The Frankish Reich

Depends what you call "elite." I would consider that term to apply to the top 5 (QBs, RBs) or top 10 (WRs, CBs, etc.) at his position. So Josh is a no doubter. I think Benford stepped up into that category this year. The others? Very good players, but you gotta leave room for the Saquons before you put a guy like Cook in there.

Kelce's been pretty clear that his life ambition is to become the next Dwayne "The Rock." Or maybe John Cena or whatever. Those guys aren't getting any younger. If they win this Super Bowl, the timing is perfect for him to make his big push.

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/donald-trump-tariffs-25-percent-mexico-canada-trade-economy-84476fb2?mod=hp_opin_pos_0 President Trump will fire his first tariff salvo on Saturday against those notorious American adversaries . . . Mexico and Canada. They’ll get hit with a 25% border tax, while China, a real adversary, will endure 10%. This reminds us of the old Bernard Lewis joke that it’s risky to be America’s enemy but it can be fatal to be its friend. I'm going to Costco to buy a metric ton of avocados and tomatoes. Maybe some maple syrup too and a 50 lb bag of peat moss. I hope I'm not too late.

Got it. I’m the racist for questioning why Trump baselessly asserts that the crash had something to do with hiring minorities or disabled people.

Good for you! Now let's come up with a term for people who have real serious money. I mean, with inflation - and particularly home values and 401k's going up almost exponentially - there's a bunch of millionaires everywhere you look. Billionaire is a whole different league. It's very serious money. But what about the comfortably rich, don't really need to work a day in their life if they don't want to? Even "multi-millionaire" is no good anymore. What, that's 1 ... 2 ... multi. That's not f-you money. Ten million? Maybe that should be the new million. But what's the term for ten-millionaire? We need one. Now.

A little logic. The type of thing every company/agency should do when something goes horribly wrong. PROXIMATE CAUSE - FIRST ORDER ANALYSIS What was the proximate (lawyer word meaning "immediate") cause of the accident? - Human error: Military helicopter flying too low, off course, erroneously confirming visual avoidance of CRJ FUTURE SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS - SECOND ORDER ANALYSIS What lessons should we learn going forward? - change helicopter paths between Key Bridge and Wilson Bridge ------already suspended by FAA this morning; will likely be changed permanently - improve military/civilian/Tower communications ----- nothing so far? - improve military helicopter training/certification plans -----nothing so far? - better staff ATC to allow more aggressive tracking/warnings ----- improve recruitment and retention FUTURE SAFETY IMPROVEMENTS - THIRD ORDER ANALYSIS Subset of "improve recruitment and retention" ---------- streamline hiring process ---------- better pay/benefits to retain experienced ATCs ---------- investigate whether DEI initiatives actually assist with recruitment ---------- investigate whether DEI hires perform more poorly than non-DEI hires In other words, Trump first posted about the First Order Analysis ("not complicated ... helicopter too low"), then weirdly jumped right past everything else to one particular explanation/remedial course that is far, far distant from the proximate cause. Why did he do that? I suspect to deflect attention from "a bad thing happened on my watch." Or to cynically use a tragedy to advance a policy goal that is very far removed from the actual bad thing that happened. Or to reinforce his belief (attractive to some of his supporters) that white non-disable people are best at the job - a job that was apparently performed in a by-the-book manner by this particular Tower controller.

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.