"Preventable"
In the midst of an air tragedy, a subtle example of our new reality
UPDATE: 11:45am
Oh for FUCK’S sake. Dear Leader is blaming “DEI” for the crash. I missed his presser (thankfully) but tuned in just in time to hear the Fox and Friends SecDef rant about putting the “best and brightest” in every position in the military, and that the era of DEI is over.
These fucking people…
(Original piece)
Shortly before 9pm last night, January 29, 2025, an American Airlines jet collided with a US Army Blackhawk helicopter while on final approach to Reagan Airport in Washington, DC. None of the 64 passengers and crew aboard the airliner nor the 3 crew of the chopper are expected to survive the impact and subsequent fall into the frigid Potomac River. This marks the worst US airline disaster since November 2001.
Historically, officials will speak in general terms in the immediate aftermath of a tragedy such as this. This is due to the fact that, despite any outward appearances, it is generally not known what exactly has happened, so it’s better to not give specifics, and wise to not ascribe blame when very few facts have been gathered.
Well, apparently that is no longer the case. Within hours of the crash, our president took to his social media to bleat about how the airliner was on a “perfect” approach (of course) and that the helicopter should have turned. He went on to say “This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!”.
At a time when dozens of families have lost members, our Consoler in Chief is using his first public comments on the crash to assign blame, and he’s doing it in his normal, bull-in-a-China-shop manner. So reassuring. So emapathetic.
One may try to hand wave this away as Trump just being Trump, but because he is the head of the government, his newly sworn in Secretary of Transportaion had to repeat the “preventable” assessment at a press conference this morning. Even if he has no idea if it was preventable or not, which he cannot, since there has been no time to gather any evidence or do any analysis. Hell, there are still bodies in the icy water.
We have spent the last 10 days reeling from multiple attacks by this administration on our way of life, and this is admittedly a minor change. But a change it is, and it’s just one more of the thousand cuts this new regime is exacting on the American psyche.
Buckle up.
Average White* Guy is a collection of thoughts from Marwan Saidi. It’s primarily a place for me to dump my thoughts in an effort to get them out of my head and give me some calm. It’s also a place where my friends and family can opt in to my neuroses so I can keep it out of other family gatherings. :)
* - I am Palestinian American, but you would probably not think that based on my appearance or (lack of) accent. For years I would check White on the race section of forms because there wasn’t an option that fit better.