'A little bit of fatherhood': Airline pilot goes viral after telling passengers what behavior won't fly



An American Airlines pilot is receiving high praise after a passenger's video documenting his recent preflight scolding went viral.

While some regarded the indiscriminate reprimand as patronizing, others appear happy to see someone finally put his foot down regarding bad flying etiquette. One Harvard Business School fellow has even indicated the pilot demonstrated a much-needed style of leadership.

Passenger Anna Leah Maltezos' video of the pilot's speech, posted to Instagram on July 26, has been seen well over 5.2 million times and presently has nearly 400,000 likes.

In the video, the captain of the American Airlines Boeing 737 can be heard over the plane's intercom setting down law and custom so that there can be no mistaking what sort of behavior won't fly.

"Remember, the flight attendants are primarily here for your safety," he said. "After that, they're going to make your flight more enjoyable. They're going to take care of you guys, but you will listen to what they have to say because they represent my will in the cockpit ... and my will is what matters."

The captain then listed a few of his high-altitude commandments, including:

  • "Be nice to each other";
  • "Be respectful to each other";
  • "Don't lean on people";
  • "Put your junk where it belongs";
  • "Don't pass out on other people or drool on 'em unless you've talked about it and they have a weather-assisted jacket."

"I shouldn't have to say that — you people should treat people the way you want to be treated — but I have to say it in every single flight because people don't and they're selfish and rude," he continued. "We won't have it."

The American Airlines captain had a great deal more to get off his chest in the form of what he characterized as "a little bit of fatherhood."

"The social experiment of listening to videos on speaker mode and talking on a cell phone in speaker mode — that is over," he said. "Over and done in this country. Nobody wants to hear your video. I know you think it's super sweet. It probably is, but it's your business, right? So keep it to yourself."

Toward the end of his speech, the pilot played Solomon, making quick work of dividing arm rests among the passengers by noting that "middle seaters ... own both armrests."

One of the most-liked comments on the video was, "The people complaining about his speech are the people that need to hear it."

Another comment, which received over 41,000 likes, similarly suggested, "If you're offended by this speech, congrats, you're the problem."

Maltezos, the passenger who captured the speech on video, told People, "It did seem oddly quiet afterward though ... maybe everyone was just so awed by the gift of double armrests they were left speechless."

Bill George, an executive fellow at Harvard Business School, told CNBC, "I say bravo to the American Airlines pilot. He has every right to do that. He’s the captain of the flight, and he’s in charge of what happens. ... If something goes wrong, he has the obligation to go back to the nearest airport and land ... and no passenger likes that."

To George's point, a United Airlines flight recently had to turn around hours into its journey from San Francisco to Taiwan owing to a "disruptive passenger," reported USA Today.

Brawls and other disruptions are unfortunately not uncommon.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, there there have been at 1,123 unruly passenger reports so far this year. In 2022, there were 2,455. The previous year was particularly bad, with nearly 6,000 reports of unruly passengers.

George said leaders like the pilot in the video have "the right to set some standards of behavior."

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The Woke Military Will Groom You To Respect Their Pronouns

The Woke Military Will Groom You To Respect Their Pronouns

'It's about insurrection': CNN analyst pushes absurd idea about father who told Biden 'Let's go, Brandon'



CNN was not happy that an Oregon father said "Let's go, Brandon" while speaking with President Joe Biden on Christmas Eve.

In fact, a CNN analyst reacting to the viral incident concluded the moment represented everything wrong with the current political climate in America — and that it's really about "insurrection." The analyst somehow forgot that vulgarity toward former President Donald Trump was praised when he was in the White House.

What did the panel say?

Ron Brownstein, a senior political analyst at CNN and senior editor at the Atlantic, was asked Friday what the incident — characterized by the CNN host as "disrespect[ing] the office of the president to his face" — says about the "political climate in this country."

