Levity is used to describe something easily relatable as common sense; common sense that was totally lacking during the so-called NFL “deflategate” investigation where the New England quarterback was ultimately suspended for four games; not for deflating footballs as alleged but because he refused to hand over a cell phone in question to investigators.

Brady was questioned extensively at his appeal and he asserted that it had always been his practice to have his cell phones destroyed every so often. He explained that there is private information like players contracts, endorsement deals, and photos of his family on his phone that he wanted wiped. That seems like a perfectly reasonable desire.
— Deadspin, 8/5/15

Seriously, we all know Tom Brady’s text messages, pictures, contacts, etc. would be a goldmine leaked to an overzealous media and if we were in his situation, would probably do the same.

So you can imagine the smile on our faces when we heard a local Washington, D.C. radio station this morning repeating cold weather tips issued by AAA….

In fact, these cold weather tips are being widely shared for the simple.

AAA offers timely tips for winter driving
Have tires properly inflated. Under-inflated tires can be dangerous, and may suffer damage. Tire air pressure decreases 1-2 psi for every 10 degree temperature drop.
— Chicago Now, 11/11/19

Well, duh!

Even a seventh-grader proved the obvious and easily.

Thus began the science project with which 7th grader Ben Goodell won first prize at St. Pius V School in Lynn, Massachusetts. The Massachusetts part may give you a hint regarding why Goodell’s science project was about how weather alone could influence the air pressure in a football.

“I just came up with this project because I wanted to prove Tom Brady was innocent,” Goodell says. “I didn’t think it was fair for them to just call Brady a cheater.”

And as it turned out… “Every time I recorded the football’s PSI after being outside for two hours, the PSI read two PSI under proper inflation,” Ben Goodell says.
— WBUR, 3/12/16

Sad how so many can relate to a simple concept of physics via experience yet suspend the concept when it can feed into the justified jealousy of football fans who support inferior teams.

It was simply about bringing footballs from a warm interior onto a cooler field. Tom Brady and the Patriots didn’t cheat and millions of stubborn people (who probably can’t even spell physics) still won’t admit it.

Just ask your tires in the morning.

WMAL’s Chris Plante must have been handed a story he didn’t fully read, maybe his coffee really kicked in, but he really got it wrong this time. He read from a story in the Washington Times….

The Texas Democratic Party asked non-citizens to register to vote, sending out applications to immigrants with the box citizenship already checked “Yes,” according to new complaints filed Thursday asking prosecutors to see what laws may have been broken. The Public Interest Legal Foundation alerted district attorneys and the federal Justice Department to the pre-checked applications, and also included a signed affidavit from a man who said some of his relatives, who aren’t citizens, received the mailing.
— Washington Times, 10/18/18

We’ve actually had dealings with the Public Interest Legal Foundation and they are on the voting-integrity front lines, issuing formal complaints and/or suing those who play fast and loose with our voting laws. PILF President and General Counsel J. Christian Adams worked on Donald Trump’s Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, and PILF Director Hans von Spakovsky is a Heritage Foundation “voter fraud and voter ID, enforcement of federal voting rights laws, administration of elections and voting equipment standards” wonk. The Public Interest Legal Foundation could not have been mistaken for a left-wing anything… that is until Friday, October 19th.

Bob tried to talk to Chris on air and alert him that the Public Interest Legal Foundation are the good guys. After giving the call screener a brief on how Plante really screwed the pooch on this, for some strange reason, Bob remained on hold for over an hour until the show signed off.

Way too many lessons on this one.

Maybe the most important: read well when you are going to comment on the public airwaves because you’re in really tricky territory when you mislabel a group’s ideology, activities and declare that the group is breaking the law.

The Public Interest Legal Foundation: PILF, it’s called PILF which is like pilfer, which is to steal; so PILF is in the business of stealing votes.
— Chris Plante

You can kinda’ hear where Chris may have realized he went too far, was very wrong about the group he was mocking, but in listening to most of his following Monday broadcast, no correction or apology was issued to PILF.

Sad, because Chris Plante would be the first to call out a media organization for getting a story very wrong and not having the decency and integrity to issue a correction, if at all.

UPDATE

Chris Plante issued an on-air correction and apology to PILF.