Quote of the Day

"Any action by the Obama administration that does jeopardize safety is more evidence that the White House is implementing the sequester in ways to only score political points."
-- Rep. Aaron Schock (R-Ill.)

There often is great whimsy in faux-outrage.  In this case, it's the very reality that the only reason we have a sequester in the first place is because the far-right wing of the Republican Party wanted to score political points.  If Mr. Schock -- and I'm sorry, but that just has to be a fake name, perhaps his Internet handle for leaving anonymous user comments -- if Mr. Schock is so against using the sequester to score political points, perhaps  he could convince his GOP pals to revoke their support for it.

It's also whimsical to see all the outrage over this closing of 149 air-traffic control towers at small airports.  Some Democrats have complained, but mostly it's been Republicans, whose high-end supporters are the one's most inconvenienced for private jet travel.  If their concern for people who are facing cuts to Social Security, Medicare and other social services that impact their actual lives was just one-tenth the concern they have for the wealthiest Americans who might face delayed flights, it would be seriously impressive.

And for those claiming that their outrage is really a safety issue, no doubt they were just as outraged, if not more so, when Ronald Reagan replaced all the air-traffic controllers.

It's also worth noting that, as the AP wrote two weeks ago, "all pilots are trained to land without help by communicating among themselves on a common radio frequency."

To be clear, this is an inconvenience, and it would be far better not to close the towers during the Sequester.  But then, that's the point of why Democrats were trying so hard to avoid the Sequester, because it would force cut-backs for so many services Americans have come to expect.

But the faux-outrage over closing a service for private jets and silence for actual life needs is the exact sort of thing that pushed the Republican Party into the hole that their very own "Growth & Opportunity" report had them painted by the public as "out of touch" and made up of "stuffy old men."