on another topic someone complains that he may go somewhere else since some have written about gas prices and oil drilling and alternate energy including new car and plane propulsion and most of all, that bogey man called politics.
What is "politics"?
I think to some, those who complain the most, and who resort to bad manners, bad language or profanity, the definition of "politics" really means anything that they don't agree with. This is the broadest definition, so that complainer can cover any topic posted with his objection.
If you look in the dictionary, the definition is obviously the topic of elections of candidates running for office and/or of laws proposed or passed. This is, without a doubt real politics, and there is very little of it on EAA, or most other aviation sites.
Even then, there may be relevance, for instance some candidate may be a pilot or more friendly to gen av than others, ( I know the man who used to fly Bill Clinton around Ark to campaign for gov there, in a C-180.) Sen. Coburn is an active pilot and has a proposed law before the FAA, if I have the right person.
But there is a secondary, less specific definition of politics, that of govt and it's actions.
AND ANYONE WHO DOESN'T THINK GOVT IS RELATED TO AVIATION IS IN A VACUUM , AND THIS GOES FOR NOT JUST AIRLINES OR MILITARY BUT GEN AV ALSO. Look what Daley did to Meigs Field, and what they tried to do but were stopped at GWS, Co. and Clearwater, Fla.
We as pilots, owners, or just fans of gen av and sport av, should and even must be concerned with govt as related to our profession, sport, or hobby.
EAA joins with AOPA and others like CAF, etc, at times to do some very important lobbying and public relations type work. If not, our wheel would run pretty dry and someone else would have all the grease.
I hope everyone is a member of not only EAA, but also AOPA and any other group that is helping keep us flying and doing a lot of the work that would be hard and less effective if we tried to do it as individuals.
By the way, I see AOPA, the larger organization, as perhaps the main course, and EAA and other smaller, more specialized ones as sort or like the dessert, or spice, that makes a meal more than just something to fill up on.