An airport by any other name is still an airport
U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler has introduced H.R. 7845, a bill “To designate the Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia as the ‘Donald J. Trump International Airport.'”
I don’t seek to find humor in many things.
That, though, made me laugh.
Reschenthaler and six of his Republican co-sponsors don’t share my sense of humor on this subject. They’re dead serious about making the name of our twice-impeached, multi-indicted one-term president – something people will see when they arrive at that airport.
For me, anything more grandiose than a pothole is too highfalutin to affix Mr. Trump’s name to it.
That’s just me.
For Reschenthaler, et al., Trump is truly worthy of such a designation. “In my lifetime, our nation has never been greater than under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump,” says Reschenthaler.
Let’s put this in perspective.
The name of the Washington National Airport (that other Washington, D.C., airport) was changed in February 1998 to the Ronald Reagan Washington Airport, thanks to then-president Bill Clinton who signed it into law.
Of course, Reagan had been a non-indicted, two-full-term president. Plus, the name change was made nearly 10 years after he left office.
Reschenthaler and company are angling to make this name change only three years after Trump left office – and with several serious legal issues still unsettled.
Even the thought of such a thing gave two Democrats openings for some pithy responses.
Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA) says, “If Republicans want to name something after him, I’d suggest they find a federal prison.”
Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) claims, “They know Dulles will never be renamed after Trump. Again, that’s not the point, the point is to suck up to their Dear Leader,” he wrote.
That’s not nice. But it is funny!
Beyer’s point was simple. Since Republicans haven’t been engaged in much meaningful legislating this current legislative session, they’re competing with each other to somehow get Mr. Trump’s attention.
So, why not propose an airport name change in Trump’s honor?
“Hey! Look at me. I’d like to name an airport after you.”
It’s unlikely there will be a name change for that airport anytime soon. Perpetual gadfly, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is a prime example of somebody who knows how to get Trump’s attention.
She’s at the forefront of trying to remove Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.
Johnson had cobbled together a $1.2 trillion deal with Democrats in late March that staved off a government shutdown.
That angered Taylor Greene to the extent that she’s now filed a motion that could lead to having Johnson removed from his speakership.
Many Republicans don’t like that move. One Republican, Rep. Mike Lawler of New York, even called it “idiotic.”
But disrupting the natural order of things is right out of the Trump playbook.
Trump loves that kind of attention.
Especially since it’ll take his mind off of having to sell those “God Bless the USA” Bibles ($60), and those cheesy, over-priced ($399), but currently sold-out Trump sneakers.
The campaign costs and legal costs for his various court cases are mounting.
Trump is finally in full campaign mode. That means he spends his nights on Truth Social, sending out angry messages about President Biden, the media, the judges hearing his various court cases, their daughters, and those prosecutors who are trying to hold him accountable for his alleged misdeeds.
Ironically, it’s Joe Biden who has been out and about – campaigning across the country. While Trump has mostly been tethered to his numerous court cases.
In 2020, the rub on Biden was that he was campaigning from his basement.
In 2024, Biden is by far more active than Trump. And Trump’s rallies are not nearly as big as they were in 2016 and 2020.
We don’t hear Trump call Biden “Sleepy Joe” much anymore, do we?
Regrettably, though, we’ve seen Mr. Trump make fun of Mr. Biden’s stutter.
That’s just one reason why naming an airport after him would be just plain foolish!
Al Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter, and anchor for Entertainment Tonight, and 50-year TV news and newspaper veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.