JUST the Stolen Documents/Mar-A-Lago/"Judge" Cannon Trial

[MDlaxfan76]

MD,
The Chief of Staff of the Air Force currently was my Basic Cadet Training roommate - Goldfein. The next and I do not want to jinx was my roommate for 2 years - hopefully he gets it.

TLD,
You just made my point. $3/night may not seem like allot to you but I know allot of college aged kids at PSU who would take it all day. But you further hit my point - say it is 2,000 room nights/year - you are talking $6,000. You do realize the chump change you guys are all worked up over right?

Forever,
They are laughing as it is baseless. My wife who knows absolutely nothing about the military found out we can get allot of free or discounted things. Lowe's, 10% off - who owns their stock?; McDonald's - 5% off - who owns their stock?; Wyndham - 20% off - who owns their stock?; the vet for the kids 5% off - who owns that stock as they are a chain; I could keep going but by now you should get the point. Because someone you disagree with owns a majority of that stock does this mean a military person cannot shop in there? That poor chap could not buy a thing unless it was imported from North Korea

Sorry, your analogy doesn't hold a drop of water for me. Agree to disagree.

Well, let's hope that your buddies didn't make this call, nor know of it and failed to put up a red flag.

I realize that military folks are taught to respect chain of command and to follow orders unless actually illegal (and that's fuzzy too), but this smacks of "swamp", definitely not something the DoD had been immune from!

On the dollars involved, this would indeed be quite penny ante if it just involved a few hotel stays at a discount.

But millions of dollars are involved with the stopovers. So, the question is if the military is spending serious bucks to divert traffic to Prestwick and whether there was any perceived pressure to do so from the White House? And how exactly does Trump and co benefit? Do they get, for instance, a slice of gas revenues, or other kickbacks associated with the increase in traffic? Trump knows what the terms of deal were that he cut with Prestwick in 2014, so what are they? Any subsequent "deals"? And wast here any pressure, perceived or direct, from Trump as POTUS or his cronies to increase the traffic?

These are fair questions.
We see the sorts of threats and pressure on other agencies to kowtow to Trump's lies and corruption; unfortunately the military can't be assumed to immune. And, of course, there's always the "it's not illegal" defense.

Your last para is quite ridiculous. Makes zero sense.
Sorry to be so blunt. Don't mean to offend.

[MDlaxfan76]

Agree, but I'd take it a step further and say the crewmen aren't even on the list to blame.

Sounds like we're all on the same page here.
Frankly it's been a red herring by some of the right wingers on here to get all puffed about criticizing the crew men as if ANYONE thought they were the priority.

You earlier mentioned that I'd not have known better than to stay at a Trump property if my higher ups had green lit it.

Yeah, if I was at the bottom of the totem pole, and really wasn't astute in such matters, I'd probably not have given it much thought either...but that's not actually me, so I'm quite sure I'd have raised the red flag and said no thanks unless I was ordered to go. And I'd have been uncomfortable following that order.

But the higher-ups are paid to know better; and if you go well up the ladder, this was another no-brainer.

I don't know what rank these guys are but I'm bettin' they're nowhere near the top of of the totem pole.
From one of the many articles out there:
"Between 2015 and 2019, aircraft stopped at Prestwick 936 times and crews stayed overnight 659 times. The frequency of those stops increased from 95 stopovers and 40 overnight stays in 2015 to 250 stopovers and 220 overnight stays for the first eight months of 2019. The Air Force does not say how many of those stays were at the Trump resort."

Say of the 220 overnight stays, 75 of them were at a Trump resort.
What reason would you have to raise a red flag? Obviously, from what you've seen and heard there is nothing to question here.

