The pilot was locked out of the cockpit.
That phrase finally revealed the full horror of the crash of Germanwings flight 9525. Co-pilot Andreas Lubitz waited for the pilot to leave the cockpit, then locked the door to prevent his re-entry. After which Lubitz, for reasons unknown and perhaps unknowable, deliberately steered the jet into a harrowing 8 minute plunge ending in an explosive 434 mph impact with a rocky mountainside. 150 men, women and children met an immediate, unthinkably violent death.
Lubitz, in his single-minded madness, couldn't be stopped because anyone who could change the jet's disastrous course was locked out.
It's hard to imagine the growing feelings of fear and helplessness that the passengers felt as the unforgiving landscape rushed up to meet them. Hard - but not impossible.
Because America is in trouble. We feel the descent in the pits of our stomachs. We hear the shake and rattle of structures stressed beyond their limits. We don't know where we're going anymore, but do know it isn't good. And above all, we feel helpless because Barack Obama has locked us out.
He locked the American people out of his decision to seize the national healthcare system. Locked us out when we wanted to know why the IRS was attacking conservatives. He locked us out of having a say in his decision to tear up our immigration laws, and to give over a trillion dollars in benefits to those who broke those laws.
Obama locked out those who advised against premature troop withdrawals. Locked out the intelligence agencies who issued warnings about the growing threat of ISIS. He locked out anyone who could have interfered with his release of five Taliban terror chiefs in return for one U.S. military deserter.
And of course, Barack Obama has now locked out Congress, the American people, and our allies as he strikes a secret deal with Iran to determine the timeline (not prevention) of their acquisition of nuclear weapons.
Was Andreas Lubitz depressed, insane, or abysmally evil when he decided to lock that cockpit door and listen to no voices other than those in his head? Did he somehow believe himself to be doing the right thing?
The voice recordings from the doomed aircraft reveal that as the jet began its rapid descent, the passengers were quiet. There was probably some nervous laughter, confusion, a bit of comforting chatter with seatmates, followed by a brief period in which anxiety had not yet metastasized into terror.
It was only near the end of the 8 minute plunge that everyone finally understood what was really happening. Only near the end when they began to scream.
Like those passengers, a growing number of Americans feel a helpless dread as they come to the inescapable conclusion that our nation's decline is an act of choice rather than of chance. The choice of one man who is in full control of our 8 year plunge.
A man who has locked everyone out.
49 comments:
Good form Mr. Jarlsberg; and a very fitting analogy. Our thoughts and prayers are with those innocent victims and families of the Germanwings A320 tragedy; and also for the American/Worldwide victims of the Obama Regime tragedy.
Mr. and Mrs. SoCal.
When I was in the military we had a (TPI) two-person integrity policy for information that was...well, not trusting to one person. You would think that the world's airlines could at least adopt this policy for the cockpit, er, I mean 'flight deck', (unless you're flying on Clinton Airlines). But I digress. I heard the US mandates that a stewardess (flight attendant) must step in if one of the pilots has to take a pis, but really, if the pilot is gonna turn the plane into a lawn dart, is the presence of a stewardess gonna stop him? So, do you put an air marshal in the cabin and another in the cock---er, flight deck? And how about the premature explanation that this was not a terrorist event? Let me ask you, if you were on that plane and you witnessed a pilot trying to knock down a door to get back into the cockpit, wouldn't you be at least a tad bit terrified? Or would you be asking for another bag of peanuts while you whistle Dixie out of your asshole? But, this all happened two days ago and I can almost hear Billary now, "What difference does it make?" This is all just part of another week of bad news.
You left out that he does everything in a rush. The announcement about Iran is Sunday because Congress goes home today.
You left out seizure of the internet through FCC regulations, which will spill into TV as the TV moves under the umbrella of the computer.
You left out the plans to close businesses with EPA regulations.
You left out the plans to change America's allies whereby Iran gets the legal right to have centrifuges running while Obama makes Israel the rogue state by throwing a hissy fit with perfect timing over something (which was a lie because the NYTimes had to print a retraction), considering that he started the declassification of Israel's nuclear secrets three years ago. etc etc etc You left out that he is starting a nuclear arms race by letting Iran go nuclear. I expect he'll blame Israel for the arms race that he created. It is usually either Bush's fault, or Israel's fault, or it's the 1 %'s fault, or "the bankers", or the white male Christian heterosexual's fault.
