Posted on 06/17/2006 2:07:54 PM PDT by Wolfstar
PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: President and Mrs. Bush are spending Father's Day weekend at their ranch in Crawford, TX. In the meantime, in upstate New York, the 202 midshipmen of the Merchant Marine Academy, along with their families, faculty, Academy staff and guests are eagerly anticipating the first visit ever by a sitting President of the United States to their commencement. Judging by reports in multiple news articles, as well as in news releases from corporations and sponsors, this event is a very big deal in the Maritime industry. I've vicariously become excited about it just through reading the joy and eagnerness expressed in the various articles. Following are a few examples. (In all of the excerpts below, links are embedded in the titles so you can read the complete articles.)
President Bush's Address at U.S. Merchant Marine Academy to Be in Live Satellite/Web Simulcast on TV Worldwide's "Maritime TV"Commencement speech to Academy grads to be featured via satellite and webcast to alumni, public, mariners and TV outlets Worldwide at www.MaritimeTV.com, 9:30 AM ET, June 19, thanks to industry sponsors. The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, whose campus was dedicated in 1943, is one of the five federal service academies.
Multiple news articles discuss just how proud and excited folks at the The Merchant Marine Academy are about President Bush's upcoming visit. The Academy is pulling out all the stops, and a number of leading Maritime companies are sponsoring events in conjunction with the commencement.
This excerpt is from Newsday.com:
Getting things shipshapeWhen the president comes calling, the normal way of doing things is supplanted and a big makeover is in order.
That's what the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point is experiencing as it gets ready for a visit Monday by President George W. Bush, who is scheduled to deliver the commencement address to 202 midshipmen, their families, faculty, staff and guests - many, many guests.
Some 4,400 people are registered to attend the ceremony - nearly three times the usual number of around 1,500, said Capt. Eric York Wallischeck, the academy's director of waterfront activities, who has taken on the additional assignment of presidential visit coordinator. Because of security concerns, the academy has the names of every single guest.
"It's a big event for us," Wallischeck said. "I'm honored to be involved and to take it on."
Wallischeck said the president's planned visit would confer on the academy a new level of status, which he likens to that of the Boston Red Sox. Alluding to the team's World Series victory in 2004, its first title since 1918, Wallischeck said, "We're going to be like that now. ... We can put away the 63 years of saying we never had the president."
Bush would be the first sitting president to visit the academy since it was established in 1943, though it has had visits by two men who went on to become president: Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.
Numerous government officials have delivered commencement addresses at the college, though, including Bush's former chief of staff Andrew Card, who attended the academy and who personally delivered the news of Bush's visit to the academy's superintendent, Vice Admiral Joseph D. Stewart in March, Wallischeck said.
The reaction on campus? "The place went wild."
Here's an excerpt from a particularly intersting article that discusses the need for 150 secure telephone lines. It is from the Long Island Business News website:
Academy wired up for Bush
By Jean Paul Vellotti
Friday, June 16, 2006KINGS POINT – President George W. Bush will deliver the commencement address at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy’s graduation ceremony Monday, and he wants to make sure everyone hears his message.
Because of security concerns, the first visit to the academy by a sitting president wasn’t announced until this week. That isn’t uncommon, but when the White House advance team requested 150 secure telephone lines for journalists traveling with the president and the local press corps, USMMA officials had to make some calls. “We were caught off guard,” said Howard Weiner, the academy’s chief information officer. “The academy has been requesting a visit by a sitting president forever, and like the Chinese proverb, you better be careful of what you wish for.”
With the academy’s IP-based phone system not slated to go live until October, Weiner rang up Manhattan-based M5 Networks, a leading outsourced voice-over-IP phone system provider, and let them know he needed a phone system fast. And for free.
THE WEEK AHEAD: From yesterday's WH press gaggle aboard Air Force One.
_ Monday the Commander in Chief delivers the commencement address at the United States Merchant Marine Academy, King's Point, New York. Afterwards, he will return to Washington where he will make remarks at the 2006 President's Dinner at the Washington Convention Center that evening._ Tuesday through Thursday the President and First Lady are traveling to Europe for the annual U.S.-EU summit. When the summit concludes, the President will travel to It will be followed by a visit to Budapest, Hungary, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1956 Hungarian revolution. The full itinerary follows after The Week Ahead segment.
_ Friday, the first White House tee ball game of the season will be played. It will be the first weekday game of the series started by President Bush in 2001. The teams are from McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey and the Naval Submarine Base in New London, Connecticut.
_Saturday the President and First Lady will attend the Ford's Theatre Gala in Washington.