No, as I said, these guys are not the issue. But sure I'd have known there was a potential problem with spending money at a Trump property, given that he's President. That's because these sorts of ethical issues and how to think about ethics is not unfamiliar to me. I'd have been aware that there was all sorts of critique about Trump not liquidating his properties and putting the proceeds in a blind trust. So, a hornet's nest.
You're one in a million (or more) MD. I couldn't put a number on the number of military people I've been around, but never was I ever around a twenty something year old GI who would investigate the establishment they were sent to that was obviously authorized by those who sent him there.

But I don't expect the same sort of awareness from these crewmen, necessarily. I have the benefit of being 62 years old, seen a lot, thought about these sorts of issues. Better equipped to know.
This was the entire point of my example, we're not a bunch of sixty something year olds in Glasgow, we're a bunch of twenty something year olds who are excited to see what Scotland has to offer (I know I sure was), politics and the person who owns the place we're staying at is the last thing on our minds. You can not look at this as the older and wiser person you are today.

So, I'm not blaming these guys. Go up the ranks enough and it's a different story.
These are the only people, particularly the Prez and those who are potentially in cahoots with him, who are any part of this story. Nasty Natashia and her colleague in the video got themselves moist in their frenzied reporting about "whistle blower", "curiously" landing in Glasgow, and the irresponsible anonymous GI who didn't have enough money to pay his bar bill. You're Uncle Sam never shorts his GIs in these kind of situations. Never does he say, this'll probably cost you a hundred and fifty bucks, so here's a hundred and fifteen to help with your expenses. Never happens. This was BS sensationalism for their self gratification...not so unusual with today's "news". What is blatantly obvious is that neither one of these gals ever went TAD while in the military, it's also blantantly obvious that very few here have either.

Let's be clear, this is 'rotting from the head'.
The tone set from the top is corrupt.

You and I are in agreement on the first two paras, though I doubt very much your statistical reference. I think most people of my age and education and background around business and government would have a clue. But, sure, the 20 something in the military who is told he can go wherever wouldn't likely be thinking about this issue. We agree. The higher ups are paid to think more broadly. And the real rot is in the White House.

Your third para digressed into some references about Bertrand that I think are quite offensive and misogynistic, but I do take your point insofar as it was a repeat of your first 2 paras.

[Farfromgeneva]

THIS JUST IN from Nasty Natasha :

Air Force crews have lodged at Trump’s Scottish resort at least 4 times

Holy Moly -- free box lunches for transient aircrews stopping over in Prestwick.
Aircrews will go anywhere for good box lunches.
Both the French Air Force & Navy put little bottles of table wine in theirs.
Great allies !

What was “also odd,” the person said, was that Prestwick Airport went above and beyond for the service members — the airport booked the rooms at Turnberry, coordinated free rides to and from the resort, and even packed the crew lunches for the day they departed.

A spokesman for the airport did not dispute that recollection.
“Like all airports, we provide a full handling service for customers and routinely arrange overnight accommodation for visiting aircrew when requested,” the spokesman told POLITICO. “We use over a dozen local hotels, including Trump Turnberry, which accounts for a small percentage of the total hotel bookings we make.”

The spokesman further noted that the airport does not pay for crew accommodation and takes no commission from Turnberry for any bookings they make on behalf of the Air Force. He denied offering air crews free rounds of golf at the resort, rebutting aspects of a Guardian report from early 2018.

All I read anymore is: slurp, slurp, slurp, clean off face before caking sets in, adjust Trump faux gold kneepads, get angry at my impotence and diminished value in this world by calling names at people who can’t defend themselves then get back to slurping until I get lockjaw.

Keep slurpin' daddy. Nasty Natasha is playin' you. The MSNBC Mean Girls accused the USAF of being corrupt. Them's fightin' words.

Tonight on Hardball, Nasty Natasha admitted she has no idea who's making the decisions to route the stopovers via Prestwick, or why.
But that doesn't stop her from ginning up a blockbuster scandal & calling into question the integrity of the US Air Force, based on so little information. She just disregards what the USAF has said & the facts they have presented. This is an irresponsible use of the power of the media.

