It's like a chain of stupid:
For starters, implying a work slow-down or strike by pilots and ATC is "domestic terrorism" would've garnered a standing ovation from my high-school drama class, but under the guise of "journalism" or punditry, it's just idiotic. The number of clapping seals, seemingly incapable of independent thought, makes me weep for the future.
I've noticed this trend among the totally-independent "thinkers" on the left, drawing comparisons to President Ronald Reagan firing the Air Traffic Controllers who went on strike.
It doesn't surprise me that so many people recite the same talking points-- group-think shows up a lot with political zealots. What does surprise me is how none of then seem to understand the obvious flaws in their analogy.
The ATC union, PATCO, was among Reagan's biggest supporters in his 1980 run for President. But they broke the law! They were not permitted to strike. And it wasn't like it was a new law. The law was passed in 1955 by Congress and upheld by the SCOTUS in 1971. Reagan's firing of the strikers was hardly unilateral: Federal judges fined the union $1 million for each day they were on strike.
I can't speak for the ATC personnel who might've gone on strike this time, but Southwest pilots are not endangering public safety by refusing to work. The planes are on the ground. Southwest has competitors whom can handle the stranded passengers.
Apparently exercising first-amendment rights is now an act of domestic terrorism.
There will inevitably be some "thinker" who will fire a "gotcha" question regarding the protests of the summer 2020 in the wake of St. George Floyd's demise.
But that's easy. People don't get arrested (lawfully, I'll acknowledge the overzealous nature of some Barney Fifes in police departments around the country) for protesting. They get arrested for:
- destruction of property
- trespassing
- assault
- failure to comply with a lawful order of law enforcement
- looting
Hmm, a lot of those might describe "domestic terrorism", right? Or rioting?
Are the Southwest pilots doing that?
