Discussion: Delta CEO: 'We Are Not Taking Sides' By Cutting Ties With NRA

Hey folks, another NRA Festival, I mean school shooting.

A 19 year old shooter…

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“Our people and our customers have a wide range of views on how to increase safety in our schools and public places, and we are not taking sides,” Bastian’s memo said.

Coward. Man up and take responsibility for your actions. You absolutely are taking sides, siding WITH kids and decent humans and against the NRA.

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The republicans should just change their overall name brand.
The Piranha Banana Republic of gang warfare.

I am keenly aware that “business ties” are done in the pursuit of business and all that that entails, i.e. seeking increased profits, sector marketing, market share, creating loyalty, perks, etc., but why in the hell should the NRA, or any group such as they are, be able to fly at reduced rates merely by virtue of their being a member of that group? Delta cannot claim that they are not taking sides by either of their actions whether it be offering discounts or taking away those discounts. They cannot have it both ways.

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“We are not taking sides,” Bastian’s memo said. “Our objective in removing any implied affiliation with the NRA was to remove Delta from this debate.”

Obviously this angers the NRA. They would like us to think that their views are objective whereas, as Bastian suggests, they’re anything but.

To the NRA, there is no objectivity. If you’re not slavishly following their dictates, then you’re the enemy. Kudos to Delta management for helping make this clear.

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Delta’s actions are clear, their words are not.

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At this point, I’m convinced Republicans feed off the deaths of young people. Their sustenance requires regular sacrifice. They’re like an Aztec revival…no wonder they hate Mexicans so much, they don’t want anyone to realize the origin of their bloodlust.

Edit: I just read an article on Slate discussing how GA has violated Delta’s first amendment rights. Lol Citizen’s United is working against the GOP for a change.

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To be fair the article also says:

Does taking sides mean you have to shout it from the rooftops? They don’t seem to be backing down when there is real money on the table. That doesn’t seem cowardly to me. Maybe Delta serves as an even better example by trying to play to the reasonable middle ground?

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In my head I hear GWB smirking his way through “You’re either with us or against us.”

If it wasn’t for the constant anger and fear I could see that simplistic world view making life mentally easier for it’s adherents.

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If they were taking sides, NRA members would pay more.

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This is ostensibly about Delta no longer offering a modest fare discount on flights to and from one convention per year.

The GOP overreaction here is insane.

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That works too. That would be my next move if I were Delta, since they have to make up $40MM dollars.

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Just apply it as an additional fee to anyone transporting a firearm on a Delta flight as checked luggage.

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No shit - they threw a fucking tantrum over a slight discount.

But I’m just gobsmacked at this whole thing. I have not ever seen a political party act like this on behalf of a nonprofit. Never - it’s flat bizarre.

Is it the GOP or is it just a subbranch of the NRA?

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Crazy boyfriend, furious you laughed at someone else’s joke, won’t drive you home from the party, and tells you to return the Judas Priest ticket, because he’s taking someone else! </ flipsmulletinhuff>

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Uh huh.

I’m pretty sure the NRA’s attitude is, “If you’re not with us, you’re against us.”

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Frankly, I find Bastian’s response both measured and perfectly logical. Delta is not taking sides in the debate; it is responding to ferocious customer feedback that they cannot ignore. Delta has not uttered a single word about the NRA or gun control. It’s making a corporate decision based on customer demand.

Also, I object to TPM’s(?) Ben Nadler and R.J. Rico suggestion that “The move backfired” because of the GA legislature’s response, for a number of reasons.

First, Delta has a worldwide customer base that it has to respond to and the moronic musings of a parochial state government means very little to Delta’s business. A lost tax break a a few airports, even including its primary hub, is not going to matter at all financially (though it’s not inconsequential in PR terms).

Second, who’s to say that GA isn’t going to see this adolescent response backfire many, many times over. It’s R’s who have rescinded this tax break, and R’s are tax break obsessed. How does shilling for a completely unrelated business at the expense of one of the state’s biggest employers going to look to any other corporation considering doing business in GA? It’s going to look VERY risky, that’s how it’s going to look. Just like with the genderless bathroom ban, this bunch of slack-jawed politicians have just cost their taxpayers so much more than whatever benefit defending the NRA’s honor (like it’s some southern belle who’s been jilted by the quarterback of the UGA football team) could possibly bring them. Their only hope is that their constituents are too stupid to realize the cost to them as taxpayers, which, considering they are clutching their AR-15’s like a strand of Grandmother’s pearls, is probably a safe bet…

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Does it seem like TPM is stuck in 1999 pre broadband days? I’m hearing the ear slitting shriek of a dial-up modem…

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Too much winning

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