There weren't federal warrants under his name. I believe he was named in an application for a warrant against someone else—an application filed by the (ousted) LA County sheriff as part of what appeared to be a corrupt investigation of the sheriff's political opponents.

The more-legitimate criticism was that the nominee had little technical experience in aviation. It's not obvious how vital that is—the administrator of the FAA runs a massive bureaucracy; he's not testing aircraft—but there's a valid criticism that the administrator should at least be fluent in the lingo and able to question the technical staff. Especially at a time like now, when people are worried about the safety of the air system.

Perhaps Reddit can identify the boy with a backpack who did it.

Why is she allowed to plead to a misdemeanor?

This evil person should be serving a decade.

He's the mayor of a town. He's not Senate majority leader.

You seem terribly defensive. Is it projection?

It's not really newsworthy.

Could you link to your post about former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (Republican) recently being convicted of child molestation, or of any of his associations with current Republican lawmakers?

Being serious, we're not just killing every adult involved in a gang.

But I have no problem modifying the human-trafficking laws to cover this sort of behavior and liberally using the RICO statute to have all involved convicted of trafficking children and sentenced to 20-25 years minimum in federal prison.

No amount of street cred will be worth getting out of prison when you're eligible for AARP and the robots have taken over all human decision-making.

But why must "we" maintain the stereotype that progressives are snidely condescending jerks?

If this is a daily occurrence, I'd say that's a problem with that McDonald's.

So this is a reform bill.

"Heh heh. Fuck the capitalists. Heh heh."

— Every Brooklyn trustafarian.

Most of the other comments suggest taking Metro. I'd suggest Uber unless you're focused on saving cash. It's, what, $10 to Metro each way? By contrast, unless there's a surge, it'll be about $50 with Uber (plus tip). So, much more expensive, but it depends what $50 extra is worth to you.

The benefit of Uber is that you get in the car, do whatever, and you're there. Traffic may be slow, but half of the ride is on the express road for Dulles, which won't have traffic. Worst possible case? 90 minutes. Realistic bad case? 50-60 minutes. Best case: 35 minutes.

Metro is not hard, but it's possible to get confused at the connection in Rosslyn. If you care about the money, Metro makes lots of sense. But if you're lazy like me, Uber is easier and will take you right up to the terminal.

On the return, you have five hours. You could accidentally board a freight train to Atlanta and still make your connection.

Love the flight assistant. She's great.

One would also hope there's a difference between the actuarial considerations of an insurer and the priorities of a lawmaker.

The core of the "pro-life" movement—maybe not the lay activists, but the true theocratic ideologues who push it—is not concerned about the fetus or baby itself.

They believe that God decides when life and death occur, and that, by permitting abortion, people are overruling the will of God. It is about defending God's prerogative over life, not about defending lives.

Hence, if a child dies an hour after birth, fair enough. God willed it. But aborting the child before birth, despite knowing it would die? That's interference.

Once you consider that the religious far-right's abortion activism is grounded in a specific reading of the Bible, and not in concern for the individual fetus or child, it makes much more sense.

I listened to his comments. I did not listen to 30 minutes of context, but I considered his tone of voice and the fact that he doubled down after a clearly shocked person in the room asked him to repeat his comments.

He was not simply playing devil's advocate. He wasn't just paraphrasing some opponent's argument. He was suggesting that the position was correct: That fatal child abuse is better than severe but non-fatal abuse, since the latter will cost the state money in lifetime therapy and medical care.

I would say Obama revitalized much of the city, such as the 14th Street corridor. (Yes, many people would call that gentrification, but I think it was a good thing.) He made DC feel like an exciting, creative place, merely because he seemed exciting and groundbreaking, and a lot of idealists flocked to his administration, and DC, as a result.

Whenever I walk by Le Diplomate, my first thought is still that it was Michelle Obama's favorite restaurant.

So I think Obama made DC more urbane. It is no longer a steakhouse city (though it still has some of that).

Trump made DC grumpier, but there was a certain energy in feeling like you were near the front lines of a real struggle for the soul of the country. It was stressful, but with each day his administration was stymied—by Pelosi, by the courts, by activists, by governors, by opinion polls that scared Republicans—there was a sense of hope and petty victory.

In short, D.C. felt more like an activist city, which was invigorating.

We're still finding our footing after the double-whammy of Trump and the pandemic. I'd say the city is a bit unsettled, certainly more so than it was under Obama. At least then there seemed to be a clear upward trajectory, escaping the crises of the '80s and '90s. We have a lot of challenges: Homelessness, crime (most of it petty), residential rents, and now a question about how how to deal with a partially empty downtown. It is clearly a transitional period.

They heard Dan's Cafe is a popular romantic spot.

I'm saying this with sympathy for your concerns: Oh, for Christ's sake.

You're likely to have a seated homeless man ask you for change. You may see someone jump over the fare gates if you take Metro. You will likely be asked by a screen to add an 18% tip on a fast-food order, which should be a misdemeanor.

This is not Medellín in 1989.

Boooo.

That's fine, but most people aren't. And we're obviously not talking about potheads. I don't think we can consider it a solution to say, "Allow those with unmanaged, addiction-related psychosis to live independently in crowded neighborhoods."

You wrote elsewhere about residential harm-reduction programs. As far as I can tell, the big impediments there are cost and staffing, though I'm curious what such programs cost other cities per resident per year. $30,000? $100,000? You'll quickly run into a lot of opposition as they become unaffordable.

How would you deal with them?

I have PreCheck and Clear. As such, I've regularly gotten to DCA 30 minutes before departure and been fine.

Last week, I had a 4 PM departure. I thought this would be a bit before the rush. Nope. PreCheck was winding around the rope line because DCA TSA is badly understaffed. (I don't know if TSA is trying to make a point to Congress, but I'd have thought they'd want their DCA operation to impress lawmakers.)

Anyway, TSA took 15 minutes, at which point I got to the gate with eleven minutes before departure—four minutes after the door closed. I begged and they let me on, only for the captain to complain to the gate agent for reopening the aircraft door to let me on (I was surprised too).

Now, I'm getting to DCA 50-60 minutes early like a normal human. At least until TSA staffs up.

I'm not sure where you're getting that. A single prosecutor could easily be responsible for making sure documents get to opposing counsel. I doubt the DA or his deputy are regularly asking each prosecutor if they remembered to follow their basic obligation to send over evidence.

No reputable law firm is going to take on someone who was publicly fired after being named by the New York Times as grossly botching a crucial case and letting a serious (alleged) criminal off scot-free.

Plus, she may well have major problems with the bar.