The Narcissist in Chief’s gang emotionally traumatized – nay, tortured the entire city of New York in order to get snazzy photos of his own plane.
Via Moonbattery, a money quote at Ace of Spades HQ:
Isn’t it fabulous how Obama has reconciled with our enemies and put fear into the hearts of Americans? Does any image illustrate so neatly the wrongheadedness of the Obama administration than Americans scrambling in terror from Air Force One? – Tantor
And now, two months after their idiocy, they finally release their own photos to prove how much it was worth the taxpayer money and panic.
Videos and photos of the idiotic stunt follow.
From Perfunction:
Via Gateway Pundit:
A jumbo jet being chased by a F-16 fighter jets buzzed Lower Manhattan this morning, panicking New Yorkers, many of whom were forced to evacuate their office buildings.
It was not a terrorist attack, however, but a photo opportunity for Air Force One, sources told the Post.
President Obama was in Washington at the time, but the low-flying 747 circling the Statue of Liberty was one of the planes used as Air Force One, sources said.
The NYPD and the city were notified of the planned flight, but did not share that information with Mayor Bloomberg and other New Yorkers, many of whom said they were terrified.
Via Ace of Spades HQ:
NBC:
It wasn’t an attack, or even a drill — it was a government sponsored photo op.
The Pentagon did tell local authorities about the startling fly-over that sent a Boeing 747 and a F-16 fighter screaming over New York’s scarred skyline, but officials said they couldn’t share the information with the public. They couldn’t even share the information with the mayor.
Mayor Bloomberg said he was “furious” and criticized both the feds and his own administration for failing to issue a simple warning to the public in a city that is still somewhat traumatized by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
“The good news is it was nothing more than an inconsiderate, badly conceived and insensitive photo op with the taxpayers’ money,” Bloomberg said.
“It’s completely asinine after 9/11 to do that,” said Keith Mercantine, who witnessed the chaos in Jersey City. “I saw ambulances out here with pregnant women.”
From The Jawa Report:
Someone wanted this photo-op badly enough they terrified thousands getting it….
Via Hot Air.com:
White House Military Office director Louis Caldera issued a brief statement.
“Last week, I approved a mission over New York. I take responsibility for that decision,” he said. “While federal authorities took the proper steps to notify state and local authorities in New York and New Jersey, its clear that the mission created confusion and disruption. I apologize and take responsibility for any distress that flight caused.”…
Via Gateway Pundit, it seems the White House knew the stunt would cause panic, and did it anyway!
In a memo obtained by CBS 2 HD the Federal Aviation Administration’s James Johnston said the agency was aware of “the possibility of public concern regarding DOD (Department of Defense) aircraft flying at low altitudes” in an around New York City. But they demanded total secrecy from the NYPD, the Secret Service, the FBI and even the mayor’s office and threatened federal sanctions if the secret got out.
“To say that it should not be made public knowing that it might scare people it’s just confounding,” Sen. Charles Schumer said. “It’s what gives Washington and government a bad name. It’s sheer stupidity.”
Via Ace of Spades HQ:
John Leitner, a floor trader at the New York Mercantile Exchange Building, said about 1,000 people “went into a total panic” and ran out of the building around 10 a.m. after seeing the planes whiz by their building, near the World Trade Center site.
Another reader who responded to msnbc.com’s request for photos said: “Video? Picture? Who the heck had time for that?!?!?! We were all too busy getting the heck out of the building!
“A coworker, whose desk faces the window, all of a sudden had this huge jumbo jet in his face,” wrote Jenny Espinosa. “This poor kid freaked. One woman who works in our building, and is pregnant, had a panic attack and almost collapsed.”
Among the workers who left their buildings were some at The Wall Street Journal.
Kathleen Seagriff, a staff assistant in the news rooms, said workers heard the roar of the planes and then saw them from their windows.“They went down the Hudson, turned around and came back by the building,” she said. “It was a scary scene, especially for those of us who were there on 9/11.”
Via Michelle Malkin, who has a link to a video of the plane buzzing the Statue of Liberty:
AP:
New York City officials notified some businesses but not all city agencies or the general public.
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.
AP:
An administration official says a presidential Boeing 747 and a fighter jet flew low near ground zero in New York City Monday because the White House Military Office wanted to update its file photo of the president’s plane near the Statue of Liberty.
Via Michelle Malkin:
Using military resources for a cheap photo-op. Scaring the pants off the public. Exploiting 9/11 imagery for self-aggrandizement. Keeping secrets and causing mass panic.
Um, can you imagine if a GOP administration did this?
Can you imagine?!
An FAA spokesman, Jim Peters, defended the event, calling it “a planned, pre-approved military flight over New York to take photos.” He said it was “pre-coordinated with everyone involved, including the city.”
Except that an FAA memo specifically warned officials that if they released information about the flights to the public or the press, they’d be violating the law.
