Trump has blood on his hands

Discussion in 'Political Discussions' started by NotJoeBiden, Jan 31, 2025.

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  1. NotJoeBiden

    NotJoeBiden Active Member

    The worst airline disasters in decades happened yesterday, killing 67 people in Washington DC. It is no coincidence this occurred directly after massive changes to the FAA, gutting of regulations, a freeze on federal hiring, and the many EOs to cut the civil workforce. But who did Trump blame? Obama, Biden, Pete Buttigieg, DEI, the military, and even people with dwarfism.

    From the article:
    An internal report from the Federal Aviation Administration found that in reality, the tower’s staffing at Ronald Reagan National Airport (DCA) was “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic,” according to The New York Times. There was only one air traffic controller to handle both helicopters and planes in the airport’s vicinity, a job usually assigned to two people.

    https://newrepublic.com/post/190964/faa-report-dc-plane-crash-staffing-indictment-trump
     
  2. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Look, I don't like him either, but unless one can point to something he specifically did that would have taken less than ten days to screw up air traffic control then "Trump has blood on his hands" is histrionic bullshit.
     
  3. Jonathan Whatley

    Jonathan Whatley Well-Known Member

    Federal air crash responders all got the ‘resign’ email (Tom Termin, Federal News Network, January 30, 2025)
    Ranking Members Larsen, Cohen Statements on Trump’s Dangerous Freeze of Air Traffic Control Hiring (The House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure Democrats, January 22, 2025)
     
  4. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Yes, I know, and if we were having this conversation in a few months then I'd accept this as something to pin on Trump. But eight days into his term? No one's left yet, this could just as easily have happened on January 19th, because air traffic control was already understaffed.
     
    Lerner likes this.
  5. Lerner

    Lerner Well-Known Member

    Can't blame the current new administration.
    The challenges of landing at Reagan National Airport are well-documented and long-standing.

    Seven U.S. pilots told Reuters that Reagan’s landing conditions are unique due to congested airspace, the inability to communicate directly with military aircraft on different radio frequencies, and shorter runways—including Runway 33, which is typically reserved for smaller aircraft.

    A Reuters review of past incidents involving helicopters at Reagan reveals that pilots have been raising concerns about near-misses since the 1980s. Former commercial airline pilot Kathleen Bangs emphasized the difficulty of navigating the airport, stating, "You definitely are bringing your A-game when you fly in and out of Reagan."

    In fact, out of 46 incidents flagged anonymously in the Aviation Safety Reporting System, 26 involved near-misses or dangerously close encounters.

    Notably, moments before the crash, an air traffic controller can be heard on recordings instructing the Army helicopter to pass behind the regional jet.

    Blaming the current administration ignores decades of documented risks at Reagan National.
     
  6. Jonathan Whatley

    Jonathan Whatley Well-Known Member

    The Trump administration is moving in a dangerous direction. I'm not convinced this crash is attributable to its actions, though that's more plausible than Trump's attributing it to DEI, disabled people, etc.

    Overcrowding of the airspace could be a factor:
    Congress Approved More Flights at Reagan Despite Warnings of Danger (David A. Fahrenthold, Karoun Demirjian, Christine Chung, and Kate Kelly, The New York Times, January 30, 2025)
     
    Bill Huffman likes this.
  7. Lerner

    Lerner Well-Known Member

    This tragedy prompted political blame and finger pointing.
    Devastating accident.
    It appears the traffic controller sent communication and instructions to the military helicopter, but not clear if the helicopter crew heard it, as the actions were opposite to what was asked by the traffic controller.

    Some are arguing that 2019 administration policies caused the hiring of less qualified traffic controllers.

    In November 2019, attorneys from the Mountain States Legal Foundation pursued class action status in a lawsuit representing over 2,500 aspiring air traffic controllers. They claim these individuals were unfairly impacted by the FAA’s race-based hiring policies.

    The lawsuit argues that the Obama administration compromised public safety by prioritizing racial considerations in hiring and seeks compensation for what it calls a “grave injustice.”

    The FAA and the U.S. Department of Transportation are contesting the case.
    With the case expected to go to court early next year with 900 claimants, Will Trachman, the lead counsel, said exiting administration tried to sweep the diversity scandal “under the rug”.

