In the latest instance of White House vandalism, construction of a helipad at the White House has begun.
I'd post a photograph of it, but the only photo I can find is copyright protected, so I'll abstain. I will note, however, that the pad is way, way, too close the White House itself.
This is frankly a really bad idea, and some bad result will occur sooner or later. There's no excuse, however, for building a helipad that close to a structure, let alone an 18th Century structure.
The Aerodrome: Boeing VC-25B Bridge. A shameful flying monument.: This blog was never intended to be political, but in the age of Donald Trump, which will go down as the most corrupt political era in U.S. h...
No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.
Congress has so suspended its duties that getting anyone to enforce this clause seems like a lost cause right now, but maybe in a future presidency somebody will dust the document off, walk down to Congress, dope slap the whole body until the current deadwood leaves (John Barrasso, looking at you) and people who actually will do their job reappear. Should that occur, this airplane should not leave the Air Force inventory. But what to do with it is another question. $400,000,000 have been spent on it.
There are already two new Air Force One's being built. Those ones will be properly equipped. The existing Air Force Ones already are. Hopefully not another dime is spent on this one.
But that, frankly, puts it in the domestic hauler category. I suppose it could be used for that, save for the fact that it's a national embarrassment.
Given that, my prediction is that it will be junked. I don't think it'll ever go to a Trump presidential library, assuming one is every built Trump's already 80 years old and every morning when he wakes up the Grim Reaper is there asking how he's feeling. It won't be used by a future President, and it's not going to be used by the Air Force for anything.
It's just a waste.
The Soviet military government of Austria began deporting Germans who had moved to the country after 1938. 54,000 would be repatriated to a Germany.
The News reported about a Hughes' accident.
And now it's a helipad
King Donald has spent a lot of his time this term of office remaking Washington D.C. itself. He's already vandalized the Rose Garden, the East Wing, and the Reflecting Pool. Messing with buildings is something he is familiar with, and which he fancies himself good at, even though the evidence from D.C. is that he has the taste of a 19th Century bordello owner.
Now it's a helipad. It'll be granite and on the White House grounds, and have the Presidential Seal on it.
The supposed reason is that the new Marine Corps 1 choppers are bigger, or more powerful, than their predecessors and therefore weren't working out well on the White House lawn.
The new helicopters are Sikorsky VH-92 Patriots. They are big.
Trump claims that Sikorsky will pay for the pads. Lockheed Marine, which now owns Sikorsky, has more or less confirmed that.
I'll credit some of this story as credible. These giant helicopters are really heavy, no doubt, and Washington D.C. is a swamp. It may indeed have surpassed the dent in the lawn level.
Still, there's reason for concern. Not one of Trump's major DC endeavors has worked out well. The East Wing desecration is way over the original price estimate and is likely to be torn down as soon as the illegitimate claimant to the office is out. The Rhino Lining on the reflecting pool has been a disaster and has lead to a false criminal charge against an innocent former Olympian. Just on sheer experience, there should be concern that the price here will be off, the taxpayer will foot the bill (which maybe in this instance they should) and that it'll go badly.
Moreover, the helicopters maker footing the bill is disturbing, relationship wise.
Marine Corps 1 itself is one of those things that has turned the Presidency from being representative of the people into a type of king. Eisenhower introduced it in 1957 as he wanted a quick way to get to his summer home in Pennsylvania. There's no reason that the taxpayer should have been stuffed with that. Now we've been stuck with a Presidential helicopter ever since.
Different countries, it might be noted, approach this differently. Lots of countries do use government aircraft for chief executives, but some really restrain it. Finland is one example. It has aircraft for the chief executive, but if that person is traveling long distance, they do so commercially A relatively recent Mexican president intentionally did that.
There's probably no way around this at this point, but frankly it is a bit much.
Last edition:
Mexican President Plutarco Elías Calles published the vile Calles Law, effective July 31, which banned religious education, foreign priests and political commentary in religious publications, seizing church property and holding that worship could only be conducted inside of churches and under the supervision of local officials
I've written on Calles before, who in some ways got his just deserts, but the damage he did is still felt to this day.
The United States Army Air Corps was established as an expansion of the United States Army Air Service that had been created on May 24, 1918. It was not, however, an independent service, nor did it enjoy the level of autonomy of the Navy's Marine Corps. Nor should it have. . . even to the present day.