Locked out of our own government, you perfectly pegged it, again.
Well stated Stilton. Anything I could add would only bring the black SUVs up my driveway. You have hit the nail on the head. Everything the man in the White House is doing, he is doing to bring down our great nation. May the victims of flight 9525 rest in peace. Amen.
It's actually worse.
Amerika is more like Flight 93.
What will be required from Amerika for victory is no different than what was required of those passengers.
Sadly, Stilt, you are correct; we have been locked out and unfortunately, those with the key, i.e. Congress, are not going to use it.
Spot on once again. Barry even made reference to his "driving us off a cliff " way back when he commented on how the Pubbies drove the bus into a ditch and now he gotta fix it fo' us.
Saw the headlines "Saudis launching sorties against ISIS."
And thought.....and Barry's off launching Titleists.
Liberalism Delenda Est.
Øbastard has also locked us out of his secret Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal which will likely destroy our nation's sovereignty.
However, to his credit, he could not have accomplished his planned death spiral of our country without a complicit congress. Who exactly does the House of Representatives represent? Certainly not me.
This country's "Law Enforcement" is fully capable of removing the murderer from the cockpit. Every one of them swore an oath to the Constitution before they pinned on that badge. Yet NOT EVEN ONE OF THEM will bother to honor that oath. Direct your anger - and your actions - towards those who fully deserve same.
I was wondering what you'd have this morning. Not so dark Stilton as you teased yesterday; pretty enlightened, I think. Thank you for this editorial which was surely space-limited; it could have included many more examples.
For those who will take offense at this commentary; please give yourselves a dope-slap; have some strong coffee, OK Starbucks if you wish, and wake up. There are a lot of us who think this is what's happening to this nation; and I venture to say most of us have had more life experience and done more tangible things to building, support and defend this nation than those who will protest.
Because this is supposed to be a light hearted place, I hope Kerry and company get a pinkie-lock promise when they make their deal with Iran.
Great cartoons lately, Mr. J.
I agree with Matis. The American people INSTALLED the unconstitutionally illegal Barry soetoro-obama. Not once but, twice ! Your friends, neighbors and relatives put the key in the lock for this scoundrel. All Barry did was turn the key.
Now, I blame the 535 PsOS on Capitol Hill and their fellow scum on the SCOTUS for keeping the criminal in the West Wing.
Spot on Mr Jarlsberg. Have you mailed this to the Pretendident? If not I will, with your name deleted if you prefer. I have been sending emails, with similar quotes or self penned statements, to the Half-Whitehouse for the last few years. So far no invasion of my self, family, or home, but if they do, I intend to turn over my firearms and ammo to them immediately. Ammo first of course so they KNOW I am not a threat to THEIR safety, as they and the Socialist, Muslim Pretendident is to me and mine.
Brilliant, Stilt. Dark, but brilliant!
Outstanding, Stilt. One of your best.
One difference is that there is nothing in Andreas Lubitz' background to suggest he was capable of such a heinous act. On the other hand, barry's is chock full of such indicators and yet we still let him into the cockpit - twice.
Sigh... time for some 'coffee'...
Sadly, dead nuts on target. When will America learn that elections have consequences.
lamont is in the cockpit, (funny terminology to ascribe to a eunuch), and the CONSTITUTION is pounding on the door to be put back in the left seat! What an apt allusion for the "man-child who would be king" while he whines about everything that is not in his immediate control and pontificates about everything on Earth as an authority except for abortion, (which appears to be the ONLY thing 'above his pay grade').
Here's a link to Kenya's version of NASA, no doubt the man ("Orville Wrong") is a gradumacate of their MIT.
You KNOW the background I have in aeronautics, and I GUARAN-DAM-TEE you, this thing is NOT an airplane… it’s a gene-pool chlorination device. If this guy ever gets aloft, he’s gonna be dead in minutes!!!
