Goes back further than that to the post-war era with the dismantling of the union movement and oppression of left wing voices due to the 2nd Red Scare/McCarthyism

I lost faith in the standards of our government employees after that one clerk was found to be repeatedly refusing to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples.

This.

These people are not equipped to handle the cognitive dissonance of having their beliefs challenged. They will simply compartmentalize away any contradictions so they don’t have to think about it. If you try to force the issue they become vitriolic and refuse to engage with you any further, usually resorting to character defamation to label you as someone who is not trustworthy and can be readily disregarded.