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/diversity-hiring-cost-job-faa-081042821.html
     
    Last edited: Jan 31, 2025
  8. Stanislav

    Stanislav Well-Known Member

    Yeeees, by all means, blame Obama for the crash.
    I was going to ask you, BTW. After seeing Musk's "Roman salute", all wonderful merits of Trump nominees, botched grants freeze, blocking US aid to anyone except Israel etc., what is it they have to do so you start voting to deny them power? It used to be the case when close advisor Zieg Heiling in public drew universal condemnation. Now it doesn't even stir people who self-describe as "moderate" and "independent". Like you. Or I am wrong and it still does?
     
  9. Stanislav

    Stanislav Well-Known Member

    How sure are you that the second guy didn't just quit in response to that e-mail? Or got placed on administrative leave for facilitating a DEI training once? I mean, Trump doesn't have any problem blaming the crash on Sec. Pete hiring traffic controllers with dwarfism (yeah, he said "dwarfism"). The notion that it was Trump's fault, eg. for sacking the FAA Director who displeased Musk and SpaceX (which he actually did for this actual reason), is WAY WAY WAAAY more plausible.
     
    NotJoeBiden likes this.
  10. Lerner

    Lerner Well-Known Member

    Stan,
    What's wrong with you?
    I just posted Yahoo news and alternate view, I didn't say I agree with it.
    Man,
     
  11. NotJoeBiden

    NotJoeBiden Active Member

    Before Trump’s press conference, he was briefed by the FAA, meaning he was aware of the accident and information around. He decided to immediately blame everything else except his stripping of government regulations and purging of employees.

    ALL federal employees and contractors have been under immense stress due to layoffs, quitting, hiring freezes, mandatory leave, changes in management, changes in rules and regulations, EO ambiguity, and overall confusion and chaos. To say this had no impact on the crash is to ignore reality.
     
    Last edited: Jan 31, 2025
  12. Lerner

    Lerner Well-Known Member

    The FAA’s latest workforce plan said the agency was short 3,000 controllers to fill air traffic control stations and towers across the country as of May, according to Airlines for America, a trade association representing U.S. airlines. In September, the FAA announced it had hired 1,811 new air traffic controllers in the 2024 fiscal year, and that the agency had more than 14,000 air traffic controllers in total and 3,400 people in training.
     
  13. Stanislav

    Stanislav Well-Known Member

    The question stands. What will prompt you to withhold your support and start voting for the other guys?
     
  14. Stanislav

    Stanislav Well-Known Member

    also, this question was actually to Steve.
     
  15. Bill Huffman

    Bill Huffman Well-Known Member

    I agree.

    IMHO, the most logical reason to blame Trump for the accident is that Trump would for sure blame Biden for everything that bad happened during his time in office. Now if it was good then Trump would likely take credit even though Biden was in office. For example, Trump liked to claim that stocks went up under Biden because investors were anticipating that Trump was going to win. Please note that just because I think this might be the most logical reason to blame Trump, I don't really think it makes sense to blame Trump.
     
    Dustin likes this.
  16. NotJoeBiden

    NotJoeBiden Active Member

  17. NotJoeBiden

    NotJoeBiden Active Member

    It isnt that Trump would blame Biden, Trump did blame Biden. I’m tired of people giving Trump grace simply for “civility”. We are well past that. His actions directly weakened the FAA and air traffic safety prior to the accident. Enough said.
     
  18. Bill Huffman

    Bill Huffman Well-Known Member

    Perhaps you can take some solace in the fact that Trump's approval rating is underwater? (I know that I take some solace in the fact.) It is 47% approval and 48% disapproval. It breaks the record for the soonest a President's approval rating is underwater after taking office.

    https://www.silive.com/politics/2025/01/poll-shows-trump-underwater-with-voters-after-flurry-of-executive-orders.html
    Note that I was quoting the Gallup poll. My link above shows a different poll with very similar numbers.

    Found the Gallup poll.
    https://news.gallup.com/poll/203198/presidential-approval-ratings-donald-trump.aspx

    Note: This is me gloating. I'm really not trying to grant Trump any grace. Trump is a horrible person and a horrible President. He's also a convicted criminal. There, how's that? :D
     
    Last edited: Jan 31, 2025
  19. NotJoeBiden

    NotJoeBiden Active Member

  20. Bill Huffman

    Bill Huffman Well-Known Member

    Trump is following the Project 2025 plan. The plan is basically to destroy the federal government in order to eliminate the "deep state". I'm not saying that these two plane crashes are Trump's fault. What I am saying though is that we are going to have to suffer through at least four years of this kind of chaos and dysfunction.
     

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