Admittedly, James Inhofe is one of the more insane members of the Senate (though he’s only tied with the other guy from Oklahoma),but this story nonetheless typifies the hubris of the political class, both sane and insane, particularly the folks on the right who enjoy the benefits of IOKIYAR.
Inhofe is a licensed pilot. Recently he landed his plane on a runway that was clearly marked as closed, thereby endangering the folks on the runway who were making repairs:
Inhofe agreed to and completed a “program of remedial training” in place of legal action in December of 2010, according to an FAA report, after he landed his plane at Cameron County Airport in South Texas last October on a closed runway marked with a large X. According to the report, Inhofe saw the X but “still elected to land avoiding the men and equipment on the runway.”
Most of us would think the brainless Senator should lose his license. Most of us would think that, but not Inhofe, who believes that his experience proves that pilots like him need a “Pilot’s bill of rights” to protect them from mistreatment at the hands of the FAA.
The arrogance he displayed by ignoring the marked runway should spell the end of his political career, but, if that alone is not enough, this self-serving hypocrisy should spell his doom. But it won’t, which is a sad reflection on the American electorate, even if we’re talking about only Oklahomans. A seat in the Senate from a red state has pretty much become a sinecure. No amount of corruption, venality or hypocrisy is sufficient to bring a Republican’s career to an end. Only death or a looming criminal indictment can do that, and it is further proof of the non-existence of God (or the non-existence of a loving God, at any rate) that death stays its hand so long and the wheels of justice grind exceeding slow, though not always exceeding fine.
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