OPINION:
For the three people left in America who are still unclear on this point, crazed partisan ideology does not make the trains run on time.
Unfortunately, one of the three people left in America who do not understand this simple point is President Biden. Another one is Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
It is bad enough when right-wing ideologues deny reality in their fevered pursuit of right-wing ideological purity. That’s how we ended up with Donald Trump hijacking the Republican Party.
But it is so much worse when it’s crazed left-wing ideologues. That’s because crazed left-wing ideologues believe that the federal government should be in charge of every aspect of human life.
If you give unchecked power to crazed left-wing idiots who believe they should be in charge of everything, you are asking for trouble.
See open borders. Spiking crime and violence in Democratic cities. Girls athletics. Pollution in cities led by Democrats. Health care.
And of course, transportation.
Democrats are eager to blame Republicans or Mr. Trump or global warming or Santa Claus for the environmental catastrophe resulting from the derailment earlier this year of a train hauling vinyl chloride through East Palestine, Ohio. But the truth is that few industries are more heavily regulated than freight trains.
The problem is not a matter of underregulation. It’s a matter of wise stewardship and competent enforcement of regulations, which crazed ideologues find tedious and beneath them.
And while we are at it, Mr. Biden and Democrats forced a massive trillion-dollar “infrastructure” bill through Congress that spent hundreds of billions on their crazed left-wing ideological dreams pertaining to their wacko environmental religion. If they actually cared about “infrastructure” or the American people, they would have spent that money on railroads instead.
No sector of transportation in America has suffered more under the Biden administration than air travel, with a 77% spike in “near misses” between airplanes, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
So it was par for the course when Mr. Biden nominated Phillip Washington to head the FAA.
In his confirmation hearings, Mr. Washington admitted that he does not understand how the FAA identifies and tracks aircraft, and he does not know the FAA’s medical requirements for pilots. He does not know how airplanes remain airborne. He does not know the laws governing drones around airports.
In other words, Mr. Washington was the perfect guy to run the FAA in the Biden administration. This is what you wind up with when you allow crazed ideologues to be in charge of serious stuff.
Thankfully, Mr. Washington had the decency to realize he should not be in charge of the FAA and withdrew his name from consideration so that he could return to his old job. And I am not making this up, but his old job is running Denver International Airport, the largest airport in the United States and one of the busiest airports in the world.
Before becoming CEO of the Denver airport, Mr. Washington ran transportation agencies in Los Angeles, which perhaps explains why Democrat-run Los Angeles is famous around the world for its efficient transportation.
One person who appeared wounded by Mr. Washington’s withdrawal was none other than Mr. Biden’s transportation secretary.
Mr. Washington was “an excellent nominee,” Mr. Buttigieg insisted. He claimed that bipartisan concern over Mr. Washington’s ignorance of the most basic aspects of airline safety amounted to “partisan attacks and procedural obstruction.”
So, the good news is the FAA just dodged a bullet. The bad news is President Biden and Secretary Buttigieg are still in charge. Also, if you are flying in or out of Denver International Airport, pack a parachute.
• Charles Hurt is the opinion editor at The Washington Times.
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