public to help our wild ones. We operate with the hope that people who support an organization are hiring the person to do the job they want done and are doing the research into who gets the best mileage per gallon.
Below is a brief summary of some of our accomplishments. These are not things we simply wrote about, these are things we have done. In addition we possess the largest library of first hand documentation of wild horse roundup removals that have occurred in the last decade.
https://wildhorseeducation.org/milestones-of-whe-our-resume/
This is our short resume. WHE give you more miles to the gallon. We document and engage ranges in 4 states and cover 50-100 thousand miles, or more, every single year. Range, table to courtroom; information and action, the only way to create change.
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
3 replies, 3366 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (5)
ReplyReply to this post
3 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Hatch Act; Intention, practice and selective reality (editorial) (Original Post)
Sunlei
May 2017
OP
Docreed2003
(16,817 posts)1. So even Gianforte has Russian ties...
From Wikipedia:
The Guardian released the financial disclosure form of Greg Gianforte which was filed with the clerk of the House of Representatives in which it shows that "the Montana tech mogul owns almost $150,000 worth of shares in VanEck Vectors Russia ETF and $92,400 in the IShares MSCF Russia ETF fund."
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)2. the 'good old boys' & their foreign buddies corruption goes way back.
This Journalist, Laura Leigh is an American Hero.
Docreed2003
(16,817 posts)3. Agreed...here's hoping there are those in Montana with ears to hear!