America was holding its collective breath, hoping beyond hope that at least some good news might come from the rescue response to last night’s crash. But Eric Swalwell had a different reaction.

Decent and reasonable people see a horrific tragedy, and immediately, they think about the lives lost, the families left behind, and the first responders in harm’s way trying to save anyone they can.

They scan headlines hoping to find some small glimmer of good news or, failing that, some explanation for why things might have gone so horribly wrong.

THE ACCIDENT — what we know

Official reports say that there was a mid-air collision between a passenger plane and a helicopter, with wreckage coming down in the Potomac River. If any silver lining can be found in this tragedy, it’s that the wreckage didn’t come down on densely packed population centers.

Dashcam footage caught the collision, but from where it was filmed, it was barely distinguishable from other lights in the distance. Thus, it offers little clue about the horrific events unfolding at that moment above the Potomac River as a passenger jet was making its final approach to land.

First responders raced to the scene to do what they could. But at the time of this writing, hopeful reports that several survivors had been pulled from the water were, unfortunately, too optimistic.

Early reports make pilot error seem the most likely explanation:

Thirty seconds before an American Airlines regional passenger plane and Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Jan. 29, an air traffic controller tried to communicate with the helicopter pilot via radio call.
On Jan. 29, a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet and a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter collided. However, 30 Thirty seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asked the helicopter if the arriving plane was in its sight, according to audio obtained by the Associated Press.
The controller made another radio call to PAT 25 seconds later, saying, “PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ.” No response from the Army Black Hawk helicopter was recorded from any flight tracking sites, per the Associated Press, and moments later, the two aircraft crashed into each other. –Yahoo

The American Airlines jet carried 60 passengers and four crew, while the helicopter, a Black Hawk out of Fort Belvoir, Virginia, had 3 soldiers on board. Reports indicate that the Army helicopter was on a training mission at the time.

As for survivors, there’s no good news to report yet, and only the most determined optimists are expecting that news is likely to change.

As expected, most politicians who made public announcements had something respectful to say:

While the people on the left started looking for ways to blame this crash on policies Trump has enacted in the past few days, Trump went to social media and echoed our own disbelief, looking for answers, wondering how this could possibly happen on a clear night. No doubt, there will be an investigation followed by recommendations about relevant changes to policy, training, or warning systems. Trump said it was a ‘terrible night’ and invoked divine support for the nation with ‘God bless you all.

Trump’s opponents, as could be expected, were shamelessly looking for some political angle to connect this tragedy to decisions Trump has made in the week since he’s taken office.

SWALWELL, Meanwhile…

Swalwell, meanwhile, showed himself even more petty than Trump’s usual critics… and was dragged for it.

For a party so VERY interested in the proper use of pronouns, he might have picked a different one for the very first word in his tweet about the crash:

Cross-posted with Clash Daily