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President Trump met with airline executives today:

Mr. Trump said the air-traffic control system is “totally out of whack”….“We want the traveling public to have the greatest customer service and with an absolute minimum of delays,” Mr. Trump said. “And we have an obsolete plane system, we have obsolete airports.”

What’s your guess? When he said “obsolete plane system” was he referring to air traffic control? Probably. Do you think he’s aware that the FAA is already in the middle of rolling out NextGen, a massive upgrade of America’s air traffic control? Probably not. Would it be nice to have a president who doesn’t sound like a third grader? I think so.

In other news:

  • Trump is pissed off at Sen. Richard Blumenthal for passing along the news that Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch called Trump’s attack on the judiciary “demoralizing” and “disheartening.” Trump’s response: attack Blumenthal for misrepresenting his Vietnam-era military service a couple of times, and imply that he’s lying again even though several other people have confirmed Gorsuch’s comments.
  • Trump is also pissed off at John McCain for having the gall to suggest that a military operation under the Trump administration could be anything other than a resounding success.
  • Kellyanne Conway joined her boss this morning in trying to pump up sales of Ivanka Trump’s clothing line. Unlike her boss, however, Conway is not exempt from conflict-of-interest rules. However, enforcement of ethics rules is usually left to the head of the federal agency—which in this case is Donald Trump. I think we can expect a pretty relaxed attitude toward these kinds of violations.

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The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

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