U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) posted a video to X on Thursday promoting efforts, alongside their friends at FEMA, engaged in disaster cleanup. It is a demonstration of government efficiency at its absolute best.
Or maybe not. They were promptly ratioed into oblivion for the effort.
Worried about hurricane cleanup in Florida after Hurricane Milton? Fear not. These folks are on the case!
“Along with our partners at @FEMA, we will continue with disaster recovery as a result of Hurricane Milton,” the video is captioned. “The safety of the American people is our top priority.”
It’s hard to believe somebody on the CBP social media team thought this was impressive enough to post.
Feast your eyes on the ragtag group of armed federal officers, which has been assembled to tackle this gargantuan task – Using 14 people to move one log – one log! – roughly 15 feet:
Along with our partners at @FEMA, we will continue with disaster recovery as a result of Hurricane Milton. The safety of the American people is our top priority. pic.twitter.com/l8NfS8dPlc
— CBP (@CBP) October 17, 2024
One person with a camera, supervising 14 people in the task of moving a log into a pile 15 feet away, is government work in a nutshell.
You know that scene in the first “Avengers” movie? The one where our intrepid heroes ‘assemble’ for the first time, the camera panning around them in a circle as they all take a fighting stance to save the Earth?
Did these 14 guys and gals feel like that when they got together to move this single log?
I mean, mix in a wheelbarrow and you could move at least half a dozen of those suckers in one shot. Using one person. Suffice it to say, viewers on X weren’t nearly as impressed with the effort as the CBP apparently was.
“How long is it going to take to get that pile of wood into a truck?” wondered Canadian lawyer David Freiheit.
Grabien founder Tom Elliott added, “At this pace, it will take 30 bureaucrats earning 150k/year about 2 months to do what a bulldozer could do in less than an hour.”
Others noticed that the video practically provides hard evidence of why Donald Trump needs to return to the White House and get rid of waste permeating federal government agencies:
So you’re saying that Trump can fire 90% of you and no one will notice?
— Vauban Books (@VaubanBooks) October 18, 2024
To that end, the CBP video seems like a relevant opportunity to rehash a Trump campaign promise vowing to create a government efficiency commission to audit the entire federal government.
The idea for such a commission was reportedly introduced by X CEO Elon Musk.
“We need to do it,” Trump said in a speech to the Economic Club of New York in September. “Can’t go on the way we are now.”
Musk would lead the effort. Imagine that. Two great business minds just going in, scythes swinging, cutting out all the dead weight, red tape, and general waste across multiple departments and agencies.
It’s what America desperately needs right now. And Musk indicated a willingness to enact such reforms at no cost to the American taxpayer.
“I look forward to serving America if the opportunity arises,” Musk wrote on X. “No pay, no title, no recognition is needed.”
I look forward to serving America if the opportunity arises.
No pay, no title, no recognition is needed. https://t.co/5PSNtjBQn7
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 5, 2024
In a conversation aired on X last month, the former president marveled over Musk’s ability to streamline operations and slash waste and spending.
“You’re the greatest cutter,” Trump told Musk. “I need an Elon Musk — I need somebody that has a lot of strength and courage and smarts. I want to close up the Department of Education, move education back to the states.”
It doesn’t even have to be the ‘greatest.’ Even just a moderate cutter would be able to reduce the number of agents it takes to move a log 15 feet.
Imagine what Trump and Musk could do together.
