"'It has everything to do with security,' Pelosi said. She added that Bush had personally told her that because the speaker is second in line of presidential succession, behind Vice President Dick Cheney, he was concerned about her security. That concern apparently included the desire that Pelosi's plane not land for refueling.
[Pelosi's] safety would be best ensured by using a plane that has the fuel capacity to go coast-to-coast.... "There's a certain amount of inefficiency and risk involved in stopping and having to refuel," said Dew Hammill, Spokesman for the Speaker. (Roll Call, 2/5/2007)
Pelosi, her shills, and her various media supporters are massive liars for pretending that "the smaller plane" would have to make an intermediate stop for fuel. The VC-20 (Gulfstream IV) used by Hastert will easily fly nonstop from DC to San Francisco. The similar but newer VC-37 (Gulfstream V) could pass over San Francisco and fly on to Hawaii without breaking a sweat. Mere billionaires routinely fly these planes to Japan from the west coast.
Of course, Hammill and Pelosi can count on their core constituency knowing next to nothing about aviation except that planes crash a lot and drop bombs on schools and baby ducks.
This is not about non-stop range or security, it is about Pelosi's desire to drag alone a larger entourage of sycophants and hangers-on.
But he denied pressuring the Pentagon. "I don't need to pressure them. I just tell them what they need to do,'' Murtha said.
This is not about non-stop range or security, it is about Pelosi's desire to drag alone a larger entourage of sycophants and hangers-on.
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And having all the perks (bed, conference room, etc.) that the new queen thinks she deserves.