NPR found this, but apparently that's too hard for Nasty Natasha or she chooses to ignore it :

https://www.npr.org/2019/09/09/75902582 ... ump-resort

Thomas explained that C-17 aircraft have increasingly used Prestwick as a stopover because it has 24-hour operations, making it a more viable option for aircraft headed to and from the Middle East and Afghanistan.

Many military stopover locations, he explained, have imposed increasingly restrictive operating hours. In 2017, he said, Air Mobility Command issued a directive to flight crews to increase efficiency. Prestwick was listed as a top-five stopover location due to favorable weather and less traffic from other aircraft.

"This airport has a large parking area, is open 24/7/365, and has been contracted by DoD for fuel at standardized prices," Thomas explained.

My hunch is that AMC started routing traffic via Prestwick, whenever feasible, to help it survive to be available when RAF Mildenhall closes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Mildenhall

On 8 January 2015, the United States Department of Defense announced that operations at RAF Mildenhall would end and be relocated to ...elsewhere within the UK.

On 18 January 2016, the British Ministry of Defence announced that the RAF Mildenhall would be closed as an airfield and the site to be sold.[3] However, a change in presidential administrations in the United States, heightened security concerns on the part of the United States, the United Kingdom and NATO pertaining to Europe and the Middle East, and a variety of other issues have prompted a reassessment on RAF Mildenhall's closure. As of 2017, the closure process of RAF Mildenhall has been put on indefinite hold.[4] As of December 2018, it is planned that USAF personnel will move from RAF Mildenhall to RAF Fairford by 2024 the earliest.[5]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... of-airport

Brown was told a visit by US diplomats to Prestwick to prepare for Trump’s arrival to open the Turnberry resort in June 2016 led to new contacts with the USAF’s European chief of defense and the US air attache to the UK. In October 2016, Prestwick signed a three-year basing and fuel supply deal with the Defense Logistics Agency, helping it almost double its income from fuel sales to £3m last year.

Brown was told those contacts also led to the USAF earmarking Prestwick to take a greater share of its flights after it leaves Mildenhall airbase in Suffolk, its largest base in the UK, in 2024.

You mad bro? Must sit around yelling at MSNBC every night doing nothing productive once it’s time to get out from under the desk in the Oval Office. Maybe one day you’ll get the reach around he promised all you acolytes who clearly have no morals worth anything, service or not, to twist this guy’s behavior into logical, reasonable human behavior.9

[MDlaxfan76]

forever, afan, and MD,
The guy who wears that blue uniform with 4 stars on both shoulders was my Basic Cadet Training roommate - I still speak with him monthly - I will pass on your concerns about his ethics. The next guy up so I have been told was my Academy roommate for two years - he also wears 4 stars on his shoulders - I will pass on your questions of his ethics and command decisions when I speak with him next week. After they get done laughing and get off the floor, I will let you know their real responses. You are questioning the integrity of men who have spent their whole life defending this country - if they saw a problem - they are not shy.

As to the flight crew - here is my guess - the guy in the left seat is an O-3 and probably late 20's/early 30's; guy in the right seat is O-2 and probably mid 20's; crew chief is probably E-7 and mid to to late 30's and the rest of the crew between E-3 to E-5 in their mid 20's's. These guys do not get paid allot of money. So if the airport is gonna for free drive them to the motel with a box lunch and they get a cheap room rate name anyone on this board not taking advantage of that? They get a daily per diem, you want to pay them more then pay them more. The O-3 probably works for an O-5/O-6 - do you think those guys give a ratz when they have millions of your tax dollars they are responsible for flying around whether these kids stay at Turnberry. They are probably saying have a great time and hit the links.

Whenever I went out the cargo bay, it was always make sure the boys packed correctly and were geared up; on the plane it was smelling the two guys in the big seats breath, matching coordinates, breath for alcohol; high fiving the crew chief; reviewing with the payload specialist we would be on mark; and praying we were close to the LZ when we landed.

