Whether he’s being needlessly insensitive and cruel or just making a fool of himself, Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma is off to a banner start to his week. Telling the grieving families of Newtown, Connecticut that the gun violence debate in Congress had nothing to do with them is not only false, it basically blows the asshole amp. Also, too, when the head of the U.S. Pacific Command says that climate change is the biggest threat in his area of operations, it’s probably not a good idea to try to get him to shut up and change his opinion,
Inhofe pressed Locklear to say his view has been misrepresented by “environmental extremists” who “think we’re spending too much money on defense.” The admiral did anything but that.
About 280,000 people died in natural disasters in his Pacific area of responsibility from 2008 to 2012, Locklear said.
“Now, they weren’t all climate change or weather-related, but a lot of them were,” he said. And that will only get worse as the population soars and even more people move toward “the economic centers, which are near the ports and facilities that support globalization,” according to the admiral.
“Okay, sorry, I’m going to interrupt you here, because you’ve now used up half my time,” Inhofe said.
Inhofe is stupid and evil but he isn’t entirely ineffective. Last year, he succeeded in passing the Pilot’s Bill of Rights. Inhofe became interested in the rights of pilots in an interesting way. He landed his plane on a closed runway while people were doing construction work. Here are a couple of reactions to Inhofe’s reckless decision.
In a recorded conversation with Lee Williams, an FAA quality assurance specialist, airport manager Marshall Reece tore into Inhofe’s piloting. “I’ve got over 50 years flying, three tours of Vietnam,” Reece said, “and I can assure you I have never seen such a reckless disregard for human life in my life.” He then added, “Something needs to be done. This guy is famous for these violations.”
…Shortly after Inhofe landed, Sidney Boyd, who was supervising construction on the closed runway, called the FAA to report that Inhofe’s plane, a twin-engine six-seater, initially touched down on the runway and then “’sky hopped’ over the six vehicles and personnel working on the runway, and then landed.”
During the call, which was recorded by the FAA, Boyd said Inhofe’s antics “scared the crap out of” workers, adding that the Cessna “damn near hit” a red truck. Referring to the vehicle’s driver, Boyd added, “I think he actually wet his britches, he was scared to death. I mean, hell, he started trying to head for the side of the runway. The pilot could see him, or he should have been able to, he was right on him.”
Boyd also said that Inhofe showed little contrition following the close call. “He come over here and started being like, ‘What the hell is this? I was supposed to have unlimited airspace.’”
During a conversation with a second FAA representative, Boyd said, “As much work as I do on airports and runways, it’s the first time I’ve ever had this happen.” Inhofe, he added, “knew the runway was closed…he started to land on the north end, he just went right over a huge yellow ‘X’ and he was coming down right in the middle of us, and he finally, somebody noticed us waving at him I guess.”
“He sky hopped over us,” said Boyd. “He was determined to land on that runway come hell or high water evidently.” He added, “I’m still shaking…I was in the middle of the runway, I headed for high country.”
But Inhofe wasn’t done violating the rules.
On Sunday, Inhofe headed back home — but not without incident. Fortunately, he didn’t try to take off on the closed runway. Actually, he didn’t try to take off on any of the four bi-directional runways at the airport. He chose instead to use a taxiway.
“I really didn’t have a choice,” he explained, “given the size of the plane. The taxiway is very wide and long, better than the rough runways” at that airport. ” He notified the airport official of his plan.
When the FAA penalized Senator Inhofe and forced him to take remedial flying lessons, he lost his mind and decided that something had to be done to protect the rights of desperately oppressed pilots.
Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) is pushing a bill that would protect pilots from “agency overreach” by the Federal Aviation Administration, in response to his own experience at the mercy of the FAA after he “scared the crap out of” airport workers last year when he landed his Cessna on a closed runway.
“I was never fully appreciative of the feeling of desperation until it happened to me,” he said
In any case, the bill passed and became law, which makes it easier for Inhofe to take off or land any damn way he wants.
The man is a menace.
