Oh, those minor inconveniences of smaller government!

The big headline in today's El Paso Times reads, "1,000 flights canceled" and "Another 900 flights won't fly today." It's the result of American Airlines conducting some overdue inspections/maintenance of their aircraft. In American's case, aircraft wiring is the main object of scrutiny.

This comes on the heels of the Southwest airlines flying potential deathtrap planes with cracked fuselages and the congressional hearings on the FAA, the airline, and the lax regulation of the latter by the former. Other airlines experiencing sudden grounding of aircraft have included Delta and Alaska.

Calvin L. Scovel III, who is the Inspector General of the Transportation Department expressed his concerns that the FAA had "developed an overly collaborative relationship" with Southwest Airlines which resulted in the flying public's safety being jeopardized.

Representative James Oberstar, D-Minn., called the FAA manger's negligence "malfeasance bordering on corruption," of their oversight, or lack thereof, of enforcement regulations to protect the public. Further, Oberstar went so far as to conclude if the evidence of FAA neglect seen by congress were to be presented to a grand jury, indictments would be handed down.

Of course, that'll never happen because this is the Bush administration. It's an administration of unaccountability and this is all part of the predatory policies of the blood sucking vampires Bush, Cheney and their cronies who prey upon Americans to the sole benefit and enrichment of themselves.

But of Oberstar's description of the FAA as "malfeasance bordering on corruption," I would more accurately describe it as "corruption manifesting as malfeasance." Apparently, as the result of sudden scrutiny, the FAA has recalled enforcing airline safety involves more than playing golf with airline executives.

But it reminds all of us once more of the conservative's ongoing chant against the waste and evils of "big government and huge budgets" (have you noticed the national debt under the Bush administration?) and the dupey Americans who buy into such bullshit. It is with them in mind, I'd like to see a separate tier of public services for Americans who advocate for smaller government and the benefits derived thereof.

Below are just a couple examples of many, many more.

More and better homelessness. This past week, an internal VA review found El Paso's Veteran services the worst in the country. By reducing big government further and further to veterans and the growing number of dispossessed, we can make this much, much worse!

For the folks chanting the anti-big government mantra, these bridges will be reserved for their use only.


And pesky crane collapses with questionable oversight by their regulators should only be used outside the homes and apartments of small government advocates.

For those who swallow the swill of deregulation and voluntary compliance by industry of environmental laws and regulations to protect public health, locate such places as smelters and other heavy polluters in their neighborhoods! Let them smell, ingest and suffer the ills of the discharges coming from the back ends of industry "voluntarily complying" with small government regulations (if they want to that is, of course).

And for the flying public, there should be planes for conservative advocates in favor of less government scrutiny, less safety.

The examples go on and on. Despite the many advantages of smaller government and those you may disagree with them, I think we can all agree on one thing -- as part of our American heritage, we are all destined to enjoy an endless future of bogus wars!

*******