$328,000 of our tax dollars at work...to scare the hell out of those in the NYC area.

I'm not sure how much play this got in the mainstream press, but I was absolutely livid when I heard about it. The (now former) White House Military Office director, Louis Caldera (henceforth referred to as "asshat" in this blog post), apparently thought that it would be a good idea to fly Air Force One very low over New York Harbor for a photo op. Thing is that NYC mayor MIchael Bloomberg wasn't notified about it, and he was pissed. Apparently, he thought that flying an airplane low over NYC might cause a little panic on the streets of Manhattan. Think he was right? Hmmm, I wonder.... It seems that asshat kinda forgot about a little incident that happened in September of 2001 which did a lot more than just cause panic.

I can imagine the discussion that went on before the flight was approved..."Hey, I've got this killer idea for a photo op! Why don't we send Air Force One soaring majestically past New York City and the Statue of Liberty to promote the president's ideas of hope, optimism, and change? Wouldn't that be great? We just need to fly it kinda low to get the shot, though." Asshat then thinks about it and approves it, trying (half-heartedly) to let the proper authorities know what was going on.

This little publicity stunt not only scared the hell out of people, but it also cost American taxpayers over $328,000, partially because a fighter plane was trailing the 747 (Air Force One in this case)...to take the picture! Just what we need in these robust economic times we're living in.

I do think it's good that asshat has resigned over this, but what the hell made him (or anyone) think that this was a good idea in the first place? Granted, the photo is spectacular, as you can see in the link posted earlier in this paragraph (go to Page 2 of the story). Still, spectacular photo or not, one must engage their brain when thinking about how something like this would be perceived. Had they thought about the possibility that hundreds of people would be calling police in a panic over this, the photo shoot never would have been approved.

Three words for asshat and the others who thought this was a good idea....idiots, idiots, idiots.