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Matt Fleming: Hate long airport lines? Sorry, you might be part of the problem

April 3, 2026

If you’re annoyed by the recent chaos at airports and the absurd, unnecessary delays, I have bad news for you: You might be part of the problem.

Travelers experienced extremely long wait times as a result of staffing shortages among TSA agents because, it turns out, when you don’t pay workers, they quit or get really sick and can’t come to work. Of course, once they start getting paid again, they experience miraculous waves of good health. Hallelujah!

But why weren’t they getting paid in the first place?

We’ve demanded a generation of lawmakers who refuse to work with anyone their voters might dislike, and, as a result, the government can’t function right.

A large part of President Donald Trump’s appeal among Republican voters is the belief that he fights for them. Drain the swamp, etc. Also, lots of polling has come out in recent years showing Democratic voters want their own fighter (which is why Gov. Gavin Newsom created his own fighter persona with the help of his consultants).

Great. You wanted a fighter. And you wanted a fighter. And now everyone is a fighter.

But if everyone is a fighter, should we be surprised that everyone is fighting?

For more than a decade now, Americans have endured a federal government that gets very little done. And what little that gets done is highly partisan and generally hated by the other side and is then attacked relentlessly when the other side regains power.

Or worse, consequential decisions are often made not by Congress, but with the swipe of a president’s pen. Like America’s military campaign in Iran, which Trump decided entirely within the Executive Branch, or Trump’s tariffs that imposed taxes paid by Americans, or then-President Joe Biden’s attempts to cancel nearly $600 billion in federal student loan debt.

Instead of legislating and crafting deals for the greatest number of people based on coalition building (or compromising, as a normal person might call it), lawmakers demonstrate their value to their supporters by going on T.V. and saying provocative, and often incredibly stupid, things.

Sounds silly, but it pays. When a lawmaker says something unproductive or even caustic about an opponent (I.e: half of the country), voters reward them with small contributions sent through email marketing campaigns. But if the lawmaker gets too cozy with the enemy, by saying something nice about him or appearing in public with her, supporters often punish the lawmaker with a barrage of abuse online or by supporting a primary opponent.

As a result, we get asinine stuff like this:

NBC News’ Kristen Welker: “Do you support the Trump Administration’s efforts to try to negotiate a deal with Iran to bring this war to an end?”

New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker: “I don’t support this Administration period.”

Does anyone else see how dumb that is? Booker does not support a military conflict with Iran and called Trump’s aggressive strikes “one of the greatest presidential blunders of our time.” It would make sense that Booker would gladly support Trump finding a quick, diplomatic resolution with Iran.

But we don’t live in sensible times. Booker can say nothing of the sort because his marching orders are to fight, which means it doesn’t really matter what Trump does, about this or anything else. Booker will oppose it all because Booker wants you to know he is a fighter.

It kinda makes me want to see what would happen if Trump introduced some over-the-top, left-wing legislation like the Green New Deal or a constitutional amendment supporting abortion just to watch Democrats like Booker reflexively oppose it.

But this isn’t just about Democrats. Republicans also do it. Republicans fought much of Biden’s legislative agenda not on policy grounds, but because it might have given the president a win. Recently, House Republicans sunk a bipartisan deal to fix the airport mess because they didn’t think it was good enough (and then caving later anyway).

Both sides are driving inflation and both sides blame the other. Both sides give tax breaks to their buddies with money neither side has. Both sides want to end the filibuster, but only when it suits them.

Removing the filibuster is a bad idea. There is no problem in America that will be solved by fewer impediments to mob rule.

Americans want what we want when we want it. But by demanding that at all costs, we’re also suffering the consequence of an entirely broken Congress and federal government.

It’s kind of like kids when they eat too much cake and get a tummy ache, only America’s tummy ache is a $38 trillion debt and trot towards civil war.

If Americans want to see effective change in this country, even to have well functioning airports on a consistent basis, we should consider demanding a governing philosophy of working together.

Matt Fleming is an opinion columnist for the Southern California News Group. Follow him on X at @flemingwords or email him at flemingwords@gmail.com.

Orange County Register

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Matt Fleming: Hate long airport lines? Sorry, you might be part of the problem

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