For once, the crazies are right – the black helicopters are real. US Special Forces Command has been conducting exercises in and around downtown Denver with Blackhawk helicopters, scaring the pants off of just about everyone.

Defense Department policy states that we should have been notified in advance about the drills. My guess is the notification was put on the DoD’s “What’s New” section of their website, just under “Cool Stuff for Kids” and “Careers in Iraq.” Responding to criticism from the public, Mayor Hickenlooper’s office quickly passed the buck back to the Feds, saying, “There seems to have been a misunderstanding about the reach and scope of these notifications…”

Aside from giving grown-ups nightmares that their home is about to be stormed by Bruce Willis and inspiring breathless admiration among adolescent boys, there has been little in the way of side effects from the exercise. One woman complained wind from the helicopters’ rotors damaged her yard, threw trash around, and broke a window, but that was about all.

Spokesmen from the Defense Department claim – a little too adamantly, in this blogger’s view – that the exercises have absolutely, positively, nothing to do with preparations for the DNC. You know, because Denver is right up there on terrorists’ “do to” list, otherwise. Of course, the military has to do their urban warfare training somewhere, and it sure beats hosting an orthodontists’ convention. Still, if you’re going to buzz my house at 3:00 AM, it would be nice to have a little advance notice.