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Notes -
... I guess I should also put down a marker, here.
This isn't going to work.
Trace done an excellent job presenting fine details from the case, and I'm sure he'll put together some first-hand stories and highlight some of the most ridiculous behavior even better in the next couple weeks. Even for the broadly cynical, he's shown that the behavior was worse and more blatant than we would have imagined. More than a couple fellow Mayor Pete fans have joined his call for the FAA to settle. His argument about the dire status of conservative journalists is absolutely correct, and even if I disagree with no small part of the oft-recently-linked Republicans Are Doomed, it definitely applies for the specific case of 'people who can present this in public and be taken seriously'. But this was a story back when it was Rojas, and it's been a big story in general aviation circles for a couple years, now. It's great to see how the sausage is made, if you care, but that's a big if and only if.
Maybe the plaintiffs will end up with a settlement that exceeds their legal and school fees, but they're not going to be made whole -- they're not even trying to become ATC at this point, and the federal government isn't in the habit of giving people years of their lives back. The curious loss of critical e-mails that would prove or disprove the matter aren't going to result in criminal charges or broad warrants; the systems to even attempt to handle FOIA non-compliance on that scale simply don't exist, no when everyone involved is committed. Stancil's not going to eat crow, even beyond his normal bit where he'd have an aneurysm were he forced to try. Very close to zero skeptics of the Rojas or Brigida claims will be persuaded on this matter, no matter how elegantly a friendly helper providers a Forms example of the test, or how nice the eventual powerpoint presentation looks, or if there's a sufficiently fancy animation of the whole process.
Most critically, the people doing this won't be stopped from trying other highly-similar ways to do the same thing, nor found personally liable, nor even face the credible threat of being personally liable in the future. They won't even be embarrassed.
Fifty dollars to a charity of Trace's choice, otherwise: I'll admit I've been too cynical a few times before. But I'll still bet it's not going to happen, and it's not going to happen no matter how smart and quickly and connected and clever a team of well-education people who care come into
a roomSubstack and give a Sorkin speech. I'd like it to be another way, but it's not.More options
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