Nowhere is safe from Obama’s hissy fit
(USA Today) At a spot 5,000 feet above sea level and 20 miles from the nearest town, an innkeeper decided Friday to defy the federal government and reopen his lodge.
That stand lasted about two hours as National Park Service rangers blocked the entrances to the privately run Pisgah Inn on the Blue Ridge Parkway after owner Bruce O’Connell decided to reopen his dining room, gift shop and country store at noon Friday for lunch. The federal government had forced the inn, in a leased building on federal land, to shut down at 6 p.m. ET Thursday at the height of fall foliage — and tourism — season.
The inn has been leasing the land and building from Los Federales since 1919. O’Connell and has family have owned the business for the last 35 years. The feds essentially do nothing to maintain the building and property.
A handful of guests had lunch before Park Service patrol cars blocked the driveways, turning on their orange flashing lights. Rangers turned customers away, saying the government was closed.
The rangers stayed all through the night and into Saturday to make sure that Everyone Else feels the Obama decreed pain. The Blue Ridge Parkway itself isn’t closed. Los Federales make money off the lease of the land. They don’t lose money. Yet, according to Parkway Chief Ranger Steve Stinnett, they were directed by Washington to block the business.
