Fellow DU'ers, please riddle me this about the Omaha fiasco

[pepperbear]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/10/28/trump-omaha-supporters-stuck-cold/


1. The rally was held at an airfield. That's a whole lotta space.

2. The buses shuttled rally goers from the parking lot to the airfield.

3. I feel stupid as hell for asking this because I may be missing something but......

4. WHY DID THE BUSES HAVE TO RETURN TO GET THEM? COULDN'T THE BUSES HAVE STAYED ON THE AIRFIELD AND WAITED FOR THE CROWD? THERE WAS PROBABLY ENOUGH ROOM ON THE TARMAC FOR 100 BUSES. THEY MIGHT THEN HAVE HAD TO WAIT IN THE TRAFFIC JAM, BUT THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN WAITING ON WARM AND DRY BUSES.

5. Just wondering.

[Blue Owl]

1. Whatever happened -- it was a colossal fuck-up by the GOP

[pepperbear]

2. You're right about that....

they would have loved being stuck in a traffic jam of their own making, but not so much on foot.

[jcgoldie]

3. The reason they are so terrible at this shit...

THEY DON'T BELIEVE IN GOVERNMENT.

How are we going to deal with the logistics of transport to and from the event? Who cares, these are Amerkans, they need their freedum!

[benfranklin1776]

16. Exactly right! And shows they think that we the people are expendable.,,

Amazing though for as much as they hate government they spend all their time and a whole lot of money and engage in mass vote suppression trying to get elected.

[Chellee]

4. There you go, thinkin' all logical and stuff.

You have to think like a Republican. Make it four times harder than it has to be, and remember to suck out all the 'caring for humanity' stuff.

[pepperbear]

7. he's just pissed there's not enough love.

[KY_EnviroGuy]

5. What gives tRump the right to occupy an airport to begin with?

His puddle-jumping between rallies comes at tremendous cost to local and federal government, not to mention his risking of the health of hundreds of people.

I'm for clamping down on the freedoms of the executive to spend money freely and use of the office for partisan politics.

Owning the Bully Pulpit is enough for our presidents during campaign seasons........

[tonedevil]

6. I think it shows...

the number of fucks the Republicans give about "the little people" even their Rank and File.

[pepperbear]

9. +1

[tinrobot]

8. It wasn't the tarmac, it was the road leading to/from the tarmac.

That road developed a traffic jam.

The people arrived over the course of 10 hours and waited, so no traffic jams.

Then night came, the temps dropped, and when it was over - they all tried to leave at once. Instant traffic.

[Maru Kitteh]

14. Yeah, I mean gee, who could have possibly seen that coming?

Who could have imagined cold weather in Omaha Nebraska?

What kind of soothsayer could have foreseen the phenomena of darkness following light and that whole "Earth's rotation" theory?

Surely only a doctor of human behavioral science would be expected to accurately predict the possibility that people, after the finish of an event, may wish to actually leave.

Could mere mortals alone anticipate that single-lane roads asked to handle thousands of vehicles at once may in fact become impassable?

How could anyone know all of these things?

[SeattleVet]

10. People came throughout the day and were shuttled from parking to the site...

and all of them wanted to leave at the same time when the super-spreader event was over.

[sarcasmo]

11. Credit cards were declined, Trump. campaign is broke A/F.

[Totally Tunsie]

12. The answer is in the article you linked:

First, the buses weren't just making one trip to the airfield and waiting there. They were shuttling back and forth between the parking area and the airfield 3+ miles away. Forty buses were handling 25,000 people. Each of the forty buses would have to make at least five or six trips to get everyone there, and another five or six trips to get them back to their cars later.

That's when their problems began:

The confusion and the freezing weather added to the health risks that accompany every Trump rally during the coronavirus pandemic. In Omaha, buses carried about 25,000 people to the airport, Pecha said, where they crowded onto risers set up outside. Though the campaign checked temperatures and provided masks, many attendees didn’t wear them, the Omaha World-Herald reported.

In the lead-up to the rally, police warned that parking lots were full. With buses taking a half-hour to ferry people more than three miles to the rally site, hundreds of attendees were late to get inside, reported Iowa Starting Line, a liberal news site.

......

Brant Pavel, who made the trip to the rally from Chambers, Neb., compared the situation to game day at the University of Nebraska. His group was among those that decided to walk.
“It’s the same thing as a Husker football Saturday,” he said. “When the game is over, you know the buses and vehicles are going and they can only go so fast — so fast is pretty slow.”

The crowd of pedestrians slowed vehicle traffic along the roadway and further delayed the buses, Pecha said. Scores of officers tried to direct traffic, with some radioing in about numerous elderly attendees struggling in the cold, according to Omaha Scanner. Police began shuttling some to their cars to get them out of the elements. Extra buses were called in from Metro Area Transit.

[tikka]

15. That's weird

Omaha Transit said they transported 25,000 people. Trump's campaign said 29,000 attended. Reporters estimated a crowd of around 6.000.

[Denzil_DC]

13. I've had a hand in organizing some major demonstrations.

You figure out how you're going to get people to the site, what's going to be laid on for them while they attend, and you figure out how you're going to get them away at the end.

That last part is pretty much the most important. Especially in poor weather, you have a responsibility of care toward those you've encouraged to attend. Your work isn't finished until everyone is safely away.

Trump's rallies are all half-assed. His staff are probably demoralized at this point. It's not an excuse.

Maybe the sort of care I'm talking about is alien to the Trumpist/libertarian/everybody look out for themselves mindset..

[judeling]

19. Right with you

I to have organized outdoor events and out is as important as in. In is easier actually as people and time are more spread out.

This was a tough case however. Temperature drops are the hardest. You have to have some reason for people to hang a bit on exit if you have a choke point as they did. Just announcing an exit flyover of Air force one would have made a huge difference.

[Denzil_DC]

21. From the sound of it, the venue was totally unsuitable in the first place.

Especially if the advance team bought into Trump's inflated ideas about his rally turnouts!

[imanamerican63]

17. Trump's theory?

He got you here and he leave you hanging! Just like everything else he does! It is about him! I am from Omaha and it will cost us ten of thousands of dollars because he will stif the city as he has done in the past! No riddles here! I hope, but done expect those will learn from this either?

[NJCher]

18. Remember the boat parade fiasco?

Trumps events are hazardous to one’s health.

Chaos is the operative word.

[chriscan64]

20. In both cases, the Trump supporters stuck it to each other.

They eat their own in true, "I got mine" republican fashion.