Oh, Because It's Rare that Federal Employees Are Devoted?

I kind of want to tip my hat to George Packer for taking time out on his blog to salute a civil servant who's done great work on behalf of Iraqi refugees. But I'm sort of too annoyed by his tone about the federal bureaucracy to cheer this on as an example of the mainstream press taking notice of talented federal employees. Packer writes:

Her name is Lori Scialabba, and she is theâ€"we’re dealing with the federal bureaucracy hereâ€"associate director of the Refugee, Asylum, and Operations Directorate at the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, as well as serving as the department’s senior adviser on Iraqi refugees. In other words, she’s the person appointed to cut through the red tape that was keeping all but a trickle of Iraqi refugees from reaching these shores.

Hilarious. Federal titles are really funny. It's rare that a civil servant would answer emails in a timely fashion. Shucks.

I understand that Packer and others are hugely frustrated by the government's failure to protect Iraqi refugees, especially Iraqis who have helped American forces in the country by acting as translators. But to act like that's because civil servants are inherently not responsive, or that it's incredibly surprising that someone who works for the government would work hard or go above and beyond to help people who are vulnerable, is just condescending.