Notes from the edge of civilization: May 4, 2025

Ryanair flirts with China’s jetmaker; checking in with swing voters; and, 'papers, please' coming to an airport near you.

As global tariff wars heat up, could Ryanair actually do the unthinkable and buy Chinese jets, just to stick it to Boeing and Airbus? Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ireland’s low-cost airline says he’d definitely consider it, if the price is right.

“The Chinese are basically building a f**king A320,” he said recently. So if a Chinese aerospace firm undercuts Boeing by 10–20%, O’Leary says he’s game.

This is the same guy who once proposed charging passengers a fee to use the toilet, so don’t put it past him. Threatening to cozy up with China’s state-backed COMAC is classic Ryanair: ruthless, headline-hungry, and financially pragmatic to the point of provocation.

But the political fallout is real — and America is learning what it means to FAFO. If Boeing and Airbus keep hiking prices, customers will look elsewhere, despite pearl-clutching from lawmakers like Raja Krishnamoorthi, who’s now literally waving a red flag. In a letter last week, the Illinois congressman and ranking member of the House Committee on the Chinese Communist Party warned Ryanair that buying Chinese aircraft is like sleeping with the cyber-spying enemy. COMAC, he says, is tight with the Chinese military and builds its jets on a foundation of stolen Western intellectual property. (The Chinese government has repeatedly denied this.)

So is O’Leary bluffing, or playing geopolitical chicken with the global jet duopoly? Hard to say. But one thing’s certain: Ryanair holds the cards — and if tariffs keep pushing Boeing prices skyward, O’Leary just might be the first to call their bluff.

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The New York Times actually did something useful for once: they shut up and let people talk. An interactive opinion piece this week featured 12 former Democrats who flipped to Trump in 2024, hoping for change.

The remarkably candid peek into the psyches of voters who ditched the Democrats and took a gamble on Donald Trump shows a post-election mood somewhere between “great,” “unstable,” and “failing” — which, if we're being honest, is probably how the whole country feels right now.

Overall, the voters said they chose Trump because they wanted change. Many said they hoped Trump had mellowed since his earlier campaigns. What they saw in Candidate Trump and what they are seeing in President Trump is, in some cases, not quite matching up, but they are still largely hopeful.

Most said the executive-order machine with no off-button is giving them whiplash. Dan, 56, from Massachusetts, said: “I just feel like there’s so many things happening every day in the news. I didn’t expect to have to be so politically oriented every day, watching the news for the next policy change or initiative or vindictive action or executive order.”

Meanwhile, the economy is punching everyone in the teeth, with 401(k)s tanking and tariffs affecting their businesses. Almost all said they support aggressive border action, but criticized the bureaucratic chaos it is causing.

The biggest takeaway is these voters no longer trust either party. “It’s too tribal. Nobody talks to each other anymore,” said Mark, 61, from Florida. “This is the most divided Congress that I can ever remember. And the hypocrisy that’s coming out on both sides? It’s almost like politicians don’t think that what they say now is on the internet forever.”

You would think the Democrats would want to know what people who voted against them are feeling right now, but instead progressive outlets like The New Republic write these folks off as the “dumbest voters in America.”

“Democrats need to listen,” said David, 44, from Alabama. “I don’t feel like anybody’s listening anymore.”

Amen, David.

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Some Americans apparently took up a new pastime last week: scavenging the web late at night to score a DMV appointment. All for a star-spangled driver’s license that allegedly makes us “safer.”

The Transportation Security Administration says:

Congress passed The REAL ID Act in 2005, enacting a recommendation from the 9/11 Commission that established minimum security standards for state-issued driver’s licenses and identification cards… REAL ID is intended to improve the reliability and accuracy of driver’s licenses and identification cards while inhibiting the ability of terrorists and others to evade detection by using fraudulent identification.

Starting this Wednesday, May 7, you’ll need a REAL ID to board a domestic flight, enter a federal building, or access a military base. But that’s only if you don’t have a passport, enhanced driver’s license, Trusted Traveler card, Permanent Resident card, or another form of ID from the long list the TSA will accept.

So basically, much ado about nothing.

Still, the New York Times says there is chaos in places like New Jersey, which has the lowest compliance rate — only 17% of state-issued IDs are REAL IDs (compared to 55% compliance in California). Jerseyites have reportedly been logging on to the DMV site at 12:01 AM or driving all the way to Cape May just to find an appointment.

Meanwhile, Krispy Kreme has decided that handing out donuts will soothe their biometric anxiety. Because what pairs better with federal surveillance than glazed carbs?

The kicker is you probably already have an acceptable form of ID. The TSA says 81% of travelers do. Yet, the media coverage has whipped up the same level of hysteria normally reserved for hurricanes and mysterious disease outbreaks.

The bigger issue is the looming privacy nightmare no one’s really talking about. The Electronic Frontier Foundation and American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have warned for years that a standardized ID system is a gateway drug for surveillance creep.

From the ACLU:

If fully implemented, the law would facilitate the tracking of data on individuals and bring government into the very center of every citizen’s life. By definitively turning driver’s licenses into a form of national identity documents, Real ID would have a tremendously destructive impact on privacy.

Real ID may not be a federal database yet — but the infrastructure is being laid out at hyperspeed. It’s only a matter of time before it goes from ‘optional’ to your only choice.

So while you’re waiting in line for a security-enhanced license, just remember: the long-term plan isn’t safer skies — it’s tighter control.

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