I vote for this to become the NEW Air Force One!
http://www.wimp.com/aircrafttest/
@Readers- I'll be responding to comments later today (and thank you for all the responses so far!) but want to inject an additional note right now.
I received two comments that I hadn't published, but don't want to restrict either:
(from Dick) "Excellent essay. Thank you. Latest reports are that the copilot was a recent Muslim convert."
(from Rod) "The latest news is that the copilot was a convert to Islam. To quote Iago the parrot, "I think I'm going to have a heart attack and die from that surprise."
The reason I was sitting on these is not because I'm part of a cover-up, but because as of this writing (9 am Friday) I haven't seen any reliable news source produce credible evidence of a connection to Islam.
Many conservative sites (Breitbart, Pamela Geller, etc) are citing one article from a German source that seems to be pure speculation based on the authorities finding "an item of interest" in the copilot's apartment. But we now know that the item of interest was not a prayer rug, Koran, or suicide note - it was a doctor's note excusing the copilot from current service. We don't yet know what condition he was being treated for, although it's thought likely it was Depression.
In a case like this, it's not unusual for rumors to be flying. And it's also not impossible that some connection to Islam may eventually be found.
But for the moment, I just want to be on record that I haven't seen any compelling evidence of that assertion.
Excellent correlation between the last eight minutes of this flight and eight years of Øbama.
I wonder though if that aircraft could have been successfully pulled out of it's impending crash in the last minute and a half?
This is a masterpiece, Mr. Jarlsberg. I used your post here and trust I have credited your authorship properly. http://tunnelwall.blogspot.com/2015/03/obama-has-locked-us-all-out-of-this.html
I hope you have no objections as it has been posted in a number of conservative sites that I trust. Bill Hayden, the Tunnel Dweller http://tunnelwall.blogspot.com/
Stilt: Just a clarification or perhaps an error; & there might be another Rod. I didn't report about copilot being a Muslim. And good on you for fact-checking. Regards, - Rod as already posted above this morning.
Wow...POWERFUL, sir!!! He has indeed locked everyone out of his utopian ideals! God help us and give comfort to the plane crash victims families...hopefully someone will pray for America as we go down in the French Alps of history!
There is one reason and only one reason why Obama has not been impeached or forced to resign: the color of his skin. No president with paler skin could have survived the innumerable scandals this one has been involved in. We have been so browbeaten with racist charges that our representatives are simply afraid to do their constitutional duty to remove this scourge. 22 months to go. God help us all.
Interesting analogy. But let's remember that Obama doesn't get to do what he's doing alone. On the American "airplane", he only gets to do what he's doing because the majority are letting him do it. We could bust through that door and stop him anytime if only enough of us were willing to do it.
So why don't we? Because the Progressives and Progressive enablers (including the establishment-squishy GOP have succeeded in fracturing America into identity groups with disparate interests:
. There are the willfully ignorant, who don't even bother to look out the window as the plane heads towards the Alps. Those who might have some level of awareness assume that someone else will take are of any problem, if there actually is one.
. There are the "true believers" who even after 6 years of being ignored, taken for granted, and still live mediocre lives, still believe that Obama can do no wrong, and everything he does do is for them.
. The truly helpless, who are mostly helpless because they've been bred by the pilot to think of themselves that way.
. The government bureaucracy is happy to ride the plane, because the alternative is just as scary to them; leadership that would stop the growth of government, meaning employment in the private sector.
. There are the crony capitalists and rent-seekers who wouldn't survive any other way.
. There are those who know the pilot is heading straight for a mountain, but are too timid to act because they've been cowed into the belief that doing anything to stop the dive would result in being called a "racist", which is now considered a fate worse than death.
There are many more, but by now you should get the idea. The America that was represented by "Flight 93" barely exists anymore.
As for flight 9525: We've now learned that the co-pilot had a serious depression issue that was hidden from his employers. Over the next several months, this will engender a rather interesting debate regarding people's rights to privacy from their employers and government. So should doctor-patient privilege exist of airline pilots? And if not, then what about bus drivers, police, or plumbers who do a crap job of installing gas pipes?
Please fasten your seat belts; this is going to be a turbulent ride.
