Little Rock       Elon Musk has given us a bit of a newsbreak.  Government service wasn’t working out so well for him.  Basic math, courts, and other people who also had egos were causing him problems.  He hasn’t disappeared from the news, but has rededicated his time to making go-gobs of money.  Tesla wants him back on the job before they go under, but hanging out in the Middle East with the Trump entourage seems likely to make him and his family yet another pile.  We should undoubtedly be glad he has stopped trying to fire federal employees for a minute, even if his distraction is simply in service of a bigger horde of dough.

Meanwhile, now that we are in the second 100 days of the Trump administration, the impact of some of the policies Musk was implementing is becoming clearer and clearer.  The devastation of the federal workforce is near the top of the list.  People used to talk about degrees of separation, giving the actor Kevin Bacon trivia contest fame, but now we’re getting to the point where all of us likely know some federal employee or contractor who has been fired or laid off.  On the phone recently with a friend and co-worker, I found that his daughter had been a dismissed probationary employee connected to what used to be our foreign outreach programs.  The scale is at the level of what used to signal a coming recession.  Think about these numbers,

…America has rarely seen sudden job losses on this scale. In 1993, IBM fired 60,000 people, setting the all-time record for largest layoff. Since Trump took office, the government has pushed at least 130,000 people out of jobs — with more than 50,000 fired and 76,000 accepting buyouts, according to media reports. Additional reductions planned in coming weeks could double that total.

We already know at a macro level how this is deteriorating services.  The loss of almost 20% of the IRS workforce has some observers wondering if the government will be able to collect taxes.  The attack on Social Security has been a disaster.  The telephone verification program has been abandoned, wait times have exploded, and fears about benefit cuts have led to accelerated applications.  Park service locations have been closed for lack of staff.  Inspections for health, safety, environment, and more may not happen in dozens of agencies, because there are not enough inspectors.  This seems to all be the way the Trump administration wants it, but once these degrees of separation from Americans and their services becomes personal, the reactions will also become political.

What about the impact on all of the workers dismissed or pushed out, fired, rehired, and fired again?  It’s bad, really bad.  Reading the Washington Post, it’s easy to get a sense of the personal terror felt by the workers.  Of course, thinking you had one of the most secure jobs in they country by working for the federal government and then suddenly finding yourself unemployed is a kick in the teeth of huge proportion.  Many workers are suffering from insomnia, depression, and even suicidal urges, and don’t know how they are going to make it.

For many, it wasn’t just a job, either.  It was a calling to public service and helping your fellow Americans.  Feeling the disregard and hearing the scorn and accusations from the Trump administration and their bosses is a gut punch.  Being called lazy, worthless, and a scoundrel ripping off their fellow countryman is not a pick me up.

The head of the Office of Personnel Service has said he wants federal employees to feel trauma.  He has succeeded.

The White House had this to say, “It is an honor, not a right, to serve your country in a taxpayer-funded position, and workers unaligned with the American people’s agenda can take part in the growing private sector.”

They worked with honor and were demeaned and dismissed without it.  What growing private sector?  Fast food?  Gig work?  Is a Trump personal loyalty oath now required to work for the federal government?

This is 1984 doublespeak by apparatchiks.  We’re being governed by tin people without hearts.  These workers were neighbors, friends, relatives.  They are real people who deserved better.