carbon said:
I have never seen a stolen piece of "property" apply to the "thief" to be stolen.
This statement demonstrates that you did not understand the point I was making.
In politics, accurate and faithful explanations are not the objective. Creating the desired perception is, so it doesn't matter which words are used or whether the description contains any truth.
REX wanted to give the public somebody to blame (other than themselves or the pilots). They chose the major airlines and the government. If they were successful in creating this perception then their choice of words was justified.