The fictional John Wick, a retired assassin, got back into the business because bad guys killed his dog, a foolish decision resulting in almost 500 deaths at John Wick’s hands. That, of course, is the movies. Real life is Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) gunning politically for United Airlines (“UA”) because an airline executive, instead of apologizing after an employee manhandled Crenshaw’s dog, refused to acknowledge the airline’s error and, instead, attacked Crenshaw. I’m no Dan fan, but I can support him in his fight against an airline that is so committed to political correctness that it’s abandoned customer service and, along the way, seems to be putting Americans at risk.

I wrote here at some length about UA’s fetishistic commitment to the LGBTQ+ agenda. I mean, it’s one thing not to discriminate against gays and lesbians on the grounds of sexual orientation. It’s another thing entirely for the airline’s white, male CEO to go to war against white men and to promote the transgender lifestyle (which I, personally, don’t believe is part of the gay/lesbian spectrum but is, instead, a form of mental illness that should not be encouraged, nor should its practitioners be allowed in positions where they put the public at risk).

Crenshaw’s video is long (over 8 minutes) and boils down to three parts. Part one is Crenshaw’s wife and daughter, who are traveling with an infant and Crenshaw’s small dog, being told that they cannot fly with the dog on UA. This came as news to them because they’d flown with the dog before. However, Crenshaw’s wife acquiesced and said that they’d book a flight on a different airline.

Image: Rep. Dan Crenshaw’s interaction with a United executive. X screen grab.

An airport video shows them consolidating their luggage while Crenshaw’s wife works her smartphone to find an alternative flight. The same video shows a United employee come up to them and reach into the dog carrier. If I understood Crenshaw correctly, she was insisting that she take the dog for a photo to ban him forever from UA.

Two things are clear from the video: One, the employee is a moron. No intelligent person ever reaches into a carrier to grab someone else’s dog. That’s a sure way to get bitten. Two, the employee is acting aggressively as to someone else’s property when footage shows the property owner simply standing there.

At this point, when the customer complains, UA should offer a groveling apology. It’s fine to explain why the employee thought she was doing the correct thing, but apologize, apologize, apologize because that type of conduct is never appropriate.

But that’s not what UA did, which gets us to the second part of the video. When Crenshaw approached UA, he was put in a room with Phillip Griffith, “Vice President of Airport Operations at United Airlines.”

Now, I don’t know if Crenshaw worked his way up the corporate ladder, going through customer service bouncing from one supervisor to the next, or if, because he’s a sitting congressman, he got Griffith on the first try. What I do know, though, is Crenshaw recorded his interaction with Griffith (legal to do in Texas, which is a one-party consent state) and that Griffith was hostile out of the gate.

That interaction starts at around 2:50 in the video, and I urge you to watch it if you watch nothing else. Griffith is aggressive and paranoid. It’s obvious that he hates Crenshaw. It’s not clear if that’s because Crenshaw rubbed him the wrong way or because Griffith hates Crenshaw’s politics.

However, I can tell you that, according to Griffith’s LinkedIn, before he worked for UA, he worked for General Electric. I can also tell you that a General Electric employee named Phillip Griffith, who lived in Scottsdale (where Griffith lives), donated to Barack Obama and Chuck Schumer. Whether that’s the same Phillip Griffith is another question entirely.

I can also tell you that a Phillip Edmund Griffith regularly donates to the United Airlines, Inc., Political Action Committee (UAIPAC). Again, I don’t know if it’s this particular Phillip Griffith. What’s interesting, though, is where UAIPAC’s money goes. The list of politicians includes Rep. Vincent Gonzales (D-TX), Rep. Marilyn Strickland (D-WA), Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), the New Democrat Coalition Action Fund, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), and Rep. Jonathan Luther Jackson (D-IL) are just a few of the names I tracked down, but I think you can see a trend.

The UAIPAC, to which its employees contribute, supports Democrats. If the Phillip Griffith to whom Crenshaw spoke is the same one who contributes regularly to UAIPAC, he has a strong political bias and will not treat respectfully those who offend his politics.

Part three of the video sees Crenshaw promising to introduce legislation to force changes onto UA’s (and other airlines’) customer service policies, including their willingness to hand over videos of their interactions with airline customers.

This is one of the more aggressive videos I’ve ever had to post. You really need to see it all the way to the end. You’ll see a United agent grab the dog and personal property, and you’ll hear the shocking recording of my conversation with that agent’s supervisor (the VP of… pic.twitter.com/xhK0v4zQzw

— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) January 21, 2024

Crenshaw’s battle is not a beautifully choreographed, intensely satisfying John Wick-style fight, but it’s a good fight nonetheless. And more importantly, it continues to shine the spotlight on an airline that is falling from grace with a bang, and that really needs to clean up its act.