Former VA Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R), Who Voted for Trump, Now Says It “broke my heart” That a Top Student of His Asked Him, “Given everything that is happening in Washington right now, why would anyone want to go to work for the government?”

The thing is, former VA Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling (R) pretty much nails it in his latest Facebook post (see below), but…

• Bolling voted for Trump, knowing full well that Trump wanted to implement “Project 2025,” basically to destroy the federal government (or as the far-right extremists call it, the “deep state”)
•  Bolling reasoning as to why he voted for Trump was pretty much hysteria – actually claiming, beyond laughably, that  it was “Kamala Harris and ultra liberal Democrats that pose the greater threat to democracy” and that “Their socialistic approach to governing would undermine the core foundation of America’s commitment to individualism and capitalism.” WTF???
• How can this be the same person who wrote the intelligent Facebook post this morning, among other things noting that his heart was broken over one of his “most promising students ask me this question: ‘Given everything that is happening in Washington right now, why would anyone want to go to work for the government?'” Uh, dude? What did you THINK was going to happen if you helped elect the guy who wanted to destroy the federal government, who ranted and raved falsely about Democrats being “socialists” and “Marxists,” etc??? You never saw this coming??? 

So now, we’re all suffering the consequences of people like Bolling helping put Trump back in office, despite Trump promising to be a dictator, to trash the constitution, to dismantle the federal government, to destroy our democracy, etc. And now they’re shocked/sad/whatever about the inevitable, 100% forseeable (and foreseen!) outcome? Incredible.

One of the courses I teach at the university level is Politics of the Administrative System. It is basically a course on Public Administration.

Many political science graduates go to work for government agencies, or for private contractors who do a lot of work for the government. The course is designed to teach them how the federal bureaucracy works, or sometimes does not work.

Having spent a large portion of my professional career in government service, albeit in elected office, I value what government does. When it works the way it is supposed to work, government can have a positive impact on peoples lives.

I encourage my students to value their potential government service as a way to make a positive contribution to society.

That is certainly not to suggest that government is always a good thing. As Ronald Reagan once remarked, “sometimes government is the problem.”

Because of that, I am all for finding ways to make government work smarter, and be more effective and more efficient. We also talk about that in our classes.

However, this week one of my most promising students ask me this question: “Given everything that is happening in Washington right now, why would anyone want to go to work for the government?”

To be honest, as a teacher, that question broke my heart.
We need good people who are willing to dedicate their careers to public service, and when we sour them on public service, that is not a good thing.

The question led to a long discusison, almost the entire class session, about the pros and cons of public service, as well as the pros and cons of working in the private sector. Hopefully, it all helped eleviate some of the fears these prospective public servants had about what they had seen as their chosen careers.

I guess the bottom line is this. We should certainly be open to looking for responsible ways to reform government and reduce government costs. And I’m all for looking for ways to reduce the size, scope and cost of the federal govenrment in particular.

However, in the process we need to realize that not all government programs are bad, and not all public employees are lazy and worthless.

There are some very important and beneficial government programs out there, and in my experience, the peopple who dedicate their careers to public service as just as capable as those

I have worked with in the private sector.

The truth is that we all rely on govenrment programs every day – public safety programs, the roads we drive on, the airports we fly out of, the schools our children attend, the research that is done into finding ways to improve public health and eliminate deseases, etc.

And some Americans, who may not be as fortunate as others, rely on these programs to help provide very basic things like housing, food, health care and more.

We should definitely look for responsible ways to reform government and make it work better. But we need to do it in the right way, recognizing the importance of the programs goverment provides for almost every American, as well as the dedicated service most public employees try to provide every day.