MI man pleads to trying to steal a helicopter to use to free Covid patients from hosptial

[Johnny2X2X]

https://www.mlive.com/news/saginaw-bay-city/2022/03/michigan-man-pleads-to-trying-to-steal-helicopter-to-free-covid-patients-from-hospitals.html

This is what we're dealing with, these people are dangerous and totally bonkers. Slap on the wrist upcoming, this man should spend the rest of his life behind bars, but he's going to get probation.

[Irish_Dem]

1. A result of relentless Putin/GOP propaganda to cause disruption and chaos in the US.

And to make Americans look foolish when acting out about life saving masks and vaccines.

[Johnny2X2X]

2. What I am wondering

With the war Putin is waging, and with Republicans finally realizing that aligning themselves with Russia is probably a bad idea, does the propaganda dry up? There are severe limits on financing these efforts right now.

I don't think people outside of DU realize how lock step the Russian troll farms have been with the Republican Party for the last 5+ years. They've been a vital and seamless arm of the Republican Party, constantly bombarding social media users with the exact message the GOP is telling them to deliver. If that stops, the GOP is severely handicapped going into the mid terms. They've built their entire party around Putin propaganda for years.

To reject Russia is to reject the GOP the last 5 years, they are near one and the same.

[Irish_Dem]

4. Putin and the GOP have identical goals, so the propaganda will continue.

The GOP wants to install an autocratic form of government, democracy is their enemy.
They want total permanent power and control, and access to all US financial assets like Putin.
Another goal is white christian minority rule.

To pull this off, they will need relentless and continued propaganda, and ruthless hard ball against the Dems. For example when there is a GOP POTUS he has unlimited power, even to go on a crime spree. When a Dem sits in the WH, he is hamstrung at every turn.

[Johnny2X2X]

6. They lost the battle of ideas decades ago

So instead of adjusting their ideas so they could win over more voters, they instead decided to attack our Democracy.

But I think the Russian troll farms are largely shut down right now, the GOP is going to have a tough time replacing them.

[Irish_Dem]

15. Exactly. The only option for the GOP is to destroy democracy.

The only thing they can sell (and only to their base), is white christian minority rule.

Yes the Russian bot farms are down somewhat now, but Putin could get the world oligarchs to start the money flowing again, greed usually wins over morality.

Also of course there is China and Saudi, maybe Iran, ready to jump in to help the GOP take more control of the US.

[littlemissmartypants]

3. Another loon.

Defense attorney Kanuszewski on Monday said that McFadden was a military helicopter pilot, is now legally blind, and had no way of physically carrying out the threats he made on May 17, 2020.

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[getagrip_already]

9. legally blind doesn't mean totally blind.....

You can still function at 20/200 (the min to be considered legally blind). You just can't do most things involving the need for clear vision.

And glasses can help.

So could he fly? Probably, if he were crazy enough. Would he land safely? Doubtful.

[littlemissmartypants]

11. I was more focused on

...had no way of physically carrying out the threats he made...

If he was able, which he apparently was, to drive to the Coast Guard base then I'm thinking he might be able to fly, if he had the training and had done it before. But your point about the landing not being so safe is understandable. He's delusional either way, imo. YMMV



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[MineralMan]

5. If we gave life sentences to every loon out there with a stupid idea,

we'd have to convert several large cities into prisons.

That man did NOT steal a helicopter. He did NOT take anyone out of a hospital. He just cooked up a dumbass idea and got caught, because dumbass ideas come from dumbasses.

Not everything stupid needs a life sentence penalty.

Now, get the paper. Get the paper.

[FSogol]

7. Agreed: Not everything stupid needs a life sentence penalty. One thing that

that is fascinating to me about the Q-Anon crowd is their childish wish to be the hero.

He was going to save covid patients in a daring helicopter rescue. The Comet Ping Pong Shooter was going to rescue children being held captive. They all have delusions of grandeur where it is up to them to save the day! Only they know the truth!

It is really sad they can't be pointed into more realistic way to help others. It is a shame that energy is wasting driving around the beltway or planning ridiculous attacks instead of working on actual things to help society.

[MineralMan]

8. Suggesting harsh sentences for someone's stupid ideas is counter-productive.

I see it here, and elsewhere, all the time. It's not only a waste of time - it makes us seem ridiculous.

[getagrip_already]

10. what gets me....

Isn't the audacity of a partially blind man, formerly a military helicopter pilot, to steal a helicopter to do something daring.

It's WHY THE F*&^ HE WAS DOING IT.

He had to be convinced that there were people being held against their will in a hospital, undergoing forced treatment. He had to further believe they wanted to be rescued. Then, he had to believe they would be better off without treatment.

We can argue all day it would have been saner to steal an ambulence, then pretend to be staff and take people out one by one.

This guy wasn't firing on a lot of cylinders. This isn't one wrong belief, it's layers on layers on layers.

[North Shore Chicago]

12. He needs a

helicopter ride to the rubber room.

[dalton99a]

13. He was armed and ready to do violence to hospital staff

[Johnny2X2X]

14. He's a terrorist

Terrorists believe deranged things. He had a loaded shotgun and was threatening to use it, He is a menace, and his lawyer is painting him as some fragile little old man when he's only 71. The Rightwing Terror threat in this country is extreme, slapping this guy's wrists for what he did is part of the problem.