THE MILITARY IS NOT A BUSINESS. Get over it already.

So the military should not be concerned with saving $3.00 a night because Trump’s place is supposedly cheaper..... a memo should have gone out a long time ago..... Government employees while on the government dime (at the very least) should not stay at a Trump hotel or patronize any of the President’s businesses. It’s that simple. Maybe it was an oversight.

With all due respect, this line of thinking is complete BS. It’s only brought about because people opine that Trump doesn’t have an ethical bone in his body. I won’t agree or disagree with that, as it has nothing to do with this situation.

A hotel company has published government rates for its rooms that make it attractive to stay there. Book it if you want.

Did the government issue a directive to employees to not eat peanut butter out of fear those peanuts were coming from Carter’s farm and therefore would benefit Carter?

This blind trust talk is silly. It works with passive investments because nobody’s gonna care if you own this stock or the other. But what if someone like afan wants to run for elected office? (Not picking on a fan, only using him because we all know he operates a successful, and very specific, business.) Let’s say he didn’t have a brother he could sell his half of the business to. Does afan run for elected office knowing he has to sell to some big distiller and start back up from scratch when he gets out of public service? My guess is he doesn’t run.

If this is about presidential ethics, then impeach him.

With all due respect, the above is BS... the federal government should not patronize a sitting President. Saying don't eat peanut butter because we don't know the source of the peanuts is hard to do.... this is easy.... don't book any of these properties:

https://www.trumphotels.com/

You see how easy that is......

Deplorable.

SCL,
I very much disagree that liquidating his properties and putting the cash into a blind trust wasn't an option.

But absent that, it would have been VERY SIMPLE for an Executive Order to have made clear that no government business was to be done at or with any Trump holding during his tenure.

With regard to his own stays at his own properties, he could/should have said he'd waive all fees such that no revenue was received from the government by those properties. He's a fricking billionaire, supposedly, so this should have been an ethical no-brainer.

The rot is at the top, flowing downstream from there.

[foreverlax]

He could have transferred all of his net worth in to a "income for life trust".

Avoid all cap gains and inheritance taxes for his efforts...the way all of his Goldman buddies have done it in the past.

[Trinity]

Trump fired John Bolton today. Not on board for the Afghan “deal.”

[CU88]

Trump fired John Bolton today. Not on board for the Afghan “deal.”

Trump will soon be on his 4th national security adviser in 2 years and 8 months.

[Typical Lax Dad]

Trump fired John Bolton today. Not on board for the Afghan “deal.”

Trump will soon be on his 4th national security adviser in 2 years and 8 months.

Trying to find the best people.

[CU88]

Trump fired John Bolton today. Not on board for the Afghan “deal.”

Trump will soon be on his 4th national security adviser in 2 years and 8 months.

Trying to find the best people.

Bolton is not one of the o d MAGA crowd firings.

Something tells me we’re going to be hearing a lot more from Bolton, who, like him or not, is obviously much smarter and much more articulate than o d.

[HooDat]

Trump fired John Bolton today. Not on board for the Afghan “deal.”

Trump will soon be on his 4th national security adviser in 2 years and 8 months.

I really don't know what to say about folks with leftward inclinations criticizing Trump's firing of Bolton. The left was apoplectic when he was nominated - Bolton was (properly) castigated as warmongering neocon of the highest order, a man virtually bought and paid for by the MIC.

We should be glad he is out.

[Typical Lax Dad]

Trump fired John Bolton today. Not on board for the Afghan “deal.”

Trump will soon be on his 4th national security adviser in 2 years and 8 months.

Trying to find the best people.

Bolton is not one of the o d MAGA crowd firings.

Something tells me we’re going to be hearing a lot more from Bolton, who, like him or not, is obviously much smarter and much more articulate than o d.

Trump’s idea of the best person is the guy that agrees with him.

