United Airlines Maybe Smeared the Wrong David Dao

United Airlines has a gigantic problem on its hands. They called the police on an elderly man, Dr. David Dao, and violently removed him from a flight to make room for one of their employees.

United went into panic mode as the video took over the headlines. They tried to totally discredit the passenger - and lucky for them, David Dao had faced 98 charges of illegal trafficking of prescription painkillers back in 2003.

Dao's medical license was suspended for a decade. And if that wasn't enough to turn the public against him, Dao had also been found guilty of trading painkillers for sexual favors in one of the most opioid-riddled areas of the country.

United could finally stop the bleeding. One problem: They might have the wrong David Dao.

See, all those criminal records belonged to one David Anh Duy Dao. The man removed from their flight by paramilitary cops was Dr. David Thanh Duc Dao. Are they somehow the same guy?

Either way, past sins do not justify the way this man was treated. Committing a crime doesn't give corporate America a license to abuse you for the rest of your life.

Congratulations to Dr. David Thanh Duc Dao on becoming the new owner of United Airlines.

Dear D.C. Government, You're the WORST

Here's just one example of why D.C. does not deserve statehood, and why bureaucrats can't do anything right:

D.C. requires everyone with an out-of-state license plate to register with the DMV. This "shadow registration" is questionably legal - since when can one state require people who don't live there to register their cars? Whatever, you have to do it.

But you can't do it until you receive a "ROSA warning." ROSA stands for Registered Out of State Automotive. Essentially, you can't prove your innocence until you've already been "caught." So, the D.C. cops saw my car, with GA tags, twice within 30 days. I got my ROSA warning on February 9th. 

I applied for the ROSA on February 13th, well within the 15-day grace period. The DC DMV web site says they'll let you know within 5 days if your application is approved. Guess what definitely didn't happen to me within 5 days?

I chalked it up to government slowness. Whatever, their fault, not mine. And then, the government doubled down on its stupidity, and ticketed me while the ROSA application was still processing. That $100 ticket was issued on March 2nd.

Okay, I'll appeal the ticket and explain that my ROSA is still under review. I submitted all my documents on March 6th. (And just to be safe, I reapplied for the ROSA on March 3, explaining that it was a duplicate of the February 13 application, since that one had not been either approved or denied.)

ALL of the side-eye. All of it.

On March 16th, I finally received my ROSA. (Note that this is within 5 days of...not a damn thing. The hard copy says it went into effect on March 8th; the online version says March 18th. So really, who knows?) 

Newly armed with my ROSA, I enrolled in an online system to track the ticket. The system says it will notify you when certain things happened (new tickets issued, ticket appeals received, ticket fines doubling). "At least I'll get notified when they try to screw me further," I thought, and was totally wrong.

The system never notified me, the fine doubled, and the city government still hasn't responded to my request for adjudication. Now I have to prove that I had applied for adjudication, as I did on March 6th via the online system. 

It's all stored online, right? Nope. The D.C. government "lost" my adjudication request. It also "lost" my first ROSA application. 

Now, the government has tried to fine me for something that is not illegal, ignored a filed dispute, destroyed the evidence, and doubled the fine.

I wouldn't trust these goons to run a g'damn Jamba Juice, let alone a major city. I might fight the ticket. But would they even keep record of the dispute, or will I have to do this all again in a month? 

Do I have time to get my car booted or towed? I do not. I would do anything to expose the evil of bureaucracy, but I won't do that. Nor will I fly on United.

Now, I've paid $200 into a protection racket so my car doesn't get towed for doing something perfectly legal. In conclusion, I am bitter.

Drain the swamp.