Hightower Lowdown

Nineteen people are dead, but the gang that killed them will not be prosecuted.

The 19 dead were Marines flying in a recent test of the V 22 Osprey—an experimental aircraft that's supposed to take off and land like a helicopter, then tilt its propellers down in mid air to fly like a regular airplane. The gang of killers consists of members of congress, top Marine Corps brass, and honchos of Boeing and Bell Helicopter Textron. They've all demanded that the Osprey fly even though experts have branded it "an engineering impossibility." The V 22 Osprey is a technological novelty that's bedazzled a wide eyed Congress, which also was seduced into financing this fantasy because production of various parts of the plane are spread out to factories in 40 states, allowing senators and house members to brag that they brought Osprey money and jobs to the home folks. Lots of money—the boondoggle has been in development for 18 years, at a cost, so far, of $37 billion.

Senior Pentagon officials have tried to cancel the plane—too iffy, too costly. But Boeing and Bell lobbied hard to keep the manna flowing, Marine commanders have their careers pegged to getting the Osprey, and lawmakers want to keep the money and jobs in their districts, so the funding continues. Of the five planes actually produced for testing, two have crashed, killing seven soldiers the first time, and now 19 more. A congressional supporter of this flying death trap told the New York Times: "Two crashes do not tell us anything. . . . They are to be expected in testing a new military system like the Osprey."

Great, how about we use him—along with the corporate lobbyists, the Marine brass, and members of congress—to serve as the test crews from here on out?