Down to earth

I'm an airplane nut.  And I've noticed something odd lately.  With the sequester starting to take effect, and cuts all over the place, I'm seeing cuts to aviation.  Cuts to things I love, and sometimes in ways that scare me, etc.  But what I've really noticed is the reaction, in the media and from people I know.  Aaaah- they're cutting back on airshows!  Geez, Obama might actually charge us to go to museums!  (Of course they phrase it that way...)  My local air traffic control tower is closing!  (Okay, this one is a legitimate safety issue, but still.)  I love aviation, I love planes.  I love going to airshows and museums.  I will miss the Blue Angels and Thunderbirds (hopefully it's just one season, or some compromise is slapped together.)  But I understand the cuts.  We- and our representatives- got us into this mess.  Cuts have to be made somewhere, ideally in nonessential areas; but the sequester is all about cuts so painful Congress theoretically wouldn't let them happen.  Unless they were uncompromising idiots...

Aviation people tend to be conservative; maybe I'll talk about why some other time.  And when they hear about, or think about, cuts to aviation they get upset.  Too upset.  Ironically upset.  Because conservatives, as a rule, are against government spending.  But when you cut spending on things they like, they howl.  Anhd they agreed to these cuts.  So, I guess the takeaway is an obvious one:  conservatives are hypocrites.