"It's ungracious, it's juvenile, it's reprehensible by the father," Brownstein responded. "But I don’t think it’s fundamentally about incivility. I think it’s fundamentally about insurrection."

"The whole ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ kind of motif is a reflection of the view [of] two-thirds of the Republican base — driven by Trump’s false claims and the 'Big Lie' that Biden is an illegitimate president,” he continued. “And it reflects, as well, the findings in multiple polls by the American Enterprise Institute, Vanderbilt University, and others that a majority of Republican voters now say the American way of life is disappearing so fast that ... we may have to use force to save it."

"This is a manifestation, not just of incivility, but of the fundamental view of the illegitimacy and the ominous shores that we're kind of sailing toward very quickly in 2022 and especially 2024," Brownstein said.

CNN is PISSED that a parent would say "Let's Go Brandon" to Biden directly. Analyst says it's ungracious. It's juvenile. It's reprehensible...and (this is CNN)...it's about "insurrection."pic.twitter.com/vRRIZagEvb
— Tim Graham (@Tim Graham) 1640520656

What about Trump?

Rules about respecting the office of the presidency are apparently different based on who occupies the office.

When Trump was president, Democrats and media personalities often celebrated vulgar demonstrations and protests against Trump.

For example, Juli Briskman went viral in 2017 when she was photographed giving the middle finger to Trump's motorcade. Although she lost her job over the incident, supporters raised tens of thousands of dollars on her behalf, she was praised by Trump's detractors, and she even went on to win an election in Virginia.

And who could forget when legendary Hollywood actor Robert De Niro received a standing ovation at the 2018 Tony Awards when he proclaimed, "F*** Trump."

In fact, countless examples exist of media personalities, Hollywood celebrities, and Democratic commentators openly disparaging and disrespecting Trump when he was president. Meanwhile, numberless photographs of protesters proudly carrying signs that say "F*** Trump" during the Trump era also demonstrate how much respect was offered to the presidency when Trump held the office.

Thus the reaction to Biden being told "Let's go, Brandon" only proves the double standard that the outraged employ when someone disrespects the office of the president. When it's a guy they do not like, by all means, disrespect and insult him. But when someone they like is president, jokes directed at him literally become "about insurrection."

Ben Shapiro sarcastically captured the hypocritical phenomenon.

"OMG a guy was disrespectful to the president of the United States in one of the most euphemistic ways possible after four years of the entire legacy media celebrating p****hats, middle fingers, and f*** yous directed at the president of the United States, everybody freak out," Shapiro wrote on Twitter.

"I've noticed our 'speaking truth to power' media are laser-focused on outing and cudgeling a random dad who said 'Let's Go Brandon' on behalf of the most powerful person on planet earth," he added.

I've noticed our "speaking truth to power" media are laser-focused on outing and cudgeling a random dad who said "Let's Go Brandon" on behalf of the most powerful person on planet earth
— Ben Shapiro (@Ben Shapiro) 1640612790

Liberal SCOTUS justice omits 'respect' in dissent after Amy Coney Barrett pens majority opinion



Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, one of the high court's liberal justices, was forced to revise a recent dissenting court opinion that he wrote because he omitted "respect."

What is the background?

The Supreme Court issued a 7-2 ruling in U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service v. Sierra Clubon Thursday, determining that the Environmental Protection Agency can prevent Sierra Club, a left-wing climate advocacy group, from obtaining certain internal government documents.

The case was the first that Justice Amy Coney Barrett heard as a Supreme Court justice, with oral arguments taking place on Nov. 2. Barrett also authored her first Supreme Court majority opinion in the case.

Only Breyer and Justice Sonya Sotomayer dissented in the case.

What happened with Breyer?

According to Law & Crime, there were unusual circumstances surrounding the court's opinions unrelated to the outcome of the case.

From Law & Crime:

First, the opinion was not unanimous. Traditionally, a new justice authors their first majority opinion with the full backing from the court. Thursday's 7-2 decision in favor of the government upends that unspoken agreement—perhaps auguring tense relations ahead.

