In which we discuss whether ambition can sometimes be the death of greatness
These are not the actions of a serious person. These are the actions of a reality show administration dominated by Fox News hosts, multiple(!) reality and talk show stars, and showrun by King Reality TV himself, Teflon Don of The Apprentice fame. We’re experiencing one of the darkest runs in history for the Department of Transportation right now, with Road Rules contestant Sean Duffy ruling over what The Atlantic refers to as the “Near Collapse” of American aviation.
And what’s happened under Sean Duffy’s watch? Oh, an Air Canada jet collided with an airport fire truck at LaGuardia, killing two pilots and injuring dozens. Hundreds of flights were canceled as a result, and pressure was placed on nearby airports to pick up the pace - all while the following was happening:
“Reports of smoke in the air-traffic-control tower at Newark Liberty International Airport, just across the Hudson River from New York City, caused a brief ground stop. Officials determined the problem was a burning smell in an elevator and reopened the tower, but this is only the latest sign of how broken Newark airport is. Last week, an Alaska Airlines plane nearly crashed into a FedEx plane on a runway at Newark, missing by just 300 to 325 feet, after pilots were instructed to avoid a collision. And earlier this month, a Singapore Airlines plane clipped the wing of a Spirit Airlines jet while pushing back from a gate. Last spring, air-traffic controllers lost the ability to track planes at Newark for two brief intervals, causing such stress that some of them took leave.”
And that was just yesterday!
This doesn’t take into account the seven year high in aviation fatalities in America in 2025. One of the most grim headlines about these crashes can be found in an article that detailed a Boca Raton crash that killed three, just one day after ANOTHER crash in New York City that killed six. The title of the article is “Why are so many planes crashing?”
It was published on April 11th 2025.
Regardless of budget disagreements, it doesn’t exactly feel like a wise idea to have the Department of Homeland Security run coverage for the damn Department of Transportation - just the same as it didn’t really seem like a wise idea to fold USAID into the State Department. Or VOA into the state propaganda arm of the White House. But that’s part and parcel for the Trump administration.
Because let’s speak from the broadest of broad strokes right now. Let’s go a mile above the Earth and look down, regardless of politics or humanity, and take a look at the Trump administration. This is, without a doubt, the most ambitious presidency I’ve lived through in my lifetime. Donald Trump has essentially transformed the United States in his own image through aggressive immigrant detention and deportation, the gutting of DEI, the gutting of countless governmental programs, the starting of multiple wars, and the deregulation of things like crypto.