[old salt]

THIS JUST IN from Nasty Natasha :

Air Force crews have lodged at Trump’s Scottish resort at least 4 times

Holy Moly -- free box lunches for transient aircrews stopping over in Prestwick.
Aircrews will go anywhere for good box lunches.
Both the French Air Force & Navy put little bottles of table wine in theirs.
Great allies !

What was “also odd,” the person said, was that Prestwick Airport went above and beyond for the service members — the airport booked the rooms at Turnberry, coordinated free rides to and from the resort, and even packed the crew lunches for the day they departed.

A spokesman for the airport did not dispute that recollection.
“Like all airports, we provide a full handling service for customers and routinely arrange overnight accommodation for visiting aircrew when requested,” the spokesman told POLITICO. “We use over a dozen local hotels, including Trump Turnberry, which accounts for a small percentage of the total hotel bookings we make.”

The spokesman further noted that the airport does not pay for crew accommodation and takes no commission from Turnberry for any bookings they make on behalf of the Air Force. He denied offering air crews free rounds of golf at the resort, rebutting aspects of a Guardian report from early 2018.

All I read anymore is: slurp, slurp, slurp, clean off face before caking sets in, adjust Trump faux gold kneepads, get angry at my impotence and diminished value in this world by calling names at people who can’t defend themselves then get back to slurping until I get lockjaw.

Keep slurpin' daddy. Nasty Natasha is playin' you. The MSNBC Mean Girls accused the USAF of being corrupt. Them's fightin' words.

Tonight on Hardball, Nasty Natasha admitted she has no idea who's making the decisions to route the stopovers via Prestwick, or why.
But that doesn't stop her from ginning up a blockbuster scandal & calling into question the integrity of the US Air Force, based on so little information. She just disregards what the USAF has said & the facts they have presented. This is an irresponsible use of the power of the media.

NPR found this, but apparently that's too hard for Nasty Natasha or she chooses to ignore it :

https://www.npr.org/2019/09/09/75902582 ... ump-resort

Thomas explained that C-17 aircraft have increasingly used Prestwick as a stopover because it has 24-hour operations, making it a more viable option for aircraft headed to and from the Middle East and Afghanistan.

Many military stopover locations, he explained, have imposed increasingly restrictive operating hours. In 2017, he said, Air Mobility Command issued a directive to flight crews to increase efficiency. Prestwick was listed as a top-five stopover location due to favorable weather and less traffic from other aircraft.

"This airport has a large parking area, is open 24/7/365, and has been contracted by DoD for fuel at standardized prices," Thomas explained.

My hunch is that AMC started routing traffic via Prestwick, whenever feasible, to help it survive to be available when RAF Mildenhall closes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Mildenhall

On 8 January 2015, the United States Department of Defense announced that operations at RAF Mildenhall would end and be relocated to ...elsewhere within the UK.

On 18 January 2016, the British Ministry of Defence announced that the RAF Mildenhall would be closed as an airfield and the site to be sold.[3] However, a change in presidential administrations in the United States, heightened security concerns on the part of the United States, the United Kingdom and NATO pertaining to Europe and the Middle East, and a variety of other issues have prompted a reassessment on RAF Mildenhall's closure. As of 2017, the closure process of RAF Mildenhall has been put on indefinite hold.[4] As of December 2018, it is planned that USAF personnel will move from RAF Mildenhall to RAF Fairford by 2024 the earliest.[5]

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... of-airport

Brown was told a visit by US diplomats to Prestwick to prepare for Trump’s arrival to open the Turnberry resort in June 2016 led to new contacts with the USAF’s European chief of defense and the US air attache to the UK. In October 2016, Prestwick signed a three-year basing and fuel supply deal with the Defense Logistics Agency, helping it almost double its income from fuel sales to £3m last year.

Brown was told those contacts also led to the USAF earmarking Prestwick to take a greater share of its flights after it leaves Mildenhall airbase in Suffolk, its largest base in the UK, in 2024.

