I can't tell if the administration is just too ham handed to know better, or whether they are purposely trying to stir up trouble

But this is just mindless stupidity, unless it's an attempt to stir up sedition and revolt, which is also mindless stupidity.

  "Folks who live in the Great Smoky Mountains have just about reached their breaking point with the federal government. 

“It’s almost like they are pushing to see how far they can push before the American people say enough is enough,” said Ed Mitchell, the mayor of Blount County, Tenn. “We were founded on a declaration of independence. And they are about to push the people to the line again.” 

Nearly a third of Blount County is inside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. So when the federal government shut down the park, it also shut down one of the area’s chief sources of revenue. 

The National Park Service also closed the Foothills Parkway, a major thoroughfare in the county. The closure came without warning and left the local school district scrambling to get children back to their homes."

An over at Small Dead Animals, there is a link to this story, about the arrest of Vietnam veterans at a New York war memorial.  As Kate asks (in Latin), is this the Rubicon, the flashpoint which sets off a nation?  Go over there and look at the picture of the old veterans arrested in the paddy wagon, and see how it makes you feel.

Keep in mind that very soon, there will be a truckers protest in DC, and then immediately the Million Veteran March.  The kind of chit described above isn't going to put anyone into a good mood.  Match, meet dynamite!

Alea iacta est, indeed!