I'm wondering how air traffic control in Toronto--would fall under US jurisdiction, let alone US federal employment? To be clear--it is not expressly stated in your article, that they are but...
This article is absolutely spot-on. As a 21yr Navy pilot w over 7k pilot hrs, I believe he has touched on many (but not all) key aspects of every recent aviation mishap event. His points are clear and critically important as Trump, Musk and their ignorant thugs continue their rash, uneducated and politically motivated destruction of key aspects of government that they have no clue about. Henceforth, American air travelers have reason to be concerned.
Trump's highest priority is loyalty to him. Even higher than white supremacy or making money. Any Federal employee appointed or hired during the Biden-era is presumably disloyal to Trump. Probationary employees, whether new hires or promotions from within, "owe" their jobs to Biden. Thus, they are disloyal to Trump.
Disloyalty, not "rightsizing" the Federal workforce" or cutting spending is the driving force in all these terminations. Certainly not public safety! Some team at OPM is scouring the records for anyone hired or promoted during the Obama era.
Do not look for a thought-based explanation - there isn't one. It makes no sense. Loyalty to the Great Leader, and if innocent people must die to secure it, so be it!
Sorry if this went over the wrong way. Here was the intention, writing soon after the crash:
—The phrase 'defund the police' was demonized by the right wing, in ways we're all familiar with.
—What we're seeing right now is something that amounts to 'defunding ATC.' But that's a slogan they would never use. Because immediately people would say, "What the hell?"
Ah, and I see that in the original version of the piece I *was not clear* about what I was saying here. The phrase "Defund the police" became a right-wing **attack** slogan against Dems — who had used that phrase. I had a short-circuit of just calling it a right-wing phrase. Apologies, and have edited it to clear it up. JF
Still too early to make any judgements, but if a video that appears to show the actual landing is not fake, it looked like a normal touchdown, then the right wing dipped as the plane tilted to the right, was ripped off, and at the end of the clip the plane has rolled 90 degrees to the right with the left wing vertical. (Still moving.)
The first scenario that comes to mind is this began with the right main gear collapsing.
It remains to be seen if the video, which looks like someone somewhere to the right of the runway filmed it with a smartphone, can be verified. If it is actual, real, video, then there will be a lot of scrutiny of the wreckage, and examination of the landing gear on other jets of this type to see if was a unique event or a larger concern.
Too bad Musk and Trump have just given the FAA a lobotomy. It’s a good thing Canada will be taking the lead on this.
Under US laws, this is difficult to do. (Airline pilots, who are generally unionized, have more leeway to strike. The govt and military people really don't.)
We’ve known since Reagan that the GOP playbook is to campaign against inefficient, wasteful government, then, when elected, ensure the public experiences such.
If we accept the premise that “a lot of damage and a lot of hurt” is going to be necessary before 1) folks wise up and 2) midterms, what should the resistance be doing in the meantime? Already we’re seeing Lakoff-inspired simple posts from Gov Pete. AOC and Pritzker have also b even out there.
I’ve seen the idea of an “opposition cabinet” with daily press conferences and the like, honing messages, and giving future presidential candidates some practice. Could the Dems pull this off? Would the MSM cover it?
Just on that last point: Yes, the 'Shadow Cabinet' model is one widely popular in the rest of the world, and it seems an example just there for the taking. Would require someone to decide who was going to play what role. But they could even have rotating assignment. I will plan to write something about this when I get enough illustrations / references / etc
As I said on Bluesky, the Shadow Cabinet is a feature of parliamentary systems, because the Loyal Opposition has to have a government ready to take over in a matter of days. So they need to have the ideas, plans, legislation, executive orders, etc. all ready to go. The US is not like that.
Our "Shadow Cabinet" would probably have to be the senior Democrats on the various Congressional committees, with the "Shadow PM" part being played by the Minority Leaders in the House and Senate. Which would require leaders in those bodies to actually *lead*. I'm beginning to think that any elected Democrat older than I am (60) needs to be primaried. And not necessarily from the left! Nice solid centrists that won't be old enough for Social Security when the run for re-election would be fine!
My Senators (Kaine and Warner) here in Virginia don't seem to be doing much, and we're taking a huge hit from Musk and his Twitler Youth. When the Senator from Massachusetts gets more coverage in the local news than the ones from this state...
Who would organize? Yes, the sublimation of ego for the common good is a hurdle. Ideally someone young, vigorous and with credibility, but without Presidentitis. In that category, AOC has been moving toward the middle, knows that true power is in the house.
Isn't the Airport and Airway Trust Fund the primary source of funding for the ATC section of FAA? That fund uses taxes on fuel, tickets, air cargo and other sources to provide ongoing activities all across the ATC system, if I'm not mistaken. Where is the Congress while this larceny is being perpetrated on our critical systems? I'm beyond frustration, watching the damage these arrogant brats are causing while our elected representatives sit on their overfed asses.
