We Are Flight 93
The hijackers are locked in the cockpit
9/11 was a very effective terrorist operation. As a new father, I remember my personal sense of security in our collective future was shattered. The theft of the 2000 election by Roger Stone with the cooperation of SCOTUS and Jeb Bush had already laid the ground for doubt, but now all the assumptions I’d made about our place in the world were simply gone.
But after watching the tallest buildings in New York City evaporate, it hit me that the glossy haze of the 1990s was truly over and the 21st Century was going to be a very different animal. I remember vividly waiting for the other two flights, one which hit the Pentagon, and the other which hit a field in Shanksville, PA, instead of its target, the US Capitol.
The passengers on Flight 93 had an advantage over the other airplanes that were hijacked. The flight had been delayed by 46 minutes, so by the time the hijackers took the plane over, the passengers knew that the other planes had been crashed into high value targets. Famously, there were cell phone calls between passengers and their loved ones on the ground before a plan was hatched to take the cockpit back and prevent the plane from hitting its target—one way to the other.
There were also black box recordings.
“Are you ready? OK. Let’s roll.”
—Todd Beamer, United Airlines Flight 93, 9/11/2001
It seems to me that we are currently on United States Flight 93, the terrorists have locked themselves in the cockpit, and we know they have no intention of ever landing the plane.
Today, Donald Trump took a baseball bat to the world economy before shooting America in the head by slapping a massive wall of tariffs on countries around the world with a rationale that was absolutely Kafka-esque. The markets have no idea what he’s doing or why—and uncertainty is death to investors.
Trump put a formula in his Executive Order to make things seem more scientific, or something, but it’s mathematically meaningless—two of the variables are set to result in the number 1 which is then multiplied by another number. Calling it brain-dead is too generous.
Trump slapped tariffs on uninhabited islands, and places populated exclusively by penguins, while also increasing tariffs on China to an insane 54% tax on their goods. which they will pass on to every American.
What’s important to understand is that Trump is replicating the conditions for an economic depression—on purpose. ICYMI, the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act by Hoover in 1930 was an attempt to generate “more revenue” but actually turned a recession into the Great Depression. This is a feature not a bug for the Trump regime.
There are people who are trying to call this a “risk” or a “gamble,” while others are calling it a “big mistake.” It is neither. A financial meltdown is exactly the result they want and expect.
The PayPal Mafia, led by Musk, Thiel, and David Sacks—who is now White House “AI and Cryptocurrency Tsar”—have wanted to destroy the dollar and replace it with digital currency controlled by them for nearly 30 years. That’s what PayPal was originally for. Now they intend to replace the dollar with Bitcoin—no matter what the rest of us think of that idea. This isn’t a proposal, it’s sabotage, massive fraud, and the greatest heist in US history.
<knock knock>
“Hello, ma’am, I’m sorry to see your porch is engulfed in flames, would you like to buy one of my fire extinguishers?”
We can see what’s happening right in front of our eyes. There is no version of this story where democracy survives if we continue to sit quietly in our seats on Flight 93. The economy is just one target. If we stay on this trajectory, this regime will destroy our freedom, steal our resources, co-opt our government and end the American Experiment permanently. The relative peace since WWII will be replaced by a world torn apart by wars, oppression, and genocide.
So, as Todd Beamer said more than 23 years ago:
“Are you ready?”
Long Live a Free America. Glory to Ukraine.
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Thank you, Jim. As always, the smartest voice. What an image! I thought my stomach couldn't plummet any further down today but the image of us on Flight 93 hit way home. I realised that what Cory Booker did was like a cell phone call home to America like all the people on Flight 93 called and the only thing left to say was I love you. Corey Booker's speech was like that. I LOVE YOU AMERICA. WE ALL LOVE YOU. No time to be polite.
Every senator and congressperson needs to do what Cory Booker did. One after the other after the other. A PRIMAL SCREAM OF NO GET AWAY, STOP DESTROYING US.
“Let’s roll!”