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The Intel officers need to resign. These are largely people that had no access to evidence or data that would allow them to make any conjecture on the authenticity of the laptop yet they still thought they could use their proffessional titles to falsely influence the public discourse. You're squadron Intel officer is an "Intel proffessional" but should h/she be commenting with their politically biased opinion of current events at a national public level? Rather.... This was 50 left leaning people who worked in the IC and decided to take it upon themselves to release a letter of something they knew nothing about to try and persuade national opinion. It's absolutely disgraceful.

I'm not sure that's the appropriate metric. Biden isn't selling water softeners at Costco, he's the leader of the free world, elected by us. Part of the application for the job is what kind of a man or woman you are. Of course one of my main arguments *against* Trump to the conservatives I fly with has been that America deserves a better man than Trump. I always ask, "would you want your daughter dating Trump?" And "Trump has cheated on every relationship he's been in." These stories were not systematically hidden from the American voters by the press and Big Tech. Say what you will, but Trump raised three very functional children who are fiercely loyal to him (with two still to be determined). There is much more to consider, but that says a lot to a lot of voters. And he was up against a candidate who regularly painted himself as a grounded, no-nonsense family man. Biden was one of the dumbest people in the Senate for years, but he was supposed to be moderate and compassionate. Obama was clearly a man deeply committed to his wife and kids. But the "smartest man I know" according to Joe Biden was addicted to hookers, crack, illegally owned firearms, and curiously, filming all of his crimes. That same son, deeply flawed, had incredibly lucrative connections to foreign businesses with government ties to our adversaries, all on the basis of his blood connection to the senator/vice president/president. You don't think that's relevant to the voters interest in selecting a president? You don't think most people will look at that dumpster fire of a 52-year old and think, no way his high-profile parents aren't aware of this? How would that story affect a security clearance? OSI: Do you or any of your family members have connections to officials of foreign governments? You: Me? No not really. My son is on the board of several foreign companies with ties to their respective governments. Hmm? Oh yeah, China is one of them, sure. And he has hours of footage of him engaging in illegal activities involving drugs, prostitutes, and firearms, many of which he suspects have already been seized by members of the Russian Mafia. But other than that I can't think of anything... Right... By this logic, what did the candidate do that was illegal, many of the arguments against Trump vaporize too, as they still remain largely unproven. As to question one, seriously? First, have you seen any of the videos? They are hilarious, but quite obviously real. Second, have you ever, EVER, in your life, seen politicians let that type of story hit without categorically rejecting it? Your question should be has any Biden family member actually gone on the record denying the authenticity of the videos? Spoiler alert: no. I'm not sure the nepotism argument has legs given the Kennedy, Bush, Clinton dynasties. Ultimately it's not illegal, nor should it be, to use family members as advisors, or for them to use their name as a campaign tool. I wish the American people didn't go for it, but it's not illegal. Joe Biden rented his home to the secret service for years. Trump rented them rooms at his hotels. Ok, neither really bothered me. But Trump's kids didn't become "gajillionaires" because of their father's access to the highest office in the world. And at least the American people got the Abraham accords out of the arrangement. What are we getting now?

The videos are entertaining and certainly speak to the kind of person Hunter is, but to me, that's not the big revelation of the devices. The big revelation is that Hunter believes his dad is a pedophile, supported by what Biden's daughter has asserted about inappropriate showers when she was growing up. And there is the concerning part about "10% for the big guy" from foreign governments at a time when Biden was VP. I also now question the motives of the 50+ "intelligence experts" who signed a letter saying the laptop was a hoax. Can those people still be trusted with national security if they are willing to lie for political favors? In the end, whether Hunter's behavior should reflect on Biden or not is irrelevant... what we should be concerned about is that the national intelligence apparatus and the news media did everything in their power to tilt an election.

The Stearman is cheaper to operate and maintain.