I do have a prediction as to where this will give added impetus for the airline industry. I expect that withing the next 10 to 20 years, commercial airliners will be fully automated and without cockpits. This will happen for several reasons:
. Modern airliners are now so automated that piloting is mostly redundant and boring. Pilots today are more "systems managers" than actual pilots. The main argument for having pilots on board is for them to be there to act in case the automation fails. Unfortunately, due to a degradation of flying skills due to the high degree of automation, when the automation does fail, too many pilots are not up to the task to saving the situation, and end up flying perfectly flyable machines into the ground.
. Automation would rid each plane of the two most expensive (and politically troublesome) crewmembers on board. Since pilots are time-limited and certified for specific models of planes, they are not interchangeable within an ailine's fleet. Airlines would love to eliminate this expensive problem.
. Elimination of the cockpit means elimination of a major security threat; no cockpit for terrorists to storm and no easy way to take over an airliner.
. Elimination of the cockpit and control infrastructure means an extra 3 or 4 rows of fare-paying passengers and more cargo on each flight.
. In the very near future, public resistance to the idea of a pilotless plane will wane in a world of drones and self-driving automobiles.
Will this be a perfect world? I doubt it. But I do think it's inevitable.
I've been contemplating this for some time as I came to these conclusions over a decade ago as an economist, non-commercial pilot and with a peripheral involvement in the industry.
Stilton, you nailed it !!
OC
John The Econ - what you say abotu pilotless planes makes a LOT of sense - should be possible to have an emergency drone circuit to take over from the ground... Expect we'll see it for cargo, first..
As for the Stenchators and Reprehensitives that go along because they percieve it to be in their interest, not ours, the main reason there will be no overhaul of the tax code is that installing loopholes is their biggest return on donations...
Stilt,
Good one! Your cartoons are always outstanding & your observations exceptional. Keep up the good work, it is appreciated. The commentary here is always interesting & thought provoking. @ Shelly, agreed.
@David in SoCal- I can't emphasize enough that my cartoon and commentary aren't meant to trivialize the victims of the Germanwings tragedy. My mind reels when I think about those poor people.
@Japheaux- I can't see much value to having a stewardess up there, unless she could deter a Muslim from martyrdom by flashing her boobs at him and making him unclean.
And I don't even want to think about how I'd feel if I was aboard a jet watching the pilot hammer at the cockpit door.
@TMay- I left out a lot (and your additions are good ones) - but when writing, my goal is to make a convincing (rather than exhaustive) case to support my argument.
@REM1875- The whole "locked out" idea appeared in my head unbidden and fully formed. Which can be a good thing and a bad thing: I felt I had the gist of an important idea, but also knew that expressing that idea without screwing it up was going to be challenging.
There's a saying I like: "writers are people for whom writing is harder than it is for other people." This would be one of those times.
@Fred Ciampi- I figure if the boys in the black SUV's pull up, there's always a chance they might have come to buy me a beer.
@Anonymous- We all need to have the courage shown by the passengers of Flight 93 - no question.
@Bobo the Hobo- Exactly. The Executive branch is supposed to be counter-balanced by the legislative and judicial branches of government...but I haven't seen them pounding on that cockpit door any time recently.
@QuesoGrande- I'm glad the Saudis are getting in the game, but can anyone say what Obama's goals and policies in the Middle East are intended to achieve anymore? I think the chaos we're seeing is deliberate.
@Geoff King- Congress really needs to start fighting Barry's blatant violations of law and tradition. Their inaction is more than disappointing.
@Mark Matis- I am angry at those who are ignoring their oaths rather than challenging the legalities of Obama's policies.
@Rod- Thanks for the kind words. It was (and is) my assumption that some people will find today's cartoon and commentary off-putting. But it's an accurate representation of my honest feelings, which is what I owe anyone who takes time to read Hope n' Change.
@Dan III- If I live to be as old as Methuselah, I will never understand Barack Hussein Obama being a two term president.
@Anonymous- I didn't mail it to the White House, but I wouldn't mind if they saw it. Maybe someone in the NSA who is reading this right now can forward a copy to the golf course...
@Pete (Detroit)- Thank you. Sometimes dark is the only way to go.
@CenTexTim- You're right; Lubitz wasn't giving off a fraction of the warning signs that we've had for Barry.
