As this editor has noted before, whenever there's a looming government shutdown or, in this case, mass firings, the legacy media always seems to seek out people in forestry to use for their sob stories. Last month, CBS News for example featured a national park ranger who was fired from his dream job on Valentine's Day, of all days. How cruel is that?
National park ranger fired from "dream job" on Valentine's Day pens emotional viral letter: "Things are not ok" https://t.co/X0dLYb6lZJ
— CBS News (@CBSNews) February 18, 2025
Is it legal to fire someone on Valentine’s Day?
— 🥜🫃🏼💉🇺🇦🥥Hollaria Briden, Esq. (@HollyBriden) February 18, 2025
Li Cohen reported:
When Brian Gibbs woke up on Valentine's Day on Friday, it was just another morning of getting to do what he loved at his "dream job" as an education park ranger at Effigy Mounds National Monument in Iowa. By that afternoon, the father and husband said he was "absolutely heartbroken and completely devastated" to have been one of hundreds of National Park Service employees suddenly fired from their jobs.
…
"I am the highlight of your child's school day. I am the band aid for a skinned knee. I am the lesson that showed your children that we live in a world of gifts- not commodities, that gratitude and reciprocity are the doorway to true abundance, not power, money, or fear," Gibbs wrote. "I am the one who taught your kid the thrush's song and the hawk's cry. I am the wildflower that brought your student joy. I am the one who told your child that they belong on this planet. That their unique gifts and existence matters."
We've had a couple of weeks to dry our eyes, but now CBS Evening News is going back to the well, profiling two other National Park Service workers who lost their jobs.
Recommended
CBS Evening News Plus: Two workers laid off from the National Park Service sound off on their struggles: "I cycle through being angry, sad, distressed." https://t.co/qDXlTNA2Oi pic.twitter.com/b7RMcEexV5
— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) March 5, 2025
Karen Hua reports:
Stacy Ramsey and Leah Saffian worked at the Buffalo National River, part of Arkansas' Ozark National Forest, until they were among about 1,000 National Park Service workers who were laid off last month as part of the Trump administration's wave of federal mass firings.
…
Since President Trump took office, thousands of federal workers have been fired by the White House's Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which is headed up by billionaire Elon Musk, as part of the new administration's efforts to enact major budget cuts. The layoffs at the park service amounted to about 5% of the agency's workforce of approximately 20,000 employees.
Park service jobs can range from collecting entrance fees to cleaning up trash to conducting search-and-rescue missions.
We checked back through CBS News' timeline to see when they did their sob stories of Keystone XL pipeline workers who'd suddenly lost their jobs, but all we found were stories about protesters trying to shut it down.
Powerful journalism
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) March 5, 2025
Yes, very sad. Anyway...
— Dr Strangetweet or How I Learned to Love the RT (@lone_rides) March 5, 2025
You ignore private employees when they get canned
— JustBully (@JustBully114729) March 5, 2025
CBS News just has a thing for park rangers.
I dislike those pricks.
— BrowningMachine, Garbage Nazi! (@BrowningMachine) March 5, 2025
When we go to Yellowstone, they're almost invariably officious jerks who behave like we're trespassing on their lawn.
Maybe if they acted like servants of the people and faithful stewards of The People's Park, they'd get more sympathy.
How long are you going to do the struggle sessions with these people? You’re doing them more harm than good. I hope these whiners are unemployable again on the federal level.
— LG in AZ (@myfoureyedtribe) March 5, 2025
I got laid off in December, I’m still waiting for @CBSEveningNews to reach out to me about how I feel about it.
— Foster (@Foster404) March 5, 2025
Why should government workers get better treatment than private sector workers who pay the salaries of government workers?
— Trew_Story (@Trew_StOrie) March 5, 2025
Why do private citizens not get coverage from “@CBSNews “ when they’re fired?
— Satanás (@smejk70030) March 5, 2025
So why didn’t you guys tell them to maybe… learn to code?
— Joy McButtercup (@Assilemann) March 5, 2025
Oh, wow, so much pain We, in the private sector, nave never and will never experience what they are going through, thank God!
— Red Head Sophia (@RedHeadS0phia) March 5, 2025
Do you realize how ridiculous you are with the takes like that? Maybe now she can become a productive member of our society, not a leach on our back.
There will never be one single day that I’m alive that I’ll care
— Michael (@MichaelGabagool) March 5, 2025
This is an incredible tragedy.
— 🇺🇸Night Wood ✞⚭⚓ (@Shteina_Gott) March 5, 2025
Also: Coal miners.
Interesting that the company that created this feature just laid off 2,000+ people—15% of the entire company—not even 6 months agohttps://t.co/PCpISQSzw7
— JoCo, III, Esq. (@JoCo3Point0) March 5, 2025
Imagine that.
Is this the first time in history that people were fired from a job?
— A Bald Golfer (@bald_golfer) March 5, 2025
CBS News only covers people being fired if they can trace it to Elon Musk and DOGE. Then it's a crisis.
***
Join the conversation as a VIP Member