This is a growing sickness in our system. The ability to produce an excellent product or provide a great service seems to die with the founder. Then whoever the shareholder-elected board installs to run the company bleeds it dry one CEO at a time until a shell is left. Each pays themselves in stock options, takes on corporate debt to buy back shares and boost the price a few pennies, then quietly leaves a hundred million bucks richer while the stock works it's way down to zero. And when the consequences of their shitty management finally manifest, they are either long gone or pulling the handle on the golden parachute. Just look at Boeing. Capitalism is being raped by the modern financial system while everyone else argues over bathrooms and abortions. The Democrats have declared war on meritocracy and individualism, both prerequisites to a capitalist system, so that leaves the Republicans to save us. I'm doubtful. Tucker Carlson gets it, but he's a bit quick to embrace a conspiracy and his foreign policy views aren't playing out well either. Who will be our hero?

It’s also possibly illegal. Of course nothing will happen.

Just watched the Hunter Biden videos. That fact these aren't dominating the news cycle is a testament to a broken system. I know we only have 3 liberals here, but I'd love to hear a defense of the near media-blackout. If Eric Trump had 15 seconds of similar video leaked, it would have never ended. The dude flat out says his laptop, stolen by Russians, could be used to blackmail him. It's mind-blowing.

And to back all of that up, there are loads of previous shootings where the police went immediately in and ended the threat. Case studies show shooters give up immediately after encountering any resistance either through suicide or surrender. This isn't a groundbreaking new occurrence.

Thanks for this post. I’ve been following the conversation until now and had been completely baffled by what point you’d been driving at. I think your point is simply the cops needed better training? I totally disagree. Those cops are not worth investing in. I get the initial chaos, but after 10 minutes without a decision? It’s go time and if that isn’t innate then you should turn in your badge. They were worse than frozen by fear or incompetent C2, they actually tazed & cuffed parents! Disgusting. Indefensible. Happy to have a training discussion once every cop on scene has been fired & prohibited from employment in public safety. Accountability first.

The ORI you remember is ancient now days. They have revolutionized light years beyond ORI's by executing Agile Combat Employment exercises in which bases/units generate personnel and equipment, fly to a forward location and execute operations from said forward location.

Galaxy brain level genius here if he thinks this makes him look good and Kinzinger look bad... These people have worms in their brains.

When I got hired with the airlines, it took everything in me to not let my "military-TypeA-try to fix everything" mentality get the best of me. Just let it ride... you get paid by the minute.

Not a damn thing is going to happen.

What's more baffling is that we have metric shit ton more general officers than is actually needed and to top it off we hire retired GO's at an hourly rate to consult the bloated ranks.

Wasn't disagreeing what should have happened. That is pretty clear. My point was why it didn't.

I got into crypto about 13 months ago. Ended up finding an old 401k and put about 60k into different coins. About 4 months in I was up to $137k. Figured if this kept going for a couple years I wouldn't have to work full time anymore. Fast forward to now and I've got a solid $15k worth. 😆 Live and learn. Real estate seems like the best bet long term from what I've seen since I've been a homeowner. Time will tell.

My opinion, and that may be nine seconds too long.

If someone from the GOP said this the liberal media would howl louder than Georgia when Sherman marched south.

The training which the officer in charge of the scene attended just before this massacre was based off instantly reacting and neautulizing the shooter. I don't care what you look like or the level of training you have, your job as a police officer in that situation is to respond, react, and get to where the killing is happening. There were 20 assholes "guarding axis of approach". They knew where this guy was less than 5 minutes in. There were 911 calls stating the killing (obviously) was still going on in specific rooms. Sure training is great and would only help but they literally had specific detailed training for responses to this exact scenario a couple months before it happened. This was one of the quotes from the training....‘First responder unwilling to place the lives of the innocent above their own safety should consider another career field,’ the training stated https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2022/06/03/uvalde-cisd-police-hosted-active-shooter-training-in-march-that-urged-immediate-decisive-action/

That video is hard to watch. Now that I have a soon to be 6 yr old, I cant imagine having to live through something like this or the fear or it happening. We chose to homeschool our kids for many reasons. This being one of them. It can happen anywhere. We lived in CO and there was constant issues with guns in wealthy suburban areas. Lots of drug issues in schools with kids and parents. The police reaction is similar in Uvalde is similar to a shooting in Arvada a lil over a year ago. Arvada is a wealthy burb of Denver with a historicish downtown. Some wackjob parks his truck walks up to a cop and offs him right there. A hunting store across the street had 3 cops in it and 1 civi with a CCW. COps hid, Civi takes out the shooter. Then, more cops show up and take out the civi. I cant think of a better time to argue pro 2A then now. If my kid was in that school I know what me and my wife woudl have done.

