Self-Inflicted Wounds

[KingM34]

The War on Terror shares much in common with those other "wars," the War on Poverty and especially the War on Drugs. The enemy is undefined. There is
no territory to be conquered, no way to declare victory.

At least in this case there is an actual enemy who wishes to see us dead. That's somewhat war-like, isn't it? Perhaps, but our half-hearted attempts to move the country to war footing are a greater threat than anything the terrorists can offer.

Americans are terrible about assessing risk. Even if you had flown in an airplane on 9/11 or worked in a tall office tower your chances of dying would have been miniscule. Airplanes in general remain remarkably safe. There has not been a crash of a commercial airliner in the United States since November of 2001. You suffer a far greater likelihood of dying during the car drive to the airport than in an airplane crash.

Read the rest: http://theopinionator.com/Politics/selfinflicted_wounds.html

[Ripley]

1. Absolutely Correct.

A friend of mine just got back from a trip and said he saw a machine near the Security zone that had nozzles up and down it. He asked a HS person what it was. They said it was a bomb sniffer. Now tell me who got THAT boondoggle contract? And tell me, how many freaking bombs have ever been found in an American airport or passenger? It's all BULLSHIT.

These so-called Wars have Zero to do with Protecting Americans or their so-called Values. It is all about Money and keeping the Sheep quiet before the slaughterhouse.

[Joanne98]

2. We're always at "WAR" with something.

[MADem]

3. Pants on fire!

I tend not to keep reading when writers make easily researchable errors in their assertions:

There has not been a crash of a commercial airliner in the United States since November of 2001.

http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery;jsessionid=cgj5s04b2cp7?tname=chalk-s-ocean-airways&sbid=lc07b

Chalk's Ocean Airways (IATA: OP, ICAO: CHK, and Callsign: Chalks) is an airline based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA. It operates scheduled seaplane flights. It is the oldest continuously operating airline in the world, having begun operations in 1917 and scheduled flights in February 1919, and having only ceased operations for three years due to World War II and four months due to 1992's Hurricane Andrew. .... On December 19, 2005, Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101 from Watson Island to Bimini crashed off Miami Beach, Florida. Witnesses said they saw smoke billowing from the plane before it exploded, with the right wing separating as the aircraft plunged into the ocean. Twenty people — 18 passengers and two pilots — were on board. The Coast Guard recovered 19 bodies intially, then two Miami-Dade firefighters fishing on their day off found the 20th victim on Friday, December 23.

http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery;jsessionid=cgj5s04b2cp7?tname=regionsair&sbid=lc07b

RegionsAir operates under a code-sharing agreement with American Airlines, to provide flights to communities as American Connection. This is not to be confused with American Airlines other regional partner American Eagle Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of AMR Corp.

RegionsAir was known as Corporate Express Airlines from 1996 through 1998, and then Corporate Airlines from 1998 through 2004. RegionsAir has been the air service provider for many small communities as part of the Federally-subsidized Essential Air Service (EAS) program.

....On October 19, 2004 Corporate Airlines Flight 5966 crashed on approach to Kirksville, MO. Thirteen individuals died and two were injured. The NTSB has determined pilot error to be the cause of this accident.


http://www.answers.com/main/ntquery;jsessionid=cgj5s04b2cp7?tname=air-midwest-flight-5481&sbid=lc07b
US Airways Express Flight 5481, a Beechcraft 1900D operated by Air Midwest as US Airways Express under a franchise agreement, crashed into an airport hangar and burst into flames 37 seconds after leaving Charlotte-Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina for Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport in Greer, South Carolina on January 9, 2003. All 19 passengers and 2 pilots aboard were killed in the accident....

[KingM34]

4. I believe those are not airliners

From Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_travel#Commuter_aircraft


The official definition of an airliner varies from country to country, but the common definition is an aircraft with seating for 20 or more passengers and/or an empty weight above 22,680 kg (50,000 lb.), with two or more engines.
...
Commuter aircraft
Passenger aircraft with 19 or fewer passenger seats are called commuter aircraft or air taxis, depending on their size, engines, and seating configurations. The Beechcraft 1900, for example, has only 19 seats and thus, depending on local and national regulations, it may not qualify as an airliner and may not be subject to the regulations applied to larger aircraft. Members of this class of aircraft normally lack such amenities as lavatories and galleys and typically do not carry a flight attendant. Other aircraft in this category are the Fairchild Metro, Jetstream 31/41, and Embraer EMB 110 Bandeirante. The Cessna Caravan, a single-engine turboprop, is sometimes used as a small airliner, although many countries stipulate a minimum requirement of two engines for aircraft to be used as airliners. Twin piston-engined aircraft like the Cessna, Piper, Britten-Norman, and Beechcraft, are also in use as commuter aircraft.

[MADem]

7. That cite is loaded with "mays" and lists the "airliners" as follows:

1 Types of airliners
1.1 Wide-body jets
1.2 Narrow-body jets
1.3 Regional airliners
1.4 Commuter aircraft
1.5 Engines
1.6 Airliner variants

The bottom line is, those people who crashed in those planes are still dead. Had the person put "major" in the piece it would be factually precise. As it stands, it sounds like the good ole USA has a pristine commercial safety record, and it doesn't.

[KingM34]

8. okay, then...

No, it's not pristine, but it hasn't been made any safer by the layers of security added, not to mention the erosions of our civil liberties in the name of Homeland Security.

In any event, you're arguing semantics over the definition of an airliner. You might discount the argument as a result, but that hardly merits implying that someone is a liar.

[MADem]

9. Look, I'm not arguing with the thesis of the piece

It's a good thesis. I am one of those sorry bastards who gets the dreaded red S and the "deluxe toss" every SINGLE time I fly. It pisses me off, royally. And I fly frequently enough to really get the full measure of the DREAD.

It disappoints me though, that someone arguing a point I can agree on doesn't take the time to vet every word. Look, if I can rip into it in an instant (because I was aware of some of those crashes), when I agree with much of the premise, it doesn't help the case. That's the way the GOP does business--they find a factual error, and tear the thing to shreds. Assertion dismissed! We, as a group, need to take a page from their book and be frigging hypervigilant...with our assertions, and with theirs as well.

[KingM34]

5. Besides which...

Can't you disagree with someone or raise an argument with their assertion without implying they are a liar? (aka, "Pants on fire!")

[MADem]

6. The statement is factually INCORRECT. If someone tells me

the sky is always green, I'm gonna take issue with it. When you don't research your basic facts, your whole argument suffers.

[Ripley]

10. No, not here.

This place is filled with folks who would rather pick a nit than discuss the Big Issues you have raised.

The 'War on Terror' is likely to be supported Here, because so many Democrats in Congress Stand Tall and Firm with it. Notice how that means standing tall and firm with Junior Smirkaholic. Crazy, eh?

[KingM34]

11. as a newbie

I see a lot of good discussion here on DU, but I also see an awful lot of noise. It's hard to sift through the noise sometimes.

[Ripley]

12. Let me just say this..

The Noise has become extremely dominant lately. Somehow it is allowed to drown out the Really Great writers that used to be here, and those that aren't around much any more. It almost seems like a Plan.

BTW, Welcome. You have hit a big nailhead. Big Issues that one would think "liberals" would be very interested in.