I actually don't know for sure about the funding pipelines for ATC. (And will go check.) I fear that at the moment the challenge is OMB/OPM/Vought/Musk indifference to proper/legal funding mandates of *any* provenance.
As you know, this is the back story of the whole "impoundment act" controversy — Congress appropriates the funds, and from the Nixon era onward the assumption has been that the executive *had* to spend them. The current team says: Who cares? These people are all fired! Easy to imagine extending that attitude to ATC and beyond.
Tempting to imagine the "Flow Control" section of ATC sending out a nationwide message to all airport facilities for broadcast to all aircraft on the ground: "Gate hold procedures are now in effect until further notice at all domestic airports". I'd like to be a fly on the wall in all the congressional offices...
The goal of the Trump/Musk regime is to destabilize America and lay the ground work for an illiberal social order. That is the arc of their work . Parallels with what is taking place in Hungary! The specifics of their actions such as undermining air safety are part of the larger issue of creating the referenced social order!
Parenthetically, they couldn’t care less if a few more people die.
During the SCOTUS hearings concerning Trump's prosecution for his role in the January 6th insurrection Justice Gorsuch remarked: “We are writing a rule for the ages.”
Dare we hope for a similar expansive approach when SCOTUS starts reining in Trump's attempts at massively broadening executive authority and destroying the federal government ?
Justice Gorsuch remarked: “We are writing a rule for the ages.” This is not what the Supreme Court is tasked to do. They are to decide cases and controversies. Setting current and future policy as law is the job of the Congress per Article I of the Constitution. And the Executive, the Article II body, is to ensure that the laws are faithfully executed. Free universal public education is a phenomenal idea. Wouldn't it be nice if we did a competent job of teaching civics and US history.
You are correct but that's not quite the point I was making. The Court may rule on a particular case in such a way that the Trump is enjoined from similar action in other related cases.
We hope. We'll see what the Supremes decide. Some cases, like Birthright Citizenship, should be 9:0. But who knows what Thomas and Alito will do. I expect that some other decisions will constrain Trump, but we could also see new ground broken on Executive power. We live in interesting times.
Well said and thank you, Jim. Maybe your fair yet unpardoning assessment(s) will catch the attention of some of those in the GOP and its friendly courts and media who could but have not changed their tunes... that is, lead them to a belated awakening to what they continue to enable before something truly catastrophic or irreversible occurs (the concurrent dismissals at NNSA, the IC, NIH and CDC, the US Treasury, and other mission critical entities are too numerous to contemplate individually or as an ensemble). I am not particularly hopeful...
Ed, thanks. One of the great mysteries of our time — "great" in terms both of importance and of difficulty-to-solve — is what, if anything, would lead someone in the GOP establishment to say, "OK, enough is enough."
Interestingly, we have seen this with the Mayor Adams quid-pro-quo from (very conservative) officials at the SDNY and their supervisors at DOJ. It's the elected folk we're still willing to hear from — as we heard from Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.
The goal of Trump is to erode confidence in the FAA and air traffic control so as to ease their privatization. If lives have to be lost to ensure this, then, in his view, it will have been a necessary and worthwhile trade-off. The specific lives do not matter.
There is already substantial private monetization of NOAA data; public data, free to all, gussied up, sometimes supplemented, and remarketed to the public for subscription or advertising revenue. You can get it free from the NWS or pay for it from resellers.
If NOAA is privatized who pays for the collection of the raw weather data? I suspect that we, the public, still pay. Our government still collects the data. But the NWS is obstructed or prohibited from distribution of weather reporting to the larger public.
People don't know what the government does. They are starting to learn by being deprived of the benefits. They/we will learn by suffering the results of the "deconstruction of the administrative state". The rebranding of our government civil service as the "deep state" is a con, a malicious lie. We will suffer greatly from it's intentional disruption/destruction. Hopefully, a controlling majority of the public will see that a coup by oligarchs is underway in time to stop it.
I'm wondering how air traffic control in Toronto--would fall under US jurisdiction, let alone US federal employment? To be clear--it is not expressly stated in your article, that they are but...
This article is absolutely spot-on. As a 21yr Navy pilot w over 7k pilot hrs, I believe he has touched on many (but not all) key aspects of every recent aviation mishap event. His points are clear and critically important as Trump, Musk and their ignorant thugs continue their rash, uneducated and politically motivated destruction of key aspects of government that they have no clue about. Henceforth, American air travelers have reason to be concerned.
All I know about flying is what the crew tells me.
From these missives, Mr. Fallows, I learn so much!
