It Is Best to Remember
Remember back when Trump the Terrible shut down the Government? I know it was a few hundred outrages ago so let me refresh your memory about how it ended. Or at least how the Public perceived it ended.
"On Friday, air traffic controllers calling in sick slowed air traffic across the Northeast; hundreds of workers at the Internal Revenue Service also did not show up; and the F.B.I. director said he was as angry as he had ever been over his agents not being paid."
Remember that now? It wasn’t really clear how it ended. Or why. Nobody said it was definitely controllers that ended it but that was placed in everyone’s mind. Nobody said if was intentional or if it just happened in the natural course of events. But it was out there. And President Trump did back down.
By the way, go just one layer deeper into that blurb from the New York Times; Air traffic controllers (not FAA), IRS and FBI. Curious how that’s phrased, no? I wonder how Trump feels about the IRS and the FBI? (Okay, I don’t really wonder.)
It is best to remember all this because it is unlikely Trump will forget. I’m pretty sure he’s not going to mention it...just as I’m pretty sure he is not going to forget it. He’s not a sophisticated man. He rewards his “friends” and he punishes his enemies. And I’m pretty sure he never mistakes any threat to his power for a friend.
I think of Trump as a tiger. He can’t outsmart you. He’s not smart. But he can kill you. Because that’s the skill set nature has given him. Enter his jungle at your peril.
“The administration is examining employees throughout the government to find anyone taking action officials decide represents an effort to undermine Trump,...”
Everybody needs to think about this but air traffic controllers really need to think about it. You, personally, might want to surrender rather than fight Trump but I’m not sure that it’s really an option. Can you surrender to a tiger?
You can’t remove the power from your profession. It is inherent in the nature of your work. It isn’t unlimited power (ask PATCO) but it isn’t non-existent. Ask Trump.
(I swear, I didn’t think of Churchill until I was proofreading.)
Don Brown
March 3, 2020
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