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I had thought that, like the former president, the former general’s middle initial is J. Turns out Michael J. Flynn is actually a computer scientist of some renown:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_J._Flynn

I didn't know his middle initial, so I thought the post was about the computer scientist, to be honest!

Yeah that's who I thought of; the only Michael Flynn I've heard of.

Michael Flynn is an extremely common Irish American name.

Thank you. I was rather confused to see this in HN.

Correct but I probably wouldn't have felt the need to mention that in this memorial thread.

It's a good clarification. I initially assumed it was the other person.

I thought the same thing as well.

The middle initial being included is often a subtle but pointed hint to that effect.

I wasn’t sure if it was the Trump advisor because I don’t know his middle initial. I hadn’t heard of the writer, so I appreciated the clarification.