Today's Chicago Sun-Times celebrates Independence Day with "Boeing as amoral as firms that aided Hitler," written by columnist Dick Simpson.
Simpson tells us:
Boeing pretends to be a good corporate citizen supporting Chicago arts groups and community organizations with grants. The company is listed prominently in playbills and annual reports.But Boeing also abets torture. It is, after all, a defense contractor as well as a provider of civilian passenger jets. It is locked at the hip and the bottom line with the U.S. government.
Despite our pride in Boeing as a global corporation, it is as amoral as the German corporations that aided Hitler. Only money and contracts count with Boeing.
And what has Boeing done to warrant such withering criticism? Why, a Boeing subsidiary "since 2001 has provided flight and logistical support for at least 15 aircraft making 70 clandestine flights for the CIA. Jeppesen allows the CIA to transport prisoners such as ACLU plaintiffs Binyam Mohamed, Abou Elkassim Britel, and Ahmed Agiza to secret locations where they were tortured as part of our government's 'war on terror.'"
Oh, the horror of it all. Can you imagine, an average of less than one flight a month since 9/11 to transport individuals our government believes have terrorist ties. Outrageous.
Transporting a relatively small number of people for the U.S. government is comparable to the Nazi extermination of millions in the eyes of liberals like Simpson. He hasn't changed much since the 1970s when, as a Chicago alderman he backed resolutions calling for withdrawal from Vietnam. He also enjoyed - if that's the right word- a connection with the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee of Chicago. By the 1980s, he was demanding Chicago be deemed a nuclear weapons free zone. At that time he was the executive director of Clergy and Laity Concerned; Simpson is a United Church of Christ minister.
Maybe if Boeing and its subsidiary would just agree to assignments such as removing our troops from Iraq or assisting Fidel Castro or something along those lines, Simpson could approve. But aiding the U.S. government is simply beyond the pale. It's. . . it's. . . just like what the companies that helped Hitler did.
Happy July 4th, Dick.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
I can see it so clearly...
July 4, 2008 - 11:32 ET by heldmywCIA: "Um... Hi there! We'd like to book a flight, please."
Boeing subsidiary rep: "Certainly Sir, I'll get right on that. How many in your party?"
CIA: "Oh, 4, maybe 5"
BSR: "No problem, just fill out this form and check the box labeled 'will be torturing', or 'will not be torturing'."
CIA: "What?"
BSR: "It's just routine, sir. We at Boeing like to keep track of clandestine abuse of prisoners for our records... It's also part of an office pool, see?"
CIA: "Umm, yeah."
Chicago: U.S.Capitol for the Manufacture and Distribution of Pompous Stupidity. We outlawed foie gras first!
Office pool
July 4, 2008 - 13:41 ET by Michael M. BatesBSR: "It's just routine, sir. We at Boeing like to keep track of clandestine abuse of prisoners for our records... It's also part of an office pool, see?"
Not to mention that such record keeping could help the ACLU in its essential work.
I was a flight attendant for 21 years
July 4, 2008 - 11:47 ET by DelsaNOTHING beats Boeing aircraft. NOTHING!
Not only for the power but from a working and safty stand point they were a pleasure.
I think I worked all the planes they manufacture. From the little 737 to the SP 747 for non stop 16 + hour flights to the orient, to 757's, and 767's. Short haul through europe the 737 was used. I skipped those because of where i was based.
That said, Nothing beats Boeing.
Screw the Chicago Sun Times
pardon my french
Nothing used to...
July 4, 2008 - 12:11 ET by cmiklich...Airbus is doing alright at it lately. BA has gone down a bad road with their use of unskilled, inexperienced foreign companies to build aircraft components. The 787 is delayed (way over a year, heading for 2), the 747-8 is a nightmare. When designing or building something as complex and complicated as a commercial airplane, there is ZERO substitute for experience. BA is chapping their own hide at a time when jet fuel is going through the roof. The 787 will be hella-expensive to repair (properly) because of the lack of carbon-fiber knowledge throughout the world.
amiklich
July 4, 2008 - 13:03 ET by DelsaI was flying when jets were not buses.
When service included cooking the meals to order on the plane.
Airbus was ok. Loved the take off.
Naturally, it is only my opinion. If you really want to know I loved the DC 8's. Regular and stretch.
The wing span on the stretch 8 was incredible. I can remember in a thunder storm, while belted into my jumpseat, watching the wings flap up and down like the wings of a big bird.
I would have freeked but I went to trainning and knew they were designed to do just that. lol
When the Rolls-Royce engines began to wind up there was no better sound.
