(My new American Thinker post)
Who knew that President Biden would have a problem with his Secretary of Transportation? I cannot even remember who had this job before. I think that Elizabeth Dole had the position but I may be wrong. I'm not mocking the job but only pointing out that this is not supposed to be a controversial post. Of course, that was before a fellow named Pete Buttigieg got the job because he met certain criteria in the "identity politics" section. In the old days, people got cabinet jobs because they had certain expertise in their areas. In this administration, it's all about clicking boxes, e.g., just check out the press secretary.
Where is Pete? They are screaming that question in Ohio. This is the editorial from the Washington Examiner:
The recent train derailment and hazardous chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio, may be due partly to a mistake in federal Department of Transportation guidelines.
According to officials, the train's cargo was mislabeled and lacked the "high hazardous waste" warning toxic chemicals such as vinyl chloride are supposed to carry.
Unfortunately, neither people living near the crash who have been getting sick and seeing their animals die nor the wider public has been given much information by the DOT or its leader. The reason is that Secretary Pete Buttigieg has been elsewhere mouthing woke "equity" claptrap and thus is too busy to pay any attention to actual transportation problems since he first took office.
At a forum this week, Buttigieg spoke not a single word about the toxic disaster in Ohio. But he had lots to say about the need to throw white construction workers out of their jobs.
Where is the secretary? As they say, he is playing the race card and forgetting what the late Dr. King said about judging people on the basis of character, not race. In other words, the secretary should be concerned about competent construction workers, not playing race games. By the way, the secretary also blamed the Ohio accident on Trump. What's new about that?
We have an administration with a president on mute mode, a VP who worries Democrats, a Secretary of Energy who does not understand energy, and now a Secretary of Transportation in over his head.
Nobody is expecting the secretary to answer every question about the train derailment. It's complicated and people understand that. However, showing your face would show some respect for the thousands impacted.
Where is Pete? He is not on the job!
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