You mad bro? Must sit around yelling at MSNBC every night doing nothing productive once it’s time to get out from under the desk in the Oval Office. Maybe one day you’ll get the reach around he promised all you acolytes who clearly have no morals worth anything, service or not, to twist this guy’s behavior into logical, reasonable human behavior.9

You have a strange obsession involving our President. Seek therapy.

[seacoaster]

Trump fired John Bolton today. Not on board for the Afghan “deal.”

Trump will soon be on his 4th national security adviser in 2 years and 8 months.

I really don't know what to say about folks with leftward inclinations criticizing Trump's firing of Bolton. The left was apoplectic when he was nominated - Bolton was (properly) castigated as warmongering neocon of the highest order, a man virtually bought and paid for by the MIC.

We should be glad he is out.

I am not unhappy about Bolton leaving the Administration, and agree with your impression of him. What is noteworthy is the manner in which he was disposed of by Il Duce; the fact that Duce is on his fourth NSA in a bit more than half of his term; and the fact that it is increasingly difficult to decipher any meaningful guide or guiding principles or philosophy other than the strange, short-term, transactionally-oriented foreign policy we have thus far seen. Foreign relations appears to have two purposes in TrumpWorld: messaging to the base, and making friends with people and constituencies from which/whom Trump and his family can profit. Where have you gone Dean Acheson? Paul Nitze? George Shultz? Jim Baker?

[old salt]

So, in in 2014 Trump personally negotiated a deal with Prestwick Airport...not as POTUS, just as a businessman.

No problem there presumably, but what was the quid pro quo?
Whatever it was, Trump knows what it is.

For instance, is he getting a kickback on gas revenues, or is there some other benefit?
Doesn't make sense that he simply gave a discount at his resort for crews out of the goodness of his heart.
That's just not Trump.
But if that's all it was, no sweat.

Again, whatever the deal made, as a business man no problem.

It's not that complicated. It's a straightforward business decision. Offering rooms at a discount generates revenue sufficient to cover overhead from rooms that would otherwise be empty.

Prestwick's survival as an airport was necessary for Turnberry's success. Anything they could do to make it a more attractive destination was in their mutual best interest.

It's a rational, ethical business arrangement, put in place well before Trump was President.

It's also in the US Air Force's interest to have Prestwick survive & be available 24/7/365 for a myriad of operational reasons I've attempted to explain.

[old salt]

Petraeus came out of the shadows, went on FNC last night & spun the Afghan/Camp David walkback in a way that didn't knock Trump & called it a good decision.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/david-pet ... fghanistan

I wonder if he's the new National Security Adviser.

[a fan]

It's not that complicated. It's a straightforward business decision. Offering rooms at a discount generates revenue sufficient to cover overhead from rooms that would otherwise be empty.

Yep. True.

Prestwick's survival as an airport was necessary for Turnberry's success. Anything they could do to make it a more attractive destination was in their mutual best interest.

Also true.

It's a rational, ethical business arrangement, put in place well before Trump was President.

Also true.

It's also in the US Air Force's interest to have Prestwick survive & be available 24/7/365 for a myriad of operational reasons I've attempted to explain.

I'd bet an external auditor would disagree completely. Why do we have US Airforce bases in the UK if we can't use the things? We have six of them, yes? And you're telling me that we can't use ANY of the six to land a stupid transport plane? What the F are they for, then? Airshows?

But let's pretend you're 100% right, as you are with the above statements.


None of that matters as of January 20, 2017. You don't want to hear this because you think all the above reasons totally nullifies this simple fact.


If we were discussing Obama, or anyone with a D by their name, you'd be on here foaming at the mouth, lecturing us on ethics and codes of conduct, and the trust with the American people.

[dislaxxic]

If we were discussing Obama, or anyone with a D by their name, you'd be on here foaming at the mouth, lecturing us on ethics and codes of conduct, and the trust with the American people.