These big bruser aircraft they are going with now depress me. Glad I do not have to work em or fuel em
My very first flight was on
July 5, 2008 - 07:51 ET by Seabeach4348My very first flight was on a United DC-8. You're correct: nothing in the world sounded better than those old Rolls-Royce engines, except maybe for a 426 HEMI (the REAL Hemi), 429 SCJ, or 454 BB Chevy.
I also loved the 707s and the workhorse 727, some of the best jets ever made. Too bad that most of them are gone.
cmiklich, The faster one goes the MORE fuel is used.
July 4, 2008 - 14:14 ET by upcountrywater787 is delayed, may never see the light of day... Fuel issues..
One goes twice as fast, uses 4 times the fuel..Just one year ago fuel was 50% cheaper.
Liberals62%
IranianUranium
Oh, it will fly...
July 4, 2008 - 15:03 ET by cmiklichProbably before the end of the year. Approx 16 months late.
The 787 is ENTIRELY shelled in carbon fiber. Not aluminum. And no elaborate skeleton to support the external skin. The skin is the skeleton. Perhaps 20% lighter than any comparable plane.
Where BA (management) got off track is thinking that somebody, anybody, anywhere could follow a simple document and have the accrued knowledge of decades whittled down to a mere "process". It is biting them in the @ss.
Unfortunately, BA is not managed (at ANY level) by people who have spent considerable time either designing or building aircraft (or other aerospace components). Most managers @ BA are "follow-up" folks who have watched people do work and have filled in the little bar charts and kept status. Let me tell ya: It ain't the same.
Frenching
July 4, 2008 - 13:42 ET by Michael M. Batespardon my french
Is that you, Monsieur Kerry?
Oui Oui
July 4, 2008 - 15:25 ET by Cool ArrowOr is that what Teresa calls him?
LYDSEXICS UNTIE
You mean Te-RAY-za, don't
July 5, 2008 - 07:52 ET by Seabeach4348You mean Te-RAY-za, don't you?
Spot the weak argument
July 4, 2008 - 12:00 ET by Iowa BoyYou know immediately when a liberal has a weak thesis. They refer to anything as Racist or Nazi.
Here's a lesson for you liberals. If you're going to disparage any conservative principle as like the Nazis, understand that Nazi is a German abbreviation for National Socialism.
Nationalsozialismus..Na-Zi. Get it? Thanks for playing. We have some lovely parting gifts.
(Translation courtesy of Google Translate.)
"I'd rather be governed by the first 2,000 people in the Boston
telephone directory than the 2,000 faculty at Hardvard Unversity." -
William F. Buckley Jr.
you learn a new thing every day!
July 4, 2008 - 13:06 ET by ceedubyaThank you for that IowaBoy.
Happy 4th July to all at Newsbusters and their members.
Nazi name calling
July 4, 2008 - 13:46 ET by Michael M. BatesThey refer to anything as Racist or Nazi.
Or - even worse - mean spirited. Ouch!
Another way to tell that a
July 5, 2008 - 07:57 ET by Seabeach4348Another way to tell that a liberal is losing or has lost the argument is when the liberal just keeps talking and will not answer any of embarassing questions being thrown at him.
This is exactly what Rev. Jeremiah Wrong did when he was interviewed by Sean Hannity a while back. He just kept talking nonsense nonstop when Hannity started asking tough questions.
I'm sure that in Rev. Wrong's beady little brain he thought that he scored big against Hannity.
The flights aren't the bad part...
July 4, 2008 - 12:06 ET by cmiklichJeppesen was a bad pickup for BA. They have caused BA a lot of grief w/ their lack of profitability and other scandals, not so much the CIA stuff.
BA's lack of patriotism has long been on display through their use of RED China to manufacture components of aircraft. BA management has long been patriotically and morally "challenged".
Never forget: Jimmy the Peanut Farmer's Undersecretary of Defense (remind me again how strong was Carter's Defense Staff?) was Frank Shrontz. Shrontz is the guy who really started all the offloading on a massive scale. Can someone explain how it's more patriotic for a RED Chinese to have a job than an American? (Or a Mexican or an Italian or anybody. And please don't talk "offsets", that word is French for "bribe" and hasn't resulted in increased orders. There is no honor among thieves.)
Shrontz
July 4, 2008 - 13:51 ET by Michael M. BatesJimmy the Peanut Farmer's Undersecretary of Defense (remind me again how strong was Carter's Defense Staff?) was Frank Shrontz.
Sure he wasn't a Nixon-Ford appointee?
I stand...
July 4, 2008 - 15:08 ET by cmiklich..corrected...