Trump's highest priority is loyalty to him. Even higher than white supremacy or making money. Any Federal employee appointed or hired during the Biden-era is presumably disloyal to Trump. Probationary employees, whether new hires or promotions from within, "owe" their jobs to Biden. Thus, they are disloyal to Trump.
Disloyalty, not "rightsizing" the Federal workforce" or cutting spending is the driving force in all these terminations. Certainly not public safety! Some team at OPM is scouring the records for anyone hired or promoted during the Obama era.
Do not look for a thought-based explanation - there isn't one. It makes no sense. Loyalty to the Great Leader, and if innocent people must die to secure it, so be it!
FYI: https://trumpcrashedthis.com/?_bhlid=9fddd295aa7708882c937e8f8f452dd31fbfa876
A friend of mine challenged your inclusion of "Defund the Police" in this post, and on reflection, I agree with him.
Sorry if this went over the wrong way. Here was the intention, writing soon after the crash:
—The phrase 'defund the police' was demonized by the right wing, in ways we're all familiar with.
—What we're seeing right now is something that amounts to 'defunding ATC.' But that's a slogan they would never use. Because immediately people would say, "What the hell?"
Again, sorry if it rang wrong.
Ah, and I see that in the original version of the piece I *was not clear* about what I was saying here. The phrase "Defund the police" became a right-wing **attack** slogan against Dems — who had used that phrase. I had a short-circuit of just calling it a right-wing phrase. Apologies, and have edited it to clear it up. JF
Still too early to make any judgements, but if a video that appears to show the actual landing is not fake, it looked like a normal touchdown, then the right wing dipped as the plane tilted to the right, was ripped off, and at the end of the clip the plane has rolled 90 degrees to the right with the left wing vertical. (Still moving.)
The first scenario that comes to mind is this began with the right main gear collapsing.
It remains to be seen if the video, which looks like someone somewhere to the right of the runway filmed it with a smartphone, can be verified. If it is actual, real, video, then there will be a lot of scrutiny of the wreckage, and examination of the landing gear on other jets of this type to see if was a unique event or a larger concern.
Too bad Musk and Trump have just given the FAA a lobotomy. It’s a good thing Canada will be taking the lead on this.
Why don't we hear from the professionals in the cockpits? Like a warn strike of all airline pilots? Or all crews of Airforce One calling in sick.
The ladies and gentlemen in the control towers could also go on strike.
Under US laws, this is difficult to do. (Airline pilots, who are generally unionized, have more leeway to strike. The govt and military people really don't.)
Thank you for this bit of information.
Still: Airline pilots rather die than raise their concerns?
They tried that once and everyone was fired.
We’ve known since Reagan that the GOP playbook is to campaign against inefficient, wasteful government, then, when elected, ensure the public experiences such.
If we accept the premise that “a lot of damage and a lot of hurt” is going to be necessary before 1) folks wise up and 2) midterms, what should the resistance be doing in the meantime? Already we’re seeing Lakoff-inspired simple posts from Gov Pete. AOC and Pritzker have also b even out there.
I’ve seen the idea of an “opposition cabinet” with daily press conferences and the like, honing messages, and giving future presidential candidates some practice. Could the Dems pull this off? Would the MSM cover it?
Just on that last point: Yes, the 'Shadow Cabinet' model is one widely popular in the rest of the world, and it seems an example just there for the taking. Would require someone to decide who was going to play what role. But they could even have rotating assignment. I will plan to write something about this when I get enough illustrations / references / etc
As I said on Bluesky, the Shadow Cabinet is a feature of parliamentary systems, because the Loyal Opposition has to have a government ready to take over in a matter of days. So they need to have the ideas, plans, legislation, executive orders, etc. all ready to go. The US is not like that.
Our "Shadow Cabinet" would probably have to be the senior Democrats on the various Congressional committees, with the "Shadow PM" part being played by the Minority Leaders in the House and Senate. Which would require leaders in those bodies to actually *lead*. I'm beginning to think that any elected Democrat older than I am (60) needs to be primaried. And not necessarily from the left! Nice solid centrists that won't be old enough for Social Security when the run for re-election would be fine!
My Senators (Kaine and Warner) here in Virginia don't seem to be doing much, and we're taking a huge hit from Musk and his Twitler Youth. When the Senator from Massachusetts gets more coverage in the local news than the ones from this state...
I eagerly look forward to you opining in this idea. I'm persuaded by Timothy Snyder and think a 'people's cabinet' (his words) has great merit.
Looking forward to it.
Who would organize? Yes, the sublimation of ego for the common good is a hurdle. Ideally someone young, vigorous and with credibility, but without Presidentitis. In that category, AOC has been moving toward the middle, knows that true power is in the house.