Exactly why Old Salt Fatigue is every bit as alive and pervasive as is Trump Fatigue. Generally true of the GOP in general as well, which is why their days, as any kind of viable, believable players, is numbered. Every one of them.

Well, of course, OS hasn't really been a credible "player" for some time...but we read the posts kinda like we watch NASCAR, waiting for the next smoldering wreck.

I mean that in the most respectful way possible, for a fellow laxer...

..

[a fan]

With all due respect, this line of thinking is complete BS. It’s only brought about because people opine that Trump doesn’t have an ethical bone in his body. I won’t agree or disagree with that, as it has nothing to do with this situation.

A hotel company has published government rates for its rooms that make it attractive to stay there. Book it if you want.

Do you honestly not understand what a conflict of interest is? I'm stunned that we have so many of us here, who have plainly been around the block, and who don't seem to get what that is.

If you're on a piddly city council, you can't vote on a proposal that affects, for example, a project that you have a financial stake on the outcome of the vote. You recuse yourself. This happens thousands of times all around our great nation every week.

And we're not talking about some piddly city council vote here. We're talking about the leader of the free world. This is serious *hit. And if you don't get this, just wait for the next guy to come along-----because you're all telling him/her that you don't care about these conflicts. Careful what you ask for, is all I have to say.

Did the government issue a directive to employees to not eat peanut butter out of fear those peanuts were coming from Carter’s farm and therefore would benefit Carter?

No. But they should have. In addition, Carter famously lost his *ss with that blind trust. Ya think this will happen to Trump, and his funneling of Federal business to his properties? Republican voters have lost their way. Hard. THEY, of all groups, should be screaming for Trump's head on this count.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/07/17/when-ji ... -debt.html

This blind trust talk is silly. It works with passive investments because nobody’s gonna care if you own this stock or the other. But what if someone like afan wants to run for elected office? (Not picking on a fan, only using him because we all know he operates a successful, and very specific, business.) Let’s say he didn’t have a brother he could sell his half of the business to. Does afan run for elected office knowing he has to sell to some big distiller and start back up from scratch when he gets out of public service? My guess is he doesn’t run.

I would never run for elected office for my community, and still own my business. For one, if I ran as a D or R, I just lost a massive chunk of my sales.

That, and I'd never run, anyway. Life is too short!

If this is about presidential ethics, then impeach him.

All or nothing. "That's not illegal". The new normal. Oh well, it's not like we didn't tell you that this is a problem. Maybe when the next guy comes along, you'll get it.

[old salt]

It's also in the US Air Force's interest to have Prestwick survive & be available 24/7/365 for a myriad of operational reasons I've attempted to explain.

I'd bet an external auditor would disagree completely. Why do we have US Airforce bases in the UK if we can't use the things? We have six of them, yes? And you're telling me that we can't use ANY of the six to land a stupid transport plane? What the F are they for, then? Airshows?

Our AF bases are in the UK for specific missions. They are not set up to provide transient service to large transport acft 24/7/365. How many of the 6 even have runways ?

Only 1 of those air bases (RAF Mildenhall) has the facilities & personnel to support huge AMC transport aircraft, on stopover, overnight, refueling missions. It's imminent closure was announced. The USAF scrambled to ensure Prestwick's continued availability. The decision to close Mildenhall was then delayed, but the permanent aircraft units based at Mildenhall are shifting to nearby RAF Lakenheath, further reducing it's already limited ability to service large transport aircraft, other than those loading/offloading cargo/passengers there. Lakenheath has never been a viable base for large numbers of transiting stopover AMC aircraft.

I flew in & out of all the bases listed in the article (including Prestwick) 3 decades ago as a transient aircraft commander, looking for stopover hosting.
There are myriad operational & diplomatic challenges operating military aircraft in Europe, not faced in the US. I tried to explain some of those the operational considerations, but you ridiculed me, so figure it out for yourself.

[old salt]

This is what fact checking & research before publication looks like.

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opin ... ump-resort