The Frankish Reich

Every once in a while your humor hits. Congrats. Going edgy is the key.

The waiting was the hardest part, wasn't it Tarheel ...

Nice try. No really, at least you came up with something tangentially tied to what actually happened, unlike Trump himself.

I just got a look at one of the Blackhawk pilots. White guy (RIP). I don't know the race of the air traffic controller in the DCA tower, but sounds like a white standard American English male voice. DEI "may" have something to do with the horrible accident says President Trump. He cited all the disabilities one may have and still be eligible to serve as an air traffic controller. Hell, even dwarfism! When pressed about any connection to DEI, he says it's just "common sense." How so? He didn't even go to the classic fallback: "the focus on DEI caused the FAA to lose sight of it's critical mission." So no fair giving me that. Can any Trump supporter provide an explanation? Are they furiously looking for a black dwarf to be the fall guy?

Whoah ... I just noticed the last name on the list: STEPHEN A. SMITH at a robust 2% WE'VE FINALLY FOUND OUR VERY OWN TRUMP!

Well that's fine then. Maybe Adam Schiff's voice causes your sphincter to tighten the way RFK Jr's voice makes me want to cut myself.

Oh my. We're getting testy. I will make sure to be the thread police when you post one of your many "but Biden" missives all over the place.

On the other hand, RFK Jr's mellifluous tones are an audio babe magnet. Or maybe it was his constant supply of coke.

Amigo!

Is that the bulk of military helicopter traffic around DCA, things like taking the Undersecretary of State to a meeting in Langley? EDIT: from the NYT, explaining why they fly these training missions along the Potomac/DCA: But “these are our top pilots,” Jonathan Koziol, chief of staff of the Army’s aviation directorate, told reporters. He said one pilot had 1,000 flying hours and the other had 500. “12th Aviation has a special mission in the national capitol region,” he said. Part of it is “V.I.P. service” and part of it is to support the Pentagon “if something really bad happens in our area and they need to move our senior leaders.”

Oh, I’ll agree with that. And I defer to your expertise here. But back in my bailiwick: if this went to court, and the US Army and the FAA were both defendants in a civil suit brought by one of the victims, I think a judge or jury would probably apportion at least 90% - or even 100% - of the blame to the Army. As far as avoiding this happening again? Yeah, we need to tighten it up on the FAA side too. No doubt about that. It’s just that the negligence - the failure to meet the established standard of care - appears to be overwhelmingly on the Blackhawk pilots at this time.

So what I'm hearing now: - ABC reported that the Blackhawk was at about 350 ft elevation - CNN had a former Blackhawk pilot on (they finally found a useful "expert") who said he'd flown over the Potomac hundreds of times and that the standard is that the chopper goes to 200 ft at the Key Bridge (probably about a few miles due north of DCA) and stays there until they've cleared the area. So it sounds like a Blackhawk pilot error, plain and simple.

Does accusing her of having bad skin not even make the list? I've gotta double down.

If I see a kid wearing one of those onesies, I'm gonna cough my ass off. Build up that natural immunity, Junior! And no, I won't be wearing a mask.

Glad you haven't given a thought to the New Pedophiles in Town.

I still haven't seen anything justifying a special tariff on Canada. Mexico is a different case. I'm not opposed to using whatever leverage we may have to push them to get their act together. I'm not saying this proposed tariff would be wise, but at least I see the point. Unlike with Canada.

