Worthless Transportation Secretary “Pothole” Pete Buttigieg is nothing if he is not the most elusive, grossly incompetent, cartoonish, inert figure in the Biden administration. WHEN and IF he moves to address an issue, he does so at the speed of tar pitch on a slight incline. He held true to form when the unfortunate residents of East Palestine, Ohio were treated to the big badda boom no one should ever have to worry about.

Trains being on wheels and a mode of transportation – supposedly Pothole’s bailiwick by title – you’d think his professional interest (ntm all the incredible empathy we keep being reminded about) would have been engaged and yet you would have been wrong. For all the imminent danger to and suffering of the citizenry, coupled with the outcry from folks actually paying attention to the little burg of East Palestine, people had to repeatedly ask, “Where’s the Pete?”

All in good time, my friends. On Pete’s schedule that equates to?

Ten days later, when he lets them know he’s “concerned.”

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg has finally commented on the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio that took place ten days ago.

Sec. Buttigieg took to Twitter on Monday night, saying he remains concerned about the families impacted.

I’m sure that was a comfort to East Palestine residents. Who could take umbrage, knowing a week and a half went by before Pete could be bothered to tweet “concern” for their dire straits but only twelve hours for him to pipe up after the Michigan State shooting.

I’m guessing because it wasn’t his department?

BACK OFF, PEOPLE – PETE’S EMOTING.

My other guess is that he was laying low for a couple of reasons. One, he’s woefully unprepared to answer basic questions substantively at any given time, God forbid, crisis management is required. Secondly, I’d bet my last red cent they were trying to come up with a plausible scapegoat.

And oh, my gosh, I was waiting all week for this and telling everyone what I thought was in the works.

Holy smokes, don’t I look like the Amazing Kreskin, Mind Reader Extraordinaire!

Good gravy goodness this is some weak sauce, even for Pothole Pete.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg shifted part of the blame for the recent derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals in Ohio on the Trump administration reversing a little-known safety rule.

Buttigieg noted Tuesday evening that his agency had taken a series of steps to improve rail safety through “historic investments,” but said it was constrained by the Trump administration action. In 2018, the Department of Transportation (DOT) withdrew a rule proposed three years earlier requiring trains carrying certain dangerous chemicals to utilize electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) brakes, saying the technology’s benefits were inconclusive.

…The Trump administration rule change Buttigieg partially blamed came after Congress passed and former President Barack Obama signed the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act in December 2015.

The legislation established a new process, including independent study and testing, for the DOT to use in developing an updated regulatory impact analysis (RIA) related to the ECP brake provision, according to the Government Publishing Office.

“The final updated RIA shows that the ECP brake requirements are not expected to be cost beneficial under any scenario assessed,” the DOT stated in 2018.

Having gotten up the nerve to throw that weasel excuse out in a tweet by the 14th (11 days later, if you’re keeping count) I’m sure Pete figured it would take naysayers a while to pick it apart. Maybe they’d be too busy with, I don’t know, dead chickens or fish, hosing their houses out and scrubbing the kids down while holding their breath. But people were quick to parse the BS and completely crush that pathetic argument.

It turns out the emergency brake rule situation wasn’t at all what it’s now being painted as. In fact, it would have done nothing for this horrific situation.

Another reason the “BLAME TRUMP” falls flat on its face? The blame may lie a good part right in Pete’s regulatory lap.

The recent train derailment and hazardous chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio, may be due partly to a mistake in federal Department of Transportation guidelines.

According to officials, the train’s cargo was mislabeled and lacked the “high hazardous waste” warning toxic chemicals such as vinyl chloride are supposed to carry.

No wonder they’re, well, scrambling isn’t a word I’d associate with them as it implies quick motion. Casting about for a patsy to finger.

Pete’s diversionary tactics haven’t worked, either. Angry townspeople really want an answer to, “WHERE’S THE PETE?”

The Mayor of East Palestine DID decide to take questions at the “open house” last night. Resident: Where’s Pete Buttigieg? Where’s he at?
Mayor: I don’t know. Your guess is as good as me. Yesterday was the first time I heard anything from the White House. @LucasFoxNews pic.twitter.com/TXuKFPg9Cx

— Dagen McDowell (@dagenmcdowell) February 16, 2023

WHERE’S THE PETE?

Republican Gov. Mike DeWine said he has not seen Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg “at all” in the aftermath of the derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals in Ohio.

A train carrying toxic chemicals derailed near East Palestine, Ohio, Feb. 3, prompting evacuations and shelter-in-place orders as authorities moved to address the release of the chemicals. Officials warned of a possible “catastrophic blast” Feb. 6, carrying out a controlled burn of the chemicals, which resulted in a plume of toxic smoke filling the air, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

“I’ve not seen him at all,” DeWine said of Buttigieg,

…who has come under fire for waiting until Monday evening to discuss the situation via a thread on Twitter. “I did get a call from the president. You know, the president said I’ll send you whatever you need.”

WHERE’S THE PETE?

…Unfortunately, neither people living near the crash who have been getting sick and seeing their animals die nor the wider public has been given much information by the DOT or its leader. The reason is that Secretary Pete Buttigieg has been elsewhere mouthing woke “equity” claptrap and thus is too busy to pay any attention to actual transportation problems since he first took office.

At a forum this week, Buttigieg spoke not a single word about the toxic disaster in Ohio. But he had lots to say about the need to throw white construction workers out of their jobs.

…Does the nation really need white construction workers to be fired?

Wouldn’t it be better if just one white transportation secretary were fired?

Oh, you betcha, and, like, a year ago.

Utterly unconscionable.

Utterly predictable.

Malevolent clowns.