The insanity of the GOP is quantifiable, and that quantity is 64%.  That the percentage of House Republicans who voted against the “National Aviation Preparedness Plan Act of 2022.”  It’s an innocuous-sounding bill, right?  That’s because it is quite an innocuous bill:  it directs the Secretaries of various Cabinet departments–Transportation, Health & Human Services, and  Homeland Security–to work together to develop a plan to address potential problems from the next pandemic that could dramatically impact US and global transportation.

See, that’s a good thing.  While the US transportation industry–from trucking companies to airlines–was caught flatfooted at the start of the coronavirus pandemic and suffered greatly, particularly during 2020 when there was absolutely no leadership coming from the White House, Democrats led the effort to have leaders develop a plan to direct resources and responses in a pre-planned, coordinated way.  And more than a third of House Republicans agreed with Democrats that, yeah, it would make sense to plan for that.

But two-thirds of Republican House members apparently think the US aviation system shouldn’t have a plan in place to deal with a future pandemic–although airliners are the likeliest way for that disease to make its way around the world.

Nah, they say, it’s just Big Government–although the aviation industry literally could not operate safely if it wasn’t for federal regulation of air routes, traffic and airports.  Or maybe it’s the Deep State they’re afraid of:  they believe that somehow, having leaders discuss plans to thwart the spread of a potentially devastating disease is actually a plot to keep the ongoing operation to round up conservatives and jail them in abandoned K-Marts and soon-to-be-disappeared big-box costume stores by transporting them on airliners to places around the country.  Or maybe it’s the DNC plan to use airplanes to keep Donald Trump in the air so he can’t take his rightful place as Speaker of the House when Republicans win the House in the midterms–if it’s not stolen again.

Whatever the reason, these 64% are abdicating their duty as elected officials by actively working against our government putting together a plan to address the thing that just happened if when it happens again in the future.  This isn’t pro-Constitution; it ignores the responsibility of our representative government.  It isn’t pro-American (or ‘Murican):  it encourages the endangerment of US citizens and businesses.  All it is, is blatant partisanship.  And our nation is not better–let alone “great again”–because of it.