Isn't the Airport and Airway Trust Fund the primary source of funding for the ATC section of FAA? That fund uses taxes on fuel, tickets, air cargo and other sources to provide ongoing activities all across the ATC system, if I'm not mistaken. Where is the Congress while this larceny is being perpetrated on our critical systems? I'm beyond frustration, watching the damage these arrogant brats are causing while our elected representatives sit on their overfed asses.
I actually don't know for sure about the funding pipelines for ATC. (And will go check.) I fear that at the moment the challenge is OMB/OPM/Vought/Musk indifference to proper/legal funding mandates of *any* provenance.
As you know, this is the back story of the whole "impoundment act" controversy — Congress appropriates the funds, and from the Nixon era onward the assumption has been that the executive *had* to spend them. The current team says: Who cares? These people are all fired! Easy to imagine extending that attitude to ATC and beyond.
Tempting to imagine the "Flow Control" section of ATC sending out a nationwide message to all airport facilities for broadcast to all aircraft on the ground: "Gate hold procedures are now in effect until further notice at all domestic airports". I'd like to be a fly on the wall in all the congressional offices...
Happened on 9-11.
The goal of the Trump/Musk regime is to destabilize America and lay the ground work for an illiberal social order. That is the arc of their work . Parallels with what is taking place in Hungary! The specifics of their actions such as undermining air safety are part of the larger issue of creating the referenced social order!
Parenthetically, they couldn’t care less if a few more people die.
During the SCOTUS hearings concerning Trump's prosecution for his role in the January 6th insurrection Justice Gorsuch remarked: “We are writing a rule for the ages.”
Dare we hope for a similar expansive approach when SCOTUS starts reining in Trump's attempts at massively broadening executive authority and destroying the federal government ?
Justice Gorsuch remarked: “We are writing a rule for the ages.” This is not what the Supreme Court is tasked to do. They are to decide cases and controversies. Setting current and future policy as law is the job of the Congress per Article I of the Constitution. And the Executive, the Article II body, is to ensure that the laws are faithfully executed. Free universal public education is a phenomenal idea. Wouldn't it be nice if we did a competent job of teaching civics and US history.
You are correct but that's not quite the point I was making. The Court may rule on a particular case in such a way that the Trump is enjoined from similar action in other related cases.
We hope. We'll see what the Supremes decide. Some cases, like Birthright Citizenship, should be 9:0. But who knows what Thomas and Alito will do. I expect that some other decisions will constrain Trump, but we could also see new ground broken on Executive power. We live in interesting times.
We dare hope! (As opposed to "expect" or "count on.")
If only the current SCOTUS could be counted on to reign in Trump.
“Defund the police“ was a Black Lives Matter slogan as well as being promoted by some progressives.
And I don't understand why it served any purpose to bring it up in this post.
Thanks, replied to this in preceding note, higher up in the thread. Sorry this came across the wrong way.
Yes, agree.
Well said and thank you, Jim. Maybe your fair yet unpardoning assessment(s) will catch the attention of some of those in the GOP and its friendly courts and media who could but have not changed their tunes... that is, lead them to a belated awakening to what they continue to enable before something truly catastrophic or irreversible occurs (the concurrent dismissals at NNSA, the IC, NIH and CDC, the US Treasury, and other mission critical entities are too numerous to contemplate individually or as an ensemble). I am not particularly hopeful...
Ed, thanks. One of the great mysteries of our time — "great" in terms both of importance and of difficulty-to-solve — is what, if anything, would lead someone in the GOP establishment to say, "OK, enough is enough."
Interestingly, we have seen this with the Mayor Adams quid-pro-quo from (very conservative) officials at the SDNY and their supervisors at DOJ. It's the elected folk we're still willing to hear from — as we heard from Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger.
Brilliant and depressing.
Dan, thank you.
The goal of Trump is to erode confidence in the FAA and air traffic control so as to ease their privatization. If lives have to be lost to ensure this, then, in his view, it will have been a necessary and worthwhile trade-off. The specific lives do not matter.
I agree that "privatize air traffic control" is for many of these people an intended goal. (Something similar underway of course with NOAA.)
There is already substantial private monetization of NOAA data; public data, free to all, gussied up, sometimes supplemented, and remarketed to the public for subscription or advertising revenue. You can get it free from the NWS or pay for it from resellers.
If NOAA is privatized who pays for the collection of the raw weather data? I suspect that we, the public, still pay. Our government still collects the data. But the NWS is obstructed or prohibited from distribution of weather reporting to the larger public.
People don't know what the government does. They are starting to learn by being deprived of the benefits. They/we will learn by suffering the results of the "deconstruction of the administrative state". The rebranding of our government civil service as the "deep state" is a con, a malicious lie. We will suffer greatly from it's intentional disruption/destruction. Hopefully, a controlling majority of the public will see that a coup by oligarchs is underway in time to stop it.