I wouldn't want a Chinese
July 4, 2008 - 16:42 ET by DarkCurrentI wouldn't want a Chinese part on an American engineered and assembled plane, that'd be too foreign.
Put me on an Airbus! That'll save American jobs!
Liberals
July 4, 2008 - 12:14 ET by WR JonasI remember a few years ago when the Boeing Corp decide to move their headquarters from Seattle , it became a giant pander party to see which city would land the prize. The top corporation officers sifted , sniffed and considered. It came down to two finalists . Chicago and Dallas. Then the goveling became disgusting . Finally the great answer came down, Its Chicago.
Well, great for Chicago. You won ...... do you remember? How about a show of support for one of the great companies in America.
I went aboard the last flying Boeing B-29 years ago in DFW in Dallas when the aircraft landed seeking some mechanical assistance and a bunch of oil for those big leaky radials. Braniff was glad to offer assistance and a place to park the ship. This was the last of a great line of warships in the Pacific and identical to the Enola Gay, which had dropped the first a-bomb on Hiroshima. It was almost like creeping into a holy place . It was like sitting in the seat of The Spirit of St Louis or the Wrights first bi plane.
It was an experience .The Confederate Air Force which owned the plane has since changed its politically improper name and relocated to Midland Texas . I guess they still display it and if you get a chance to see it, then do so. Especially Dick Simpson.
Chicago Sun Times and Boeing
July 4, 2008 - 12:24 ET by merlin61The liberal media have been throwing the
word "nazi" around like confetti. I don't think
they even understand what this organization
stood for. Its cheap to throw out the words
and not retract them. They have no idea what
real nazism is about. I'm sick and tired of the
media accusing the United States of torture. The
terrorists will be the first to chop off the heads
of media journalists, and it has already been
done. Stop the insanity and stop trying to make
Americans feel guilty. This claptrap has been
very annoying this 4th of July. Happy 4th
everyone except the liberal communist media.
Playground name calling
July 4, 2008 - 12:57 ET by wdhorningIMHO, the Chicago Times is also "unpatriotic." Here is my basis:
Boeing provided technology to its country out of loyalty, and both wars, Iraq and Afghanistan, were authorized by Congress, so President Bush has done nothing amiss, unless the Chicago Times wishes to call all of Congress Hitler's parliment.
In fact, saying Bush lied is actually the real lie, since it was Saddam who "lied" by feigning WMD, fooling the whole world into thinking, per the UN report, "Iraq had enough WMD to kill everyone on the planet 6 times over."
The Chicago Times is free to disagree with either or both wars, but comparing Boeing to firms that aided Hitler is like calling the Chicago Times a child porn magazine.
Finallly, comparing President Bush to Hitler is an insult to all the Jews of the world, because President Bush has stood up to some of Israel's enemies. Remember those Scud missiles Saddam fired into Israel? Remember the aid that Israel has received from the US to fight its own internal terrorists, which President Bush signed off on? Remember diplomatic efforts by President Bush's administration to control the Syrians and get them out of Lebanon?
IMHO, the Chicago Times is free to print what it wants in its opinions, and likewise my free speech rights say I have the right to say it is my opinion the owner and editorial staff of the Chicago Times are "traitors" and do not deserve living in the USA and should "take a hike" and leave "my" country. They are disgusting "pigs" to me, IMHO.
How is that for "playground name calling?" Does it stoop to their level?
Actually, my opinions against the Chicago Times are satire and meant to illustrate what I believe is their "childish" behavior. IMHO, their press is borderline "hate speech" against Boeing. And in fact, I would be talking to my lawyers about suing the Chicago Times for making such a comparison, since in open court it can be proven President Bush is not akin to Hitler and thus Boeing is not akin to companies that aided Hitler and thus. IMHO, the Chicago Times has committed slander, not just given a fair opinion.
Slander
July 4, 2008 - 13:58 ET by Michael M. BatesIMHO, the Chicago Times has committed slander, not just given a fair opinion.
You might wish to try a libel suit. I believe slander is usually oral defamation rather than written. Then again, I'm no shyster. As the word is generally defined, anyway.
letters = libel
July 4, 2008 - 21:41 ET by wizardjrI use this memory trick to pick the right one:
Letters = libel
saying = slander
Chicago
July 4, 2008 - 13:44 ET by jaywlI didn't understand why Boeing picked Chicago then or now. Only Detroit could have been worse. (Yes I know, let me have both barrels from your lovely towns). Too cold, too windy, too many people. Really stupid people at the newspaper.