Only the best. Now back in their communities, other than the idiot who was shot and killed by cops in Indiana last week. Poor "hostage" freaks, pedophiles, rapists, and these other assorted losers: If Trump had looked at individual cases, the long criminal records of some Jan. 6 defendants may have raised some red flags. 1. Theodore Middendorf was accused by Illinois prosecutors of "Predatory Criminal Sexual Assault of a Child." Prosecutors said in a court filing obtained by NPR that Middendorf "committed an act of sexual penetration." Indiana state records indicate that Middendorf's victim was 7 years old. Middendorf entered a guilty plea in that case in May 2024 and was sentenced to 19 years in prison. He is currently registered as a sex offender in the state and remains in custody on those charges. 2. Peter Schwartz had a "jaw-dropping criminal history of 38 prior convictions going back to 1991" when he assaulted police officers with pepper spray on Jan. 6, according to federal prosecutors. When those prosecutors made their sentencing recommendations to the judge, they described a 1994 disorderly conduct case for throwing a "lit cigarette at a victim" and striking her "near her eyes"; a 2004 case for assault with a deadly weapon; a 2019 case for "terroristic threats" for threatening police while under arrest for domestic assault; and a 2020 case of assaulting his wife "including by biting her on the forehead and punching her multiple times." Given that history, prosecutors said, "The only reliable method of protecting the community from Schwartz in the future is to remove him from the community for as long as possible." Federal judge Amit Mehta gave Schwartz one of the toughest prison sentences stemming from the Capitol riot — more than 14 years. Less than four years after Schwartz's arrest, Trump's pardon freed him from prison. 3. some Jan. 6 defendants are still facing criminal charges from other alleged incidents. David Daniel of Mint Hill, N.C., is charged with "Production of Child Pornography" and "Possession of Child Pornography," which allegedly "involved a prepubescent minor" and a child under 12 years old. 4. Arrest warrant records alleged that Daniel Ball of Florida threw an "explosive device that detonated upon at least 25 officers" during the Capitol riot and also "forcefully" shoved police trying to protect the building. According to charging documents, Ball had a criminal record before his arrest for Jan. 6, including for "Domestic Violence Battery by Strangulation," "Resisting Law Enforcement with Violence," and "Battery on Law Enforcement Officer." When federal agents arrested Ball on the Jan. 6 charges, they discovered that he was also in possession of a gun and ammunition, which was illegal given his criminal history, according to prosecutors. In addition to the Jan. 6 charges, a grand jury in Florida handed down a separate indictment against Ball in August 2024 for "Possession of a Firearm or Ammunition by a Convicted Felon." 5. Andrew Taake of Texas pleaded guilty to assaulting police officers with bear spray and a "metal whip" on Jan. 6 and was sentenced to six years in prison. He also had a prior criminal case that remains unresolved. The Harris County District Attorney in Texas has said that Taake is wanted on 2016 charges of soliciting a minor online. "We are already in the process of tracking Taake down," District Attorney Sean Teare said in a statement shared with NPR. Taake allegedly sent sexually explicit messages to someone he thought was a 15-year-old girl, but was, in fact, an undercover law enforcement officer, prosecutors alleged as part of his Jan. 6 case. 6. Kasey Hopkins, "has a lengthy and troubling criminal history" including a 2002 conviction for "forcible rape," which resulted in a seven-year prison sentence, according to prosecutors' sentencing memorandum for his Jan. 6 case. "The defendant had forcible intercourse with the victim, choked her to the point of impairing her vision, banged her head into a wall, and urinated into the victim's mouth to humiliate her," prosecutors alleged in arguments over sentencing. "When the victim attempted to flee, naked, the defendant caught up to her and threw her down." Prosecutors alleged that Hopkins also had other prior convictions for "assault on a law enforcement officer," "operating a motor vehicle without a license," and "possession of a controlled substance." 7. In 2004, Edward Richmond Jr. was serving in the U.S. Army when he "was convicted of manslaughter after shooting a hand-cuffed Iraqi cow herder in the head with his rifle," prosecutors said in their arguments about sentencing in Richmond's Jan. 6 case. For the manslaughter conviction, "Richmond was sentenced to three years of military confinement and dishonorably discharged." Richmond's criminal record, court documents indicate, also included convictions for resisting officers and driving under the influence, as well as an arrest for domestic abuse. 8. Jonathan Gennaro Mellis had a previous felony criminal conviction for drug trafficking — conspiracy to manufacture or sell methamphetamine — which resulted in a 20-year prison sentence, court documents state. 9. Benjamin Martin pled to obstruction of a public officer in 2003, a 2016 battery charge where he repeatedly struck his 14-year-old daughter, and a 2018 battery charge where Martin choked his girlfriend and dragged her back into the house after she tried to flee," prosecutors wrote. Martin was "on supervision" from his prior conviction when he took part in the Jan. 6 riot, prosecutors said. 10. Edward Hemenway "has a serious criminal history, dating back to 2004," prosecutors said in their arguments during sentencing in the Jan. 6 case. In 2006, Hemenway pleaded guilty to "Sexual Battery and Criminal Confinement" and was initially sentenced to three years in prison. "His probation was revoked, however, and he was re-sentenced to 5 years imprisonment," prosecutors said. https://www.npr.org/2025/01/30/nx-s1-5276336/donald-trump-jan-6-rape-assault-pardons-rioters

That's an inspired casting. No one could do the sad sack like Hoffman.

I knew someone jinxed us. Now I know who.

Got it. Thanks again. Better background information than I'm getting anywhere else.

I did not, and would not, ever vote for Bernie for President. But I gotta love his response to RFJ Jr. today saying "he needs to look at the evidence" on various things, including vaccines causing autism. Bernie: "You're here applying for the job, why haven't you looked at it already?" Really stupid, evasive comments by RFK, probably knowing full well that he'll get to 50. And this too:

So when the helo guy said he had a visual track on the CRJ, is that typically sufficient? I mean, it obviously (in retrospect) was not, but was it standard practice to defer to what the helo pilot confirms?

So a helicopter pilot screw up, and a tower screw up too?

I get what you're saying, and thanks for clarifying the terminology. From what we've heard, should the Tower have done anything differently? We're hearing that maybe the helicopter responded that they had the CRJ in sight, but that they were talking about the CRJ (if that's what it was) taking off, rather than the one landing. Is there some better terminology to use that could have avoided this? What specifically would you have wanted to hear from the Tower?

Someone doesn't know when to shut up. Perfectly fine conversation until this one. I think a typical - and rational - response would be to shut up about DEI and do something like suspend military flights over that part of the Potomac pending review of what went wrong here.