“It happens all the time,” said the captain as his ship sank. “Nothing to see here.”
When everything is reduced to statistics, humanity drowns in the depths of meaningless numbers.
U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg seems oblivious to the fact that his ship is sinking. Disasters like the toxic train wreck in East Palestine, Ohio, have become so commonplace under his watch that it’s just another day at the office.
About ten minutes into an interview with Yahoo Finance about a partnership between the White House and Tesla, the subject turned to the train wreck — figuratively and literally — in East Palestine.
With his usual above-it-all aloofness, Buttigieg downplayed the tragedy that spilled out a deadly mixture of toxic chemicals that have reportedly left animals in the area sick and dying by assuring the audience that train wrecks happen all the time.
Ever so calmly, Buttigieg pointed out, “While this horrible situation has gotten a particularly high amount of attention, there are roughly 1,000 cases a year of a train derailing.”
I can hear the people of East Palestine letting out a sigh of relief. Or was it a gasp of disbelief?
Critics jumped on Buttigieg’s out-of-touch and seemingly callous response. Columnist Benny Johnson tweeted, “Buttigieg is now minimizing the disaster in East Palestine, Ohio.”
Buttigieg is now minimizing the disaster in East Palestine, Ohio:
“While this horrible situation has gotten a particularly high amount of attention, there are roughly 1,000 cases a year of a train derailing.”pic.twitter.com/kfpohJ4hub
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) February 16, 2023
Is the Biden administration doing a good job in East Palestine, Ohio?
Yes: 1% (4 Votes)
No: 99% (325 Votes)
In response to Johnson’s tweet, Twitter user @SupermanBK201 added, “Yeah, I’m curious how many of those thousand derailments involve tens of thousands of gallons of hazardous chemicals being released into the environment.”
Yeah, I’m curious how many of those thousand derailments involve tens of thousands of gallons of hazardous chemicals being released into the environment.
— SuperHei (@SupermanBK201) February 16, 2023
Another critic, @e4tango, mocked Buttigieg by speaking for him: “I suck at my job so why nitpick this one tragedy when there are so many others?”
Translation: “I suck at my job so why nitpick this one tragedy when there’s so many others?”
— e4tango (@e4tango) February 16, 2023
You get the picture.
The critics weren’t being mean for the sake of it. Buttigieg’s track record is almost as bad as the Titanic’s. His ship just hasn’t sunk yet.
Buttigieg waited 10 days to even address the tragedy unfolding in East Palestine, according to Fox News. When he finally did, it was in a tweet assuring he was “concerned about the impacts” of the disaster. I’ll bet the residents in and around the train wreck felt a lot better after waiting 10 days for that news.
In Buttigieg’s defense, he’s got the stat right. There are just over 1,000 train derailments a year in the U.S., according to the Bureau of Transportation statistics website. What Buttigieg fails to say is that the majority of the derailments don’t make national news because they are relatively minor, according to PolitiFact.
The Federal Railroad Administration requires a derailment be reported if it causes more than $12,000 of damage to the track or equipment.
Allan Zarembski, director of the University of Delaware’s Railway Engineering and Safety Program, told Politifact, “It does not take a lot to generate $12,000 worth of damage to a locomotive or to a piece of track or even to a freight car.” That translates into “a couple of hundred bucks of damage to your car,” maybe a dented fender or a couple of new tires.
Many reported derailments happen in yards, which is where trains are assembled before they start their planned routes, Zarembski continued. “They’re the fender-benders of the railroad world.” Yard derailments are typically low-speed and low-energy derailments that cause somewhere between $10,000 and $30,000 in damage.
That’s not a lot, considering locomotives cost $3 million to $4 million. How much did your car cost?
The derailment in East Palestine, according to Zarmenbski, likely caused millions of dollars in damage.
When an article in Poltifact — known to hold a left-wing bias — sinks Buttigieg’s appeal to statistics, it is a sure sign that the transportation chief is off course.
It shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. Buttigieg would also have you believe that even highways can be racist. If you buy into that, maybe you’d like to see Mayor Pete run for president again.
Isn’t the Biden administration all about protecting the little guy? I’m pretty sure the “little guys” of East Palestine, Ohio, are fed up with Big Guy Biden and his motley crew of incompetents.
Americans are in desperate need of elected officials who are not only capable of getting things done but have the will and skill to do just that. Is that an impossible dream? If so, all we’re left with is a sinking feeling.