You're also right that it's time for "coffee."
@Anonymous- I keep hoping America will learn that lesson, but with the short attention spans everyone has these days, I'm not sure people can still make the connection between actions and consequences anymore.
@Bruce Bleu- I admire the dream of the man building that plane. I don't admire his common sense, of course...
@American Cowboy- That is the question, isn't it?
@the Tunnel Dweller- I'm always grateful when people share my work with others. Thank you!
@Rod- I need a team to help me keep track of all the Rods around here. Unlike Iran, which refuses to let anyone track the rods in their nuclear reactors...
@PRY- I'm still hoping that someone else can take control before America noses in.
@Shelly- No question about it; Barry's race has allowed him to get away with much more than he should have been.
@John the Econ- Excellent breakdown of how we've become too splintered to show much in the way of concerted action, even for our own self-preservation.
Regarding airliners flown by computers and remote control, I think it's logical and inevitable. Which isn't the same as saying that I'd actually get on a robotically controlled jet if I was cold sober.
@OC- Thank you!
@Pete (Detroit)- You're right about the tax code. When Cruz mentioned wanting to clear it out and replace it with a flat tax, I could almost hear the wails of the Washington power brokers who use tax code as their carrot and stick.
@Japheaux & Stilton - on reflection truly terrifying, strapped into your seat and knowing you are about to buy it and also knowing there is NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT.
On a lighter note, the term 'cockpit' is still quite acceptable to most other than the usual hairy-pitted feminists. Somewhere in my archives I have a picture of an all-woman USAF crew of a C-5 Galaxy, the first I believe. A comment from the Aircraft Commander was along the lines of "No, we don't call it the cockpit, to us it's the Box Office".
You might want to consider this:
http://pamelageller.com/2015/03/germanwings-co-pilot-andreas-lubitz-praised-on-facebook-our-holy-martyr-lubitz-died-for-our-prophet.html/
@Popular Front- Thanks for the "cockpit," "box office" distinction. Seems like one of those "separate but equal" things.
@Mark Matis- Per my earlier comment, I'd already seen Pamela Geller's post (about a possible Muslim connection to the copilot) and sighed deeply because it had no evidence other than a link to an entirely speculative, unverified story. The Facebook page was clearly a bad joke that some asshole had posted and shouldn't be taken seriously. Facebook was right to take it down (and I won't often praise Facebook, which is way quicker to ban conservative material than that from other groups and interests).
I read posts here where people are angry about no impeachment. It is legal and therefore one must be able to prove the test which is high crimes and misdemeanors and as can be seen by the support by the Dems that is subject to interpretation. One has to know that one has a likely chance of winning otherwise it is very dangerous. Plus, Obama likes to set things up so no matter what he does he wins. I am sure he has a plan should he be impeached, and it would not be very nice. The rules could be changed to allow a 50% majority, like the Dems did. They need a person willing to say Obama was directly involved. Otherwise it is just surmise. The Gop allegedly wants to win the election in 2016. The reaction from supporters would very much unite the dems.
The pilot might have been on SSRI's.
"The reason I was sitting on these is not because I'm part of a cover-up, but because as of this writing (9 am Friday) I haven't seen any reliable news source produce credible evidence of a connection to Islam."
"Reliable news source" - Isn't that an oxymoron?
revjen45
Brilliant! Your best ever, I think.
@TMay- The Wall Street Journal recently opined "it's too late for impeachment," and they're right. The process could be drawn out to the end of his term and, as you point out, the Dems would probably gain political advantage for 2016 because of Obama's perceived persecution. "Hands Up, Don't Impeach" would be on every Lefty's lips.
Regarding SSRI's, they're powerful and probably overprescribed - but they can also be a godsend for people who genuinely need them. In general, I think SSRI's get an undeserved bad rap.
@Anonymous- "Reliable news source" is pretty oxymoronic these days (with the emphasis on "moronic"). That being said, I give more weight to those news sources which have a pretty proven track record and actually have something to lose if their credibility takes a hit.
Which is why I'm inclined to believe the new report from the UK's Daily Mail that the copilot was a volatile, disturbed individual who confessed to his girlfriend that he planned to do something heinous so he would always be remembered.
