They thought the gas line explosion was another 9/11. They thought Cory Lidle's plane crash was another 9/11. They think that anything that goes "kaboom" or doesn't look right in the sky is another 9/11. And it'll continue to be that way until someone gets it through their heads that they shouldn't be afraid of everything. First of all, has it even been established that this photo op was something Obama advised or even knew about? Updating the Associated Press stock photo of Air Force One is a relatively minor housekeeping thing, I don't see why he'd need to monitor something like that. And I don't see how you can NOT blame Bush for people in NYC being afraid of anything out of the ordinary after 9/11. I remember a few years ago on April Fool's Day, a couple high school girls put out a bunch of life-sized Super Mario question mark boxes around one of the towns here, and they wound up going to jail for inciting panic. If that had been in NYC, it would have been a "terrorist attack" and they probably would've been shipped off to fucking Guantanamo Bay. I can see the headline now, it would read like the title of a porno gone wrong: "18 and Waterboarding!" The Boston Mooninite bomb scare in '07 wasn't in NYC, but it's another good example of post-9/11 overreactions being taken to ridiculous extremes. The fact that Bloomberg would've tried to stop the photo op even if he HAD known about it just proves that his city is absolutely paranoid of everything, and even worse, he's OK with it. The Bush administration preached fear and paranoia for 7 years, and pathetically, it worked. I think that'll take longer to fix than even the economy.
Fine, let's be topical. I wonder how much taxpayer money this cost in the middle of an economic crisis? Or better yet, how much fossil fuel waste was added to the atmosphere? And how about the people's jobs that were disrupted because their LEADER didnt bother to tell them not to panic because it was just a photo op. Its isnt like they just got up yesterday morning and said "Hey, let's go fly the back up AF1 around NYC and take some pics for my Facebook." And I find it uber funny that all of a sudden that "nitpicking" is suddenly hypocritical. A little convenient to take the high road now dont you think? What has he done in the last 100 days that is so earthshattering? The largest budget in history....yeah, I'll spot you that one. Blaming Republicans. Congrats on attaining Specter the Defector, he is the Dems special needs Senator now. Which means once Franken officially becomes a Senator you can no longer blame them for anything not getting done. So enjoy the fingerpointing for at least a few more days because that ship has sailed. And taken from someone who doesnt wear rose colored glasses, Obama is destroying his Presidency just fine on his own. I'll grant that Obama didnt know but shame on him and his staff for not getting the word out. You cant blame Bush because he didnt fly those planes into the WTC. Better and safer to be a little paranoid than to not care about what is going on around them dont you think?
There is ABSOLUTELY no proof that Obama authorized the flyover which is why this whole mobbing is completely immature. Try finding out who actually did it before you point fingers and place the blame: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/28/obama-plane-flyover-in-ne_n_192293.html "The director of the White House military office, Louis Caldera, took the blame for the incident in a statement Monday." Nowhere does it even say Obama said "HEY LETS GO SCARE THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE", in fact all evidence shows he's pretty pissed off over this and wants to know why it was even necessary. If you want to lynch someone, go after Louis Caldera. Don't point the finger at Obama just because it's convenient. Louis Caldera spent taxpayer money to get this photo done, and he is the one who needs to be criticized and/or fired. Let's focus the blame where it should be focused, thank you very much.
Why should I? Everything that happened under Bush was BLAME BUSH! BLAME BUSH! so I think its just as applicable to blame Obama here. Sorry, but that is how the game is played.
What do you mean "suddenly hypocritical?" My point is that arguing over this kind of tripe has always been petty and hypocritical. Whether it was liberals pointing out Bush's gaffes, or conservatives pointing out Obama's, it's all equally irrelevant and a waste of time. Obama has so many polarizing views and policies that are ripe for criticism, it boggles my mind that you have to scrape the bottom of the barrel like this. I actually agree with you a bit on this point.
How close are you to an airport? A low flying 747 might worry me a bit if I lived in the middle of nowhere a couple hundred miles away from any major airport even capable of handling a big plane like a 747, but if I lived in New York, with 3 nearby airports, I can't say a low flying 747 would scare me much.
I am in the same boat as you. Where I used to live we constantly had people flying their planes low during the summer and it would always be loud. I thought some would crash but none did. I lived near a small flight instructor building at the time so even though it was bothersome, I was used to the planes due to the surrounding environment that I was living in. Now I'm living about 1 to 1 1/2 miles away from an airbase and always hear planes taking off and landing. Some have even flown low and it was sort of scary. Living near an airbase and seeing these types of things almost every day is pretty much normal around here. Yet I can understand the hoopla going on with this situation. *shrugs* If you don't see it every day or don't live in an area where you would see it, people are most likely going to freak out about it, especially if the place is New York. Edit: As I finished typing this a plane flew over my neighborhood low. I kid you not, lol. Haha
Yeah, but when you live near 3 of the busiest airports in the country, a low flying jet is probably something you see every day. I think the problem here is that it was the Air Force One jet, so the wingnut morons can automatically blame the Obama administration for something. I think if this would've been a commercial airline, no one would've said a word.
So apparently, Obama taking flight in low altitudes and frightening people on accident. Is it really such a big deal? I could see it hardly affecting His Presidency, It hasn't even been 1 Year of His Term.
The point of fact it is the AF1 back up jet is more than enough reason to blame him. Plain and simple. This situation is a micro chasm of what is wrong with Obama so far. He is inexperienced in a managerial role and he has surrounded himself with others who have been thrust into positions they have no business being in. This Caldera person just "assumed" the AF1 flyover he authorized or ordered or whatever would be disseminated correctly and on time to the public officials in NYC. He failed so Obama failed because perception is reality and the work someone is doing for Obama is a direct reflection of Obama. And I dont believe it would have mattered what jet it was, it scared people, period. It shows a disconnect, irresponsibility and perhaps even arrogance. No, it doesnt hurt anyone but its a lack of respect for the population which is something people bitched about from the previous POTUS.
But how many times do you see an airplane taking a different route, low over the city with a jetfighter behind it?
I'm curious....to the ones who believe that the NYC citizens overreacted, are stupid, etc., put yourself in their shoes for a minute. I'd like to know what you think if you were in a tall building there (or anywhere) and you see a large unknown commercial plane with a military jet right by it flying low and obviously off its normal course doing circles around the city there?
Would the air force actually try to intercept a hijacked plane while it was flying over a city? I'm not trying to doubt that they would, I'm just asking if that's the case.
I am not certain either but I remember in the fallout of 9/11 I seem to remember that was an option once it was known a commercial airliner was hijacked.
They would likely intercept it long before it got to a major city and shoot it down. That's the point of intercepting it. Once it gets to a major city, it doesn't matter if it's crashed into a building or shot down, the death toll would be astronomical. The idea of intercepting a hijacked plane is to shoot it down over the middle of nowhere and keep fatalities on the ground to a minimum.
I think I remember the AF saying even if they could have gotten jets in the air on 9/11 it was already too late. The fact the terrorists chose planes from DC and Boston made it all the more effective because of the proximity to metropolitan areas and major US landmarks. *EDIT* FAA Memo: Feds Knew NYC Flyover Would Cause Panic
Yeah.... They were really using their brains with that decision. I really don't think they were at full thinking capacity with that one, at all.