NEWS AND OPINION:
Just a reminder that the America’s heavy lifting and hard work continues — far from the endless squawking and media hubbub in the nation’s capital. The incredible B-52 just keeps on keeping on, and has shattered old performance records, according to a new Air Force report. Keep in mind that various models of Boeing’s B-52 have been in service since 1955. The B-52 H model, which is currently in use, first went into service 57 years ago.
The aircraft was a true force to reckon with when the U.S. entered the Vietnam War.
“More than four decades ago, the Air Force’s iconic B-52 Stratofortress set records as it pounded North Vietnamese targets during Operation Linebacker II. But during its recently concluded, two-year deployment to the Middle East to fight the Islamic State and Taliban, the BUFF smashed through those milestones,” writes Air Force Times senior reporter Stephen Losey.
“According to an April 12 release from U.S. Air Forces Central Command, the 23rd Bomb Squadron from Minot Air Force Base in North Dakota last June launched its 400th consecutive B-52 mission without a delay due to maintenance problems. This broke a B-52 streak that stood since December 1972, when the Air Force carried out 11 days of massive bombing in North Vietnam,” Mr. Losey says.
“The 69th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron, which arrived in September 2017, then launched 834 straight B-52 missions without any maintenance cancellations. The 69th flew its last Stratofortress mission of that deployment April 7, before the bombers departed April 11 to return to Minot. Two B-1B Lancers arrived March 31 to replace the departing B-52s.”
The final tally: B-52s flew more than 1,850 missions from Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, and dropped nearly 12,000 bombs.
NO NERD PROM THIS TIME
President Trump is not going to the White House Correspondents Dinner later this month. Neither is adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, who claims she had a liaison with the president a dozen years ago and is currently on a media tour to have her say about the issue.
“According to her lawyer, Michael Avenatti, Daniels is so in demand right now that she received multiple invitations from media companies to attend this year’s White House Correspondents Dinner as their guest. But Daniels declined them all and won’t be attending the annual dinner,” wrote Jeremy Barr, a columnist for The Hollywood Reporter.
“Avenatti, who has become a television star on his own, will be attending the dinner as a guest of The Associated Press, he said. The lawyer did not elaborate when asked which media organizations invited Daniels and why she decided against attending the dinner,” the columnist wrote.
The dinner — which typically attracts some 3,000 guests — is set for Saturday, April 28. The event has received “limited media attention,” according to Mr. Barr, citing the president’s decision to skip the big gathering — just like he did last year.
NO NERD PROM THIS TIME EITHER
So where will President Trump be on the night of the White House Correspondents Dinner? He’ll be among his favorite people. Donald J. Trump for President Inc. reveals that Mr. Trump will appear at a campaign rally in Washington, Michigan, on the Saturday in question. The event marks his 11th rally in Michigan and his fifth rally in the Detroit area since Mr. Trump entered the race for the presidency almost three years ago.
“While the fake news media will be celebrating themselves with the denizens of Washington society in the swamp that evening, President Trump will be in a completely different Washington, celebrating our national economic revival with patriotic Americans,” says Michael S. Glassner, CEO of the campaign itself.
“The president is really looking forward to highlighting the growing success of his economic policies for Michiganders, including historic deregulation and tax cuts that are delivering a pay raise to working families; resulting in record-low unemployment, remarkable reductions in food stamp enrollment, and a return of the American dream for millions of families,” Mr. Glassner notes.
A MOMENT WITH GEORGE AND LAURA
Fox Business Network anchor Maria Bartiromo will broadcast live Wednesday from the George W. Bush Presidential Library in Dallas. The highlight of the program: Ms. Bartiromo will sit down for an exclusive interview with former President George W. Bush and former first lady Laura Bush. Likely airtime is 8:30 a.m. EST.
The library itself is hosting a significant, three-day “Forum on Leadership” through Friday with a wide-ranging speaker’s roster that includes former Vice President Dick Cheney, former House Speaker John Boehner, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, among others.
FOXIFIED
Fox News Channel is still the dominant force in the cable realm, marking the 14th consecutive week this year as the No. 1 network, besting such rivals as HGTV and TNT, according to Nielsen Media Research. As it has for 16 years, Fox News is the top cable news channel, drawing 2.7 million prime-time viewers, compared to 2.2 million for MSNBC and 1.3 million for CNN.
As news broke about the Syrian airstrikes on Friday, “The Ingraham Angle,” “Hannity” and “FOX News @ Night” were among the top-four programs across all cable programming, with Laura Ingraham’s showcase drawing a record-breaking 4.7 million viewers. In addition, Fox News made up 19 of the top 40 cable telecasts in total viewers.
Fox Business Network continues its reign over rival CNBC, with a 29 percent advantage in viewer numbers. Overall, the Fox Business audience is up by 11 percent. “Lou Dobbs Tonight” was also the No. 1 news program in all of business television.
POLL DU JOUR
• 74 percent of Americans say Congress has done “little or nothing at all” ensure there’s no Russian interference in the midterm elections; 73 percent of Republicans, 79 percent of independents and 84 percent of Democrats agree.
• 74 percent say social media sites like Facebook and Twitter have done “little or nothing at all” to prevent interference; 78 percent of Republicans, 78 percent of independents and 78 percent of Democrats agree.
• 55 percent say there likely will be Russian interference in the midterms; 36 percent of Republicans, 53 percent of independents and 77 percent of Democrats agree.
• 49 percent say Russian interference is unlikely; 61 percent of Republicans, 39 percent of independents and 21 percent of Democrats agree.
Source: An NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll of 1,011 conducted April 10-13.
• Hubbub and innocuous chitchat to jharper@washingtontimes.com
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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