Over a decade ago, my dad took his Honor Flight to Washington DC. He’s a World War II veteran. His escort was my active-duty son. Great memories for both of them. They did the National Monument tour, seeing the World War II monument, Arlington National Cemetary, et al. They just missed the government shutdown of the National Parks, including the unmanned World War II memorial.
The president at the time was Barack Obama. He ordered the closure of the nation’s parks including areas that didn’t need to be shut down. It was in response to a standoff with the GOP on the budget. The shutdown Included the memorial that my dad and son saw together. They missed it by a few weeks.
It’s called Washington Monument Syndrome.
That’s shorthand for the way federal agencies react to any threat of budget cuts or a government shutdown: by closing down the most…
