That's the problem, Carl, you don't prove me wrong, you obfuscate, change the subject and launch into personal attacks. These are the facts; ALPA merger policy changes very infrequently and when it does change it is through a time tested process that is incredibly inclusive. In the end it is affirmed through multiple democratic votes. The idea that one small group can hijack the process is just false. That is what you are pushing and that is what you have to try to run away from.

For the younger guys on here, I hope you notice the pattern. Carl is someone who never has to take responsibility for his diatribes. When his type of tactics are found to be failures, he simply packs up, insults anyone who disagrees with him, and then moves on to his next attacks.

If anyone reading this has not read the UAL/CAL arbitration award you should read it today, twice. What you see is a definitive rejection of the type of extreme positions that the Carls in this world push for. Taking extreme positions is not a sign of strength, it is a sign of weakness. If you are in a leadership position, it is very seductive to adopt this type of extreme position. You can thump your chest and make yourself look tough for a few minutes, but in the end you will fail. In general, those weak leaders then try to find scapegoats; "the game was rigged" "the refs screwed us" "it's not fair". The excuses are endless but they always end up having to make up excuses. Go back and let me know how many $$$ that Lloyd "meet you at the gates of hell" Hill returned to American pilots. How has USAPA done with their lofty promises and tough talk?

Does anyone doubt that the "Carls" at Airtran read the first TA from their merger committee and were shouting to the heavens that this was a travesty and that if we voted it down the next offer would be much, much better. Now those same "Carls" are probably suing ALPA claiming it's all ALPA's fault.

Carl pushed for an extreme solution in the DAL/NWA case. Using DOH produced a list grossly distorted in favor of him and his fellow pilots. For a while, Carl is applauded. Then when this position has left his fellow pilots without a say in the final list, he starts in with the accusations and attacks. The game was rigged, it's all Lee Moak's fault, etc. etc. etc. Now Carl spends his time trying to tear everything down because he is mad that the world didn't treat him fairly.

Read the arbitration award and see how impressed the arbitrators were with extreme positions. Tell me how much those positions played out in the final award. Now we have the Carls trying to tell us that the game was rigged because United fixed the rules before kickoff. Nice excuses, but that doesn't help anyone does it, it just spreads blame.

These DPA guys are just the same way, what a luring message. Hey, ALPA is the reason why this last decade has sucked for the piloting profession. Vote for me and I will make it all better. The fact that these guys have never done anything, never taken responsibility for anything makes it so easy for them to claim victory.

I know there are a few young guys on this board who are now on the MEC. My guess is that they are quickly finding out that there are no easy answers. Pithy attacks and personal insults get you nowhere, but they sound cool. Contract negotiations are about 95% dictated by statistics and analysis. Steely nerve has very little to do with it.

So if you don't care when your next contract is signed, if you don't care what the next seniority integration at Delta looks like then please by all means adopt these extreme positions. They will work just as well tomorrow as they have for the last 10 years. When the CAL committee presented a seniority list with 2,800+ United pilots stapled to the bottom, I am sure the Carls in the world applauded and hoisted them onto their shoulders. Tough talk, hard bargaining, big balls. In the end they might as well have given the Board a slip of paper saying "I don't have any meaningful input, so you go figure out what the list should look like."

Maybe you young guys want to have that experience. Maybe we should all start pre-writing our excuses about why we got skunked in the next SLI arbitration. Carl doesn't care because he will be golden. Hell, I don't have anything to worry about either. If it does matter to you, go read that arbitration award right now, and then figure out what types of tactics you want to follow in the future. Would you rather succeed or spend your time writing creative excuses about why you failed? Your choice.