Second, the dissent by Justice Stephen Breyer (which was joined by Justice Sonia Sotomayor), foregoes the staid closing salutation of "I respectfully dissent" in favor of the terse "I dissent," which is decidedly a sign that the disagreement here is exceptionally sharp.

The details of the case aside, reporters quickly noticed that Breyer had omitted "respect" from his opinion.

"I didn't think this ESA/FOIA case was particularly contentious, but Breyer signed his dissent with the aggressive 'I dissent' rather than the standard, cordial 'I respectfully dissent,'" Politico reporter Alex Guillén noted.

I didn't think this ESA/FOIA case was particularly contentious, but Breyer signed his dissent with the aggressive "… https://t.co/KJ2j9vM2yE
— Alex Guillén (@Alex Guillén) 1614874847.0

In fact, Breyer issued two dissenting opinions on Thursday, and only the one dissenting Barrett's majority opinion omitted "respect."

Two dissents from Justice Breyer today.One "with respect": https://t.co/kW36OkcFR5One ... not: https://t.co/CXOCAnI7qs
— Steve Vladeck (@Steve Vladeck) 1614871011.0

What happened next?

Breyer issued an updated opinion on Friday that included "respect."

"For these reasons, with respect, I dissent," Breyer's opinion now reads.

As Law & Crime noted, the Supreme Court's "slip opinions" are subject to corrections, and are not the final, official court opinion.

The Supreme Court's own website makes clear that slip opinions — which are issued immediately upon the adjudication of a case — are not the official, final version of the court's say on a matter. For instance, page numbers and other ancillary matters are altered so as to insert the case into into the broader volume of the United States Reports where it will reside for the ages.

Indeed, the Supreme Court's website states, "Only the bound volumes of the United States Reports contain the final, official text of the opinions of the Supreme Court."

Bad storm blows American flag to the ground — Army sergeants were there in seconds

Two Army recruiters in Michigan rescued a flag from a severe rainstorm that had knocked it over outside Top Gun Shooting Sports, Fox News reported Friday.

The recruiters were attending a “Patriot Week” event at the gun shop when the storm’s harsh winds and rains brought down the flag outside the store. Staff Sgt. Eric Barkhorn and Staff Sgt. Jared Ferguson were captured on the store’s surveillance camera running into the storm to rescue the fallen flag.

Watch:

“I kept thinking to myself, ‘I am not going to leave the flag on the ground,’” Barkhorn told “Fox & Friends” Friday. “The flag means everything to me. It’s everything we stand for, it’s everything we fight for.”

Top Gun Shooting Sports owner Mike Barbour said that a new flagpole has been set up since the storm, which caused over $100,000 in damage to the building.

Fox reports the sergeants say they were “just doing what any soldiers would do in that situation.”

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WATCH: Furious war vet confronts official who kneeled during Pledge of Allegiance

Vietnam War veteran Calvin Bunnell called out the Connecticut town official who knelt during the Pledge of Allegiance at a meeting, asking her to resign from her post, Fox News reported Thursday.

Haddam Selectman Melissa Schlag, who knelt during the Pledge of Allegiance last month and who called the town of Haddam “racist and fascist,” was booed by Bunnell and several others when she kneeled again on Monday.

“When you kneeled and turned your back on that flag, you turned it on half of this town,” Bunnell said.

Watch:

Schlag wrote an open letter declaring her reasons for kneeling on July 16, in which she complained that “as long as Donald J. Trump is the president of the United States, I will kneel.”

The Vietnam veteran told Fox he called out Schlag because “she has her freedom of speech, she has her freedom of religion because of that flag and what that flag stood for.”

“To me, the flag is supposed to represent the United States, and when somebody kneels down and does not respect it, it goes along with the National Anthem. You’re supposed to stand up and present yourself to that situation, as well as the flag,” Bunnell said.

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