The Sun-Times makes as much sense as suing a mechanic for servicing the get away car of a bank robber. As-Os.
Jaywl, Don't worry, I
July 4, 2008 - 13:55 ET by LiberalliesJaywl,
Don't worry, I live in Chicago and I agree with you!
I believe Boeing chose Chicago because Mayor Daley and Governor Blagoiavich made promises to them, which neither have kept.
and as for this piece. What a hate filled piece. Incredible that this type of stuff passes as news this days.
I just find the Chicago Sun-times incredibly to be such a hypocritical "news"paper since they have zero problem jumping on Conservatives that dare compare Liberals and Democrats to Nazis. Ridiculous.
Furthermore, if we use the Chicago Sun-Times logic behind this hit piece John Edwards, Kerry, Kennedy, Michael Moore, etc can also be compared to Nazis that supported Hitler since they all own Boeing stocks and stocks of other government defense contractors.
"Fut, I find your religion to be a Satanic rape and dismemberment of the...Holy Bible" July 1, 2008 by Tracheostomy
This Is Also...
July 4, 2008 - 13:49 ET by Wildcatter1980...the "Is it guns or people who kill people" argument. Simpson is just looking for any lazy excuse he can to bash Bush and Boeing.
If Simpson had any real integrity, he would be writing multiple columns on how the Obamessiah is running away from the far left positions he held during the primary and whether BO is just latest in "politics as usual."
Shush
July 4, 2008 - 14:00 ET by Michael M. BatesIf Simpson had any real integrity, he would be writing multiple columns on how the Obamessiah is running away from the far left positions he held during the primary. . .
Shush. We're not supposed to notice. . . .
Snicker!
July 9, 2008 - 13:08 ET by Wildcatter1980Snicker!
BO
July 5, 2008 - 09:20 ET by ahusserBO is pretending to be a little more right on some issues to grab votes. Just like Bubba did. Then, when elected, whamo! Back to being a lefty. Just doing whatever it takes. The "ENDS" you know are justification enough. Remember Bubba's first act as CIC was allowing gays in the military. Soon after attempting to appoint that wonderful person, Lani Guinier a cabinet post (or was it a judgeship). Unfortunately the Federal Judges he appointed are going to be with us forever. (In my mind a major flaw in the U.S. Constitution: Lifetime appt of judges.)
The higher your altlitude
July 4, 2008 - 15:13 ET by Delsathe less fuel you use.
In these new guys you get range and fuel savings
Hey Delsa,
July 4, 2008 - 15:21 ET by BlondeWhat are you all doing this evening?
We're headed to the Sea Watch....my mum is here and we're going to eat LOBSTERS!
David Gregory, do you know which damn network you lie for? ~ Uncle Jimbo, @Blackfive
Jeppesen Sanderson does not
July 4, 2008 - 15:24 ET by niner-four-whiskeyJeppesen Sanderson does not book flights or fly aircraft. Jeppesen provides flight planning services, weather, charts, maps, and software. They also provide services to plan and file flight plans for international trips.
They don't have any idea what is on the plane, just what plane or flight number, where it wants to take off and where it wants to go. They then provide weather information, file whatever paperwork the countries involved require to use their airspace, calculate flight times and fuel requirements and so on. They provide these services to corporate flight departments and governments all over the world.
For all of this, they get called Nazi's.
This all leaked out when a trainer at Jepp bragged about them planning the rendition flights.
thanks
July 4, 2008 - 21:45 ET by wizardjrI almost forgot that bit. You're absolutely correct. Once again the lame stream media fails to research a story line. How surprising. Jepp is famous amongst pilots of all size birds as the suppliers of intrument landing charts and other goodies. They (as you say) have absolutely no idea what's on a bird unless someone calls up to make a point of it (??? why would they).
Another grammar gaffe from the MSM
July 4, 2008 - 16:47 ET by nkviking75Mr. Simpson, the word you're looking for is "immoral", as in "Boeing is as immoral as Hitler". Bad enough that you missed it, but why didn't your editors catch it?
When you put the clowns in charge, don't be surprised when a circus breaks out.
Boeing is an integral
July 4, 2008 - 23:34 ET by Rush FanBoeing is an integral partner with the U.S. government in the global War on Terror. In addition to airplanes, Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems (S&IS) is the world's leading manufacturer of geostationary satellites and military communications satellites. They are our ‘eyes in the sky’ all over the world, including Iraq and Afghanistan. Who knows how many lives have been saved because Boeing, the Telecom companies that assisted us after 9/11 and continue to do so today, and many other U.S. corporations stepped up to the plate after we were attacked. God Bless Them!
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