Monday, April 27, 2009

Flyby of Statue of Liberty Scares New Yorkers

I don’t blame them for getting jittery.

An Air Force fighter jet and one of President Barack Obama’s official planes on Monday flew low over the Statue of Liberty in an approved photo opportunity that startled some New Yorkers who have memories of the September 11 attacks.

New York City officials notified some businesses but not all city agencies or the general public. People in New York remain sensitive to such incidents in lower Manhattan, site of the 2001 attacks involving hijacked airliners that destroyed the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.

Many people left their buildings, and stock prices extended losses at the time.

The U.S. Air Force, which operates the president’s plane, said the “aerial photo mission” involved an F-16 fighter jet escort and one of the Boeing 747s designated as Air Force One when the president is aboard. Obama was not on board.

Police said federal authorities told them not to disclose the information ahead of time but to direct inquiries to the Federal Aviation Administration.

The FAA called it “an approved military photo op.” The White House declined to comment.

Couple thoughts…

1) How bungled was this?  Didn’t anyone think of the possible consequences and reaction?

2) How much did this little photo op cost the taxpayers and for what purpose?  There are countless pictures of the Statue of Liberty.  Would none of them work?

(11) Comments
Posted by Owen at 1258 hrs
Politics + Politics - General

  1. Agreed. Bungled operation. The feds say to local agencies, you should know, but don’t tell anyone its gonna happen.  To echo Owen’s thoughts: Would nothing else suffice?

    Posted by Mike on April 27, 2009 at 1409 hrs


  2. You can’t possibly make me believe that they couldn’t have photoshoped in a picture of the Presidential plane with a picture of the SOL.

    This isn’t a huge deal, but just another example of amauter hour at the WH.

    And could someone please tell me why Janet still has a job at HHS? It’s obvious she is in over her head so far she can’t even see the the top of the water…

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on April 27, 2009 at 1423 hrs


  3. This was a boneheaded move all the way around.  Can you just imagine what those people were thinking?  They must have been scared half to death.  All for a photo op?  This administration is behaving like a bunch of teenagers.  I’d love to know the cost to each of us for this stunt.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on April 27, 2009 at 1531 hrs


  4. Hey, the White House apologized.  Everything good now, right?

    http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/air-force-one-backup-rattles-new-york-nerve/

    Last week we sure had a lot of discussion about the evil Bush administration & it’s “torture” policies.  Got to wonder how New Yorkers feel about that - seems like they still are a little tense about 9/11.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on April 27, 2009 at 1803 hrs


  5. This Youtube link of the incident from a cell phone camera or the like is pretty good.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn0tMMYEkQU

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on April 27, 2009 at 1824 hrs


  6. That is an awesome video, Steve.

    I think it is worthy of it’s own post (hint, hint, blog meisters) with a “caption this youtube” contest (prize is one month’s free subscription to Boots & Sabers)

    My entry would be something along the lines of:

    “Obama Instills Confidence In A Post 9/11 New York”

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on April 27, 2009 at 1841 hrs


  7. “Last week we sure had a lot of discussion about the evil Bush administration & it’s “torture” policies.  Got to wonder how New Yorkers feel about that - seems like they still are a little tense about 9/11.”

    Hey, the Obama Administration won’t even use the phrase “War on Terror.”  If the War on Terror doesn’t exist, what do New Yorkers have to worry about?

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on April 27, 2009 at 1859 hrs


  8. Why Obama wanted to do an airplane photo op right around the site of the World Trade Center defies the imagination…

    See this video my friend captured. Obama Photo Op Disaster: New Yorkers Running Scared in the Streets by Goldman Sachs

    Video: http://tinyurl.com/c7ujkj

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on April 27, 2009 at 1935 hrs


  9. I would have gladly photoshopped together a picture of AirForce 1 flying by lady liberty for 1/1000th of what this must have cost.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on April 27, 2009 at 1958 hrs


  10. Psychological Torture 101.
    Some has set out to remind America of 9/11 and they did it.

    All New Yorkers involved should file a class action suit for mental damages , and if President Obama did not know, he needs to find out what happend, because this was a diliberate attempt to intimidate him and his Presidency.

    Heads must roll.

    If he did know, I am not going to even say it was stupid, I want to know what he is really up to.

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on April 28, 2009 at 1752 hrs


  11. Day 100 of Amature hour ...

    Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on April 29, 2009 at 1533 hrs


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