Extremely sickening. If we started actually punishing people for their crimes, maybe there would be less of this shit. The dude that pulled the trigger does not belong among the living, anything less than the death penalty is a disservice to justice. The dude executed an innocent person for a damn cell phone. Maybe we'll get lucky and he'll die from an overdose from whatever drug he bought with the sale of that cellphone. Mentioned this before on this site, but someone hit on it above. My Guard base is filled with great dudes/dudettes who are staying on orders rather than go back to their LEO jobs. Many of their friends are leaving for other careers because of the way things have become. With good people leaving, I cringe at who fills their spots...

Blue, you’re not wrong. It absolutely is like something out of a movie. The fact that someone getting executed (or critically wounded with life altering injuries) on the street with a bullet to their head for their cell phone is something we equate to Hollywood and what society sees on the big screen. It’s kind of sick if you stop and think about it.

They aren’t clearing a school building. They know exactly what classroom the gunshots are coming from almost immediately. All active shooter training for the past 10 years or more says to immediately stop the killing. No waiting. Grab a partner and go.

When unarmed civilian parents are more willing to enter the building than tactically outfitted cops...I'd say the pussy label fits pretty well.

Might be a stretch, but I’m wondering if this might be a second hand effect of the George Floyd riots, defund the police etc. Could be..it’s tough to find quality recruits, who would want to be a cop in the current environment? It could be that Uvalde is mostly a minority town and the cops are more afraid of an incident landing them on national news (no excuse not to go defend children). This is what happens when we have built a generation of cowards and sissies. God help us if we ever actually go to war, and not the BS kind we had in Afghanistan.

Horse shit. Grab a fellow cop and run towards the gunfire. These guys were buddied up but hopped away at every gunshot they heard.

Unbelievable. I have reserved all judgement and opinions until now. Well, now that video evidence is out - fucking pussies. Of all places, I wouldn’t have expected LEOs in Texas to be so dickless (not applying this Texas-wide).

The full Uvalde video was released. Absolute cowards. All of them.

Oh, you mean they have an ORI… Sent from my iPad using Baseops Network mobile app

...Or the 2014 Gulfstream takeoff crash at KBED. IOW, not the first nor the last time a pilot attempts to takeoff with the control lock engaged. It happens, and it's unfortunately usually the result of interrupting a flow, or distractions that lead to interruptions. You know, hooman stuff, as my despondent feline in the avatar would retort to (if he could). These things happen, and we are all capable of falling into such a trap. Is it inevitable? Of course not. We just have to continue to honor the memory of those no longer with us, take these written-in-blood ADM reminders in stride, and attempt our best at keeping our behavior in the cockpit consistent. Easier said than done, but that's the bar we gotta cross every day, good bad or indifferent. It sucks to be judged as a high-experience guy getting killed doing something most bystanders would tend to associate with errors reserved for the uninitiated. Nothing could be further from the truth wrt to that assessment of course; high time in jets doesn't really make us immune from porking operations in simpler aircraft. I certainly don't make such presumptions when I jump into my woefully underpowered and weather-incapable flying lawnmower, with loved ones on board no less. It doesn't care one bit about my usaf command wings nor the amount of times I didn't get killed the week before flying it, or the much more complex flying I do at work. May he rest in peace. The man had a great run and flew the pants out of most he got his hands on, as most of us would have too had we had his enviable career timing. A life well lived in my book. Tailwinds and following Seas.

Never believe a progressive when they say “nobody wants to take your guns away”…because that’s exactly what they want to do.