It even cited a specific statute.
Via Jammie Wearing Fool:
From Michelle Malkin:
100 days of reckless photo-op hubris
Come on, who’s surprised? The White House-engineered photo-op of low-flying Air Force aircraft that caused terror in New York City this week epitomizes the Age of Obama. What better way to mark 100 days in office than with an appalling exercise in pointless, taxpayer-funded stagecraft.
The superficiality, the unseriousness, the hubris, the obliviousness to post-9/11 realities: They were trademarks of the Obama campaign and they are the tattoos on his governance.
He never leaves home without his teleprompter. All the Obama world’s a stage. Or a world ready to be staged.
So, is it any wonder he would staff his White House Military Office with a clueless paper-pusher who saw nothing wrong with spending inordinate government resources – and recreating 9/11 havoc — to update Air Force One publicity shots? And who planned, believe it or not, to do the same in Washington, D.C., next month, where 53 passengers and 6 crew members on board American Airlines Flight 77, and 125 military and civilian personnel inside the Pentagon were murdered by the 9/11 jihadists?
All for some damned publicity shots.
“Man-caused disaster.” That’s a perfect description of the Scare Force One torture photo op that took place this week, and an apt summary of the last 100 days. Say cheese.
From Nice Deb:
From Michelle Malkin:
Lots of photos at Gawker, a selection:
Via Hot Air.com:
The report was prepared at the request of Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) while Democrats were in the minority. (Waxman is now chairman ofthe committee).
Entitled “THE COST OF PRESIDENTIAL AND VICE PRESIDENTIAL POLITICAL TRAVEL,” the report was clearly intended to criticize President Bush and Vice President Cheney’s extensive travel around the country to campaign for Republicans in the midterm elections.
It reads in part: “This report assumes that flight operating costs are $56,518 per hour for Air Force One and $14,552 per hour for Air Force Two. These figures are based on the perhour cost figures cited by GAO for fiscal year 2000, adjusted for inflation.”
From Gateway Pundit:
After asking for ideas to cut federal spending this past weekend in his weekly YouTube Address, the Obama White House freaked out New York City residents by sending two fighter jets and Air Force One to buzz Ground Zero and the Statue of Liberty on Monday morning for a photo-op.
The cost of the morning photo-shoot was $328,835. (Bloomberg)
Michelle Malkin takes them to task again in a syndicated column:
My column today follows up on the taxpayer-subsidized photos of the Scare Force One flyover that the White House doesn’t want us to see. Look how the administration responded to press questions yesterday:
At the daily press briefing, a reporter asked Mr. Gibbs why the White House had not authorized release of the photographs.
“I’ve watched CNN. I didn’t notice a lack of archival material from that flight,” Mr. Gibbs said.
“No, from inside the plane,” a reporter replied. “The photos they took, we haven’t seen those.”
“I don’t know where those are,” Mr. Gibbs said.
Greatest Transparency Ever!
This story is not going away.
The selective transparency of Barack Obama
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate
Copyright 2009Sunlight is for suckers. The New York Post reported on Tuesday that the White House will not release the $328,835 snapshots taken of the president’s Boeing VC-25A that buzzed lower Manhattan. The entire world has seen news and amateur photos and videos of the incident. But if President Obama has his way, taxpayers won’t be able to see the flyover photos they paid for with their own money.
This will make for an interesting response to my Freedom of Information Act requests. After the bizarre mission caused distress and panic among countless New York City residents who were intentionally left in the dark about the photo-op stunt, I filed two public records requests with the Office of the Secretary of Defense and Joint Staff FOIA Requester Service Center. The first one requests any and all communication — including e-mail and other public records and including any and all correspondence between the White House Military Office, Department of Defense, and other agencies — related to the planned federal aerial mission over New York City on April 27, 2009. Specifically, I requested all public records related to and including the flight manifests, and related to the origin of the request for the mission. The second filing requests any and all photos taken during the planned federal aerial mission approved by the White House Military Office.
What rationale could they possibly use to stifle public disclosure? National security? These were glamour shots to enhance the Air Force One photo portfolio. That’s no secret. The White House ‘fessed up on that. Withholding the photos serves only one purpose: protecting the backsides of those involved in this botched p.r. mission.
From Day One, President Obama has demonstrated a rather self-serving selectivity when it comes to transparency. The Obama White House rushed to reverse an 18-year ban photographing the flag-draped coffins of troops arriving back on American soil. And at the behest of the American Civil Liberties Union, his administration is set to release at least 21 classified photographs by May 28 showing detainee abuse in prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Openness in government is fine if it hurts America’s reputation, but not if it harms Obama’s.
Jerks.
From The Peoples Cube: Air Force One Attacks Wall Street, Takes Hostages:
THE SCOTTTCAST 