The obituary page of The Massachusetts Spy
By Obituary Editor Luke Reschuss with Plains Correspondent Jacy Farrow
By the time he died at 89, Sen. Jim Inhofe had faded into well-deserved obscurity. His life was utterly without redeeming value, entertainment or otherwise, but we pause to mark his final crash landing to remind our readers that the Republican Party didn't fly into the ground in 2016.
It was a wreck long before.
The normally staid New York Times summed up Inhofe's 40-year career:
Sometimes called Capitol Hill’s most conservative politician, Mr. Inhofe opposed abortion, L.G.B.T.Q. rights, health care legislation and campaign-finance reforms while supporting the death penalty, gun rights, counterterrorism powers, offshore oil drilling and constitutional amendments to require balanced budgets and ban flag desecration.
All causes he furthered immensely in his 29 years in the US Senate, which began in 1994 and the seven prior years, when he served as a Congressman.
For all those decades he swam in the toxic mainstream of the Republican Party, ending his career as Chairman or Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Service Committee. In an era in which forceful action could have avoided the current climate catastrophe now consuming the Earth, Sen. Inhofe claimed, falsely of course, that it was a liberal fraud:
His efforts, financed by his funders in the fossil fuel industry, paralyzed most efforts to limit the damage of global warming. He's dead now, but we're still broiling.
Of course, in addition to his loathsome political views, he was, like any Republican, a cheap hypocrite:
He was criticized for voting against federal disaster-relief funding after hurricanes hit the Gulf and Atlantic Coasts, but he voted for federal relief for victims of tornadoes and other disasters in his home state.
Ya don't say.
Like his fellow hard-right corrupt white male plutocrats, he believed that law was something that bound only the poor and powerless. As a private pilot, he presumably was aware of his legal responsibility to comply with all federal regulations, including the one about making sure the pilot has all relevant information before firing up his plane.
The reason for the regulation is to prevent accidents, possibly fatal, like this one:
The FAA has confirmed it is investigating the Oct 21 incident in which Inhofe landed a Cessna 340 on an occupied closed runway at Port Isabel-Cameron County Airport, Texas, He was reportedly carrying three others in the light twin when he made the landing on a runway bearing oversized painted Xs, a large red truck, other vehicles, and construction workers. The workers were using loud equipment at the time and didn’t hear the plane’s approach, so one person ran to warn them. A supervisor immediately reported the incident to the FAA and told TulsaWorld.com he was “still shaking” when he reached the hangar to confront the pilot. For his part, Inhofe said he didn’t see the Xs until late on final and was concerned he might not be able to abort safely. He said he landed “well off to the side” of the workers.
Had he complied with his legal responsibility to review relevant notices to airmen (NOTAM's), readily available at that time through a simple DUATS computer-based briefing, he would have learned that the runway was in fact closed. But doing ten minutes of work to avoid risking the lives of his passengers and those on the ground is for peons, not Republican Senators:
 |
| A long-time pilot, Inhofe's disregard for safety rules was legendary |
Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) says he won’t guarantee he’ll be more vigilant about checking NOTAMs after he landed on a closed runway occupied by maintenance workers ten days ago in Texas. “People who fly a lot just don’t do it,” Inhofe told the Tulsa World. “I won’t make any commitments.” Inhofe added that while “technically” pilots should “probably” check NOTAMs, it would be impractical for him to do so on the many flights he makes to small airports in Oklahoma each year.
By the way, this is horse****. Pilots who fly for a living read the NOTAM's before every takeoff. So do private pilots.
When the FAA had the temerity to do its federally-mandated job of investigating life-threatening unlawful acts, Inhofe decided to retaliate:
Senator James Inhofe, who last October landed on a closed runway that had vehicles and people on it for which he received a remedial training order from the FAA, Wednesday introduced a bill to protect pilots from “agency overreach.”
By the way, the only sanction he received from the deep state was an order to take some remedial training, presumably so he could recognize the letter ‘X.’
Had this blatant violation of law occurred now, of course, rich white men like Inhofe could appeal any adverse action to his fellow bent Republicans on the Supreme Court who would apply their their own (or Harlan Crow's or Leonard Leo's) judgment about pilot training and aeronautics without any requirement to defer to what the expert agency thinks.
Inhofe was ultimately an insignificant if sh****y individual whose inglorious life would deserve to be forgotten. But what is remarkable about Inhofe is how unremarkable he is.
He is representative of the last two generations of reactionary Republican grandees who never let law or science get in the way of their exercise of power to advance themselves and their rich corporate financiers. The corruption and arrogance he represented was inherited by the Tangerine-Faced Felon who today complains about electrocution from sinking electric boats instead of trying to rescue what remains of the Earth.
Inhofe thought he was entitled to land on a closed runway occupied by construction workers because he was a rich white man. The Tangerine-Faced Felon believes he has the right to rape his companions, steal government secrets, and overthrow the US government for the same reason.
There's no difference, despite what our 12 newly-minted Wonderful Republican Allies say.
And if you want to see and feel Inhofe's legacy, and that of his fellow Republicans, step outside and look around. But maybe not in the midday sun, or in Las Vegas, where it was a tad toasty this week:
And if you're repaving a closed runway in the merciless summer heat, better keep an eye peeled.
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