It is a sad fact of life that bad news is good news, at least to the media which argues that it is only giving the public what it wants.  We see and hear bad-is-good examples all the time. It is especially fun when the goof involves a federal agency or, better yet, some faceless bureaucrat.

Think about it.

Millions of letters are delivered on time day after day. No news there!  We expect it.  The news is when the proverbial World War II 1943 letter from a GI in New Guinea is delivered 60 years later. She never got his proposal of marriage, he was heartbroken. Each married someone else, but both always wondered what if …

Or closer to home there was the story of the HUD employee in Atlanta who was so naughty it was nice. In the news biz.   His claim to infamy:  The way he coped with the great government shutdown of 2013.   HUD’s inspector general said the resourceful fed used three separate government credit cards to charge nearly $12,000 in groceries, hotel rooms and even to pay his cable bill. He apparently had the premium package.

The HUD watchdogs who should have caught him at the time were furloughed at the time. Still, another great example of bureaucratic arrogance and stupidity!  Suspicions confirmed, right?

Given that bad news is good news, is it possible to stand out in a good way without being bad? Especially if you work in a huge organization, like General Motors, Wal-Mart or the U.S. government?   When is the last time you heard about a government worker who didn’t do something illegal, immoral or fattening?  In big outfits, bosses are usually remote (not always a bad thing).  In government, the board of directors (Congress) is based in D.C.  When not on vacation, which is often. Whether here (D.C.) or there (where you are) most of them are cranky most of the time, especially when it comes to running and funding government.

In fact, some good things do come from the ranks in government, if you look very , very hard.  For example:

The Senate last week passed the so-called Wounded Warrior Federal Leave Initiative. When it becomes law, feds with military service disabilities can be granted 104 hours of sick leave, up front, the first year. The leave could only be used for time off for treatment or disability-related counseling.  Since the federal government is a major employer of vets, this is a big deal.  Hard to find anybody that opposes this one.  So where did the idea come from?

The Federal Managers Association said it was a team effort by a group of civilian feds out of Cherry Point Marine Corps Air Station.  That’s in North Carolina. FMA has a chapter there and says a group of employees realized something had to be done for the wounded warriors immediately. Many couldn’t wait until they had earned sick leave under the normal biweekly civil service rules.  FMA said its regional director Renee Johnson, Cherry Point Vice President Sue Thatch and a team of employees started politicking locally, while FMA worked Capitol Hill.  In a bipartisan push, Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) said they would work the Senate. They did.

FMA President Patricia Niehaus said the leave program is a win-win for agencies and employees, while providing first-year vets  with disabilities “the care they deserve.”

Next stop, the House of Representatives. Imagine anybody not supporting this one?

Not bad, as they say, for government work!!!

Nearly Useless Factoid

By Michael O’Connell

Screenwriter Bill Lancaster based Walter Matthau’s character in the 1975 film “The Bad News Bears” on the experiences he had with his father, actor Burt Lancaster.

Source: IMDB

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