I had the opportunity to speak with congressional candidate Al Mickle a couple of weeks ago as I was writing my feature on the crowded AL Congressional District 6 GOP primary. I found him to be a nice guy with solid, small government ideas and a genuine love for our country and the constitution.
He spent a lot of time talking about wanting to shrink government and get back to our founding principles.
Ok, I can dig that.
But last night around midnight, Mr. Mickle seemed to get a little off message…
On his personal Facebook account:
On his Campaign’s Facebook account:
The two posts both link to this piece in the L.A. Times from back in 2009:
Blackhawk helicopters buzz downtown in military exercise
Night-time military helicopter flights over downtown Los Angeles this week are part of training exercises to familiarize military personnel with urban settings and prepare them for future assignments overseas, according to authorities.
The helicopters, which have appeared nightly for almost a week, have attracted the attention of residents as they hover over downtown landmarks like City Hall, or maneuver quickly between office skyscrapers on Bunker Hill. While many residents speculated that the diving and climbing helicopters were part of a movie shoot, authorities confirmed Wednesday that they were part of a joint exercise.
A short notice saying the LAPD would be supporting an urban military exercise was posted on the department’s official blog.
The notice says the exercises started June 15 and are scheduled to end Saturday and that they will occur throughout Greater Los Angeles.
Authorities said training sites and times have been selected so they do not disrupt the daily routines of businesses and residents. Safety precautions have also been taken to protect the public and military personnel. The training is not open to the public.
I messaged Mr. Mickle and asked if he was insinuating that the U.S. military exercises in LA were preparation for attacking US citizens. He was nice enough to respond and continued to express concern over the purpose of the exercises.
When I first saw this article, it immediately reminded me of the AirForce One flyby of the Statue of Liberty (for the picture), and how stupid that was because of the fear it created in NYC. If I was in downtown B’ham, and there were Blackhawks buzzing the ATT building, it would sure freak me out. I think what Al is saying is that it’s stupid to do it because of the fear it creates, and the reason they gave was just as stupid as wanting to take a special picture. Regardless of the purpose, flying any aircraft that low in downtown cities in America is really dumb. Find another way to get the training accomplished and avoid giving people heart attacks. I think you are really reading too much into his post.
Lisa – I agree that it’s a little over-the-top to be practicing for military operations in downtown LA/Bham/etc…Then again, I choose to believe that the military knows more than I do about preparing the troops.
I also thought that maybe I was reading too much into what Mr. Mickle posted…which is why I messaged him. Here’s my exact question copy and pasted: “is the post on your fb wall insinuating that the U.S. military exercises in LA are preparation for attacks on US citizens?”
His response was a series of questions: why then was local law enforcement participating?…what about the FEMA camps?…are they not training for civil uprisings?… So he definitely did not deny that that’s what he was saying.
Really though, my main point was to critique his campaign’s message. Big government is out of control and we’re on a potentially disastrous fiscal path. Al is a small government guy who wants to do the right thing, reign in spending, and be an honest voice for the people of the 6th district. I think he should talk about those things and stay stuff like the above.
Thanks a lot for taking the time to read and comment.