Soft Rock and Other Oxymorons

     A quick search online gives this definition of an oxymoron, and I'm paraphrasing:  A figure of speech, usually a couple of words long, that seems to contradict each other.  Here are just a few:

     Awful good, civil war, clearly misunderstood, oh, I really like this next one, plastic silverware.  I have a list of 100 oxymorons  in front of me, but I think you get the picture.  Words that shouldn't go together but somehow make sense.

     While reading the daily newspaper this week, I came upon another one.  It wasn't the usual two word conflict, it had four words.  Federally owned public land.

     First and foremost, this is not a political government rant.  Hmm, political and government, those two words might make the list. Anyway, I don't like politics and the government still perplexes me. When I was in the eighth grade one of the prerequisites of getting into high school was passing the Constitution of the United States test.  I flunked the test.  At the time it made no sense to me, as did a lot of things.  Maybe I had ADD or ADHD.  My teachers said I didn't apply myself.  To me, the word apply meant something you do with paint and that didn't sound like much fun.  Actually, I think I had RDC, Really Didn't Care.  With the thought of being eternally bound in junior high, I did manage to pass the test on the second try, so no, you won't get a lesson on government from me.

     With the recent shutdown of the government though, also came the shutdown of every national park in the country.  People from all over the world, not to mention the millions of our own citizens, had traveled to see things like the Grand Canyon, the Great Smokey Mountains, Mount Rushmore, just to name a few, only to find out they couldn't go in.  That would make me hoppin' mad if I had saved up for vacation to see one of these places.  Plus, I can't imagine what the price was to come here from another country.   
     
     So, it's public land, but it's not public....makes no sense to me.    "We the people" just got the door slammed in our face by "For the people, by the people".   I can think of several other government agencies that should have shut down, but that would be number 96 on my list of oxymorons.......my unbiased opinion.