Denny writes:

What I propose is that GA begins to campaign that unfit drivers cause
40,000+ deaths a year... That the first thing an illegal alien does
upon entering the country is get a drivers license... That all or most
of the 9/11 terrorists had a drivers license...

A public campaign might seriously backfire.

Most people are not pilots. If you develop a campaign about general
aviation--any kind of campaign--it brings GA into public awareness.
But the public awareness will amount simply to the (correct) belief
that GA is important only to a very small number of private pilots,
and the perception that the risk of terrorism (which is very small in
reality, but is believed to be very great in most people's minds)
outweighs the rights of anyone to fly a plane.

Thus, just making the public aware of a problem may result in public
endorsement of severe restrictions on GA, or even the elimination of
non-commercial, non-"essential" aviation entirely.

So be careful what you wish for. You can make people aware of a
problem, but you cannot guarantee that they'll take your side once
they know about it.

We need to DEMAND that all drivers have a federal background check to
get an initial license or at the next license renewal if the check has
not been previously performed, and a triennial medical comparable to a
3rd class flight physical to have and to keep a drivers license... We
need to insist that the medically impaired be banned from driving... We
need to demand that a DUI conviction result in loss of license for ten
years for the first offense and permanently for the second offense...
If taking an antidepressent is disabling for a Pilots certificate then
it is disabling for a drivers license...If insulin dependent diabetes,
or taking nitrates for a heart condition - you get the point... Also,
older drivers should have to have an annual physical...

That won't work. Nobody is worried about aircraft crashing due to
pilot error. They are worried that there are terrorists under every
rock, and that these terrorists all want to learn to fly planes so
that they can fly them into buildings.

Furthermore, most people see no reason at all to learn to fly _except_
for purposes of a career or terrorism. They will not be sympathetic
to the concerns of those who want to fly "for fun," as they will see
that as bizarre and elitist.

The point here is tto stir up the public and put the heat to the
elected politicians... The reason these grand standing political hacks
can get away with demanding draconian measures against pilots is that
we are a minority... The majority of the public doesn't feel threatened
so they don't care if we get shafted...We have to make them care...

There's your mistake: They aren't going to care just because you
publicize the issue. They may simply take sides with the demagogues
and insist that GA be curtailed or eliminated.

If the majority becomes alarmed and angry then the politicians are going
to flinch away from attacking us because the majority will be against
stiffer standards for anyone, fearing they will be next...

That won't happen. The average person doesn't identify with private
pilots at all. Anyone who wants to fly a plane is weird and suspect.

Look, women did not get the right to vote by sitting home and
whimpering, they took to the streets... Blacks did not get their
constitutional rights recognized by being servile and docile, they took
to the streets...

But they aroused the interest of large minorities (or even a majority,
in the case of women) who were personally affected by the issues.
That's not the case for aviation.

We need to stir up the public...

You cannot be sure what will start to cook if you stir things up.

--
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