Like a certain president I could mention, I guess it was all about leaving a "legacy."
@TotallyPeeved- Thank you.
Yeah, murdering 149 innocent strangers will certainly make him be remembered - for a little while anyway. He would have been remembered much more favorably had he crashed an aircraft with far less passengers on board. Like, I don't know, Air Force One?
@Geoff King- We seem to have reached a period in which fame and infamy are nearly synonymous. I didn't buy the Muslim rumors about this guy (I'm making a point of not using his name anymore), nor would Depression explain his decision to kill not only himself, but 149 strangers.
His was a "Columbine" mind set; the worst kind of sociopathic insanity.
Stilton, every time you come out with a new cartoon and commentary, I send it out under the subject title of The Big Cheese. Sounds logical to me, as Stilton and Jarlsberg are both cheeses. I send it to my "friends" mailing list, which has fewer than a dozen people on it, though one is the blogger of Curmudgeonly and Skeptical, Rodger Schultz, who I hope will post some of them there.
This particular cartoon and commentary seems to have legs. I even found a comment referencing The Big Cheese in with an article in The American Thinker. It seems to be all over the place!
It occurs to me that you might not want your stuff sent out like I do. If that's the case, please let me know and I'll stop the practice. Otherwise, I will continue sending it out, knowing it could be reproduced or referenced elsewhere. Thank you.
Good point @Pete (Detroit), we will likely be seeing this on long-haul cargo planes first, although those planes will be limited as the vast majority of cargo carriers are converted from older generation passenger planes.
Interestingly, just after I posted the above, Wall Street Journal's Holman Jenkins Jr had some more observations on this from a slightly different angle.
As for the Islam/terrorism angle: Not buying it, nor should anyone else unless some hard evidence appears to substantiate this. Terrorism is only effective if the motives are made clear. If we've learned anything over the last decade and a half, it's that these guys always make sure to scream "Allāhu Akbar" before they meet their inevitable conclusion. This guy did no such thing. I agree with @Stilton that "His was a "Columbine" mind set; the worst kind of sociopathic insanity." And I applaud his squelching of any unnecessary conspiracy theories here. The multi-culti-cult loves little more than throwing out the "Islamophobia" card at such, and the reality is that nobody needs to be promulgating baseless innuendo in order to address the reality of that threat.
Mr J, this post was one of the best I have EVER seen on the internet or elsewhere.
Keep up the good & honest work!
Damned good question, before the debris had even finished sliding down the slope the white hut was sure it was not terrorism and told us so. How the hell were they so sure, so soon?
Doc challenging or not you did this justice in your most tallented way. Reading our e-mail warning from you I was unsure what to expect. You need not have worried.
Well done, bravo zulu, out-Fing-standing! (Military talk for good job)
Oh crud. I forgot "Earth Hour" last night.
I just now got a chance to read Friday's post. All I can say is WOW! It's a powerful analogy and one that is sad that it even has to be made. It has certainly hit a nerve with all those who commented. Well done, sir, and may posts like these be able to cease in some future day. May God help us to elect someone who can begin to unlock the door and let us in. (But then that was supposed to have happened last fall, eh?)
It's awful that you choose to draw this analogy. It is a really really bad and tasteless joke.
Even worse: One of your war mongering presidents of the Bush clan is more likely responsible that this door could not be opened anymore. A "security" feature introduced after 9/11 in which the US has a lot of responsibility. That's what I'd call "collateral damage".
It is not about WHO is steering the boat "USA", it is about the boat itself. It is leaky and is slowly sinking, no matter who's the captain. But many people blame it on the president as if he could do anything as a person. Every president is a sock puppet no matter what color, size party ... get over it, realize that some one else is steering this boat. Lobbyism. Look there. Money. Look there.
And now let those people grieve and mourn and cry ...
@Smorgasbroed- It's interesting that I mention multiple recent instances of Obama acting entirely alone to do things which have a significant and negative impact on our country, but you ignore all of them.
My analogy is entirely apt. Your analogy, which oddly turns a passenger jet with a kamikaze pilot into a leaky boat with holes drilled by the evil rich, is just nonsensical.
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