EUROPEAN TRIP ITINERARY: From National Security Advisor, Steve Hadley's press briefing June 15th.
_ Tuesday, June 20, the President and Mrs. Bush will depart Washington for Vienna, Austria, arriving late in the evening._ Wednesday, June 21, President Bush will start his day by greeting U.S. Embassy staff, followed by a meeting with the President of Austria, Heinz Fischer. GWB will then have a bilateral meeting with Austrian Chancellor and European Council President Wolfgang Schuessel. Upon conclusion of this meeting, President Bush will participate in the formal U.S.-EU Summit meetings, and then have lunch with European leaders, Chancellor Schuessel, and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. After lunch, the President will join the EU leaders for a press availability.
Later in the afternoon, GWB will participate in a roundtable with foreign exchange students from various nations to discuss with them the importance of freedom and democracy in advancing the future of their countries. The roundtable will be followed by a tour of the historic National Library and a performance by the Vienna Boys Choir.
_ Thursday, June 22nd, President Bush will start his program in Hungary by greeting the staff of the U.S. Embassy in Budapest. He will then participate in an arrival ceremony at Sandor Palace [click to see photo], followed by a meeting with the president of Hungary, Laszlo Solyom. GWB will then move to the Parliament, where he will meet with Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany. The President will then greet the Speaker of the Parliament, Katalin Szili, followed by a meeting with the leaders of the five political parties represented in Hungary's parliament.
The Hungarian president and prime minister will host President and Mrs. Bush for a social lunch, after which they will lay a wreath at the eternal flame to pay respects to those who lost their lives during the 1956 revolt against communism.
Later that day, the President will deliver remarks commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Hungarian Revolution. He will also highlight the inspiration and lessons offered from Hungary's remarkable transition and will welcome efforts to further advance reform in the region today.
_ President and Mrs. Bush will return to Washington on Thursday evening.
President Bush darted across the country Friday to raise more than $1 million for a pair of political candidates, part of a stepped-up fundraising pace aimed at helping the GOP retain its majority in Congress.Bush has been the headliner at 39 fundraisers that have brought in $126 million during this midterm election cycle, with more scheduled in the coming weeks, according to the Republican National Committee. On Friday, the president flew from the White House to Seattle for a two-and-a-half-hour visit to help freshman Rep. Dave Reichert and the state Republican Party raise more than $830,000. Then he was off to New Mexico for a two-hour stop to raise $375,000 for Rep. Heather Wilson.
Monday night, Bush is scheduled to appear before 5,000 donors in Washington for a dinner that is projected to raise $26 million for the GOP House and Senate campaign committees. The numbers show that even though the president may be down in public opinion polls, Republicans are still willing to shell out big dollars to see him speak in person and support local GOP candidates. Both Reichert and Wilson live in districts that voted to make Democrat John Kerry president in 2004.
"The president is in high demand by our candidates across the country," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino. "He energizes and invigorates these campaigns like no one else can."
Other famous faces at the White House also have been doing their part. Vice President Dick Cheney has appeared at 66 events that have raised $22 million, while first lady Laura Bush has become much more comfortable on the fundraising circuit after doing very little travel in 2002. She has appeared at 20 events that have raised $9.7 million.
So far this election cycle, the Bushes, Cheney and others have raised $172.5 million for the cause. By the end of June 2002 they had raised $179 million.
Pinging you to the Saturday afternoon Dose.
For those who are curious, typically (though not always) a presidential-level political fundraising trip is paired with a non-political event. The costs for the non-political event are covered by the normal presidential travel budget, while the political portion of the trip is paid for either by the candidate's campaign, or the state Republican committee, or the Republican National Committee, or a combination of those three entities.
Thank you!
Wolfstar, as usual, great stuff!
Love that pic of Air Force One taking off from Kirtland Air Force Base. Almost looks staged.
That is a photo (#3) that must strike fear and trembling into the hearts of the 'Rats ... the President and his trusty sidekick Rove scheming together ... hehe!
Yesterday, an article appeared here on FR (see post here) which demonstrates clearly that Leftist reporters do not have a corner on the market of downright dishonest, despicable hit-piece articles. In post 44 I tried to correct the lies in that article, but it was too late. The damage was already done and the GWB haters were out in force, not only on that thread, but also on talk radio. It was picked up by John & Ken, the loud-mouthed local talk show jerks here in Los Angeles. So, unable to stem the tide, I did something I very rarely do -- emailed the author of the article (which was published BTW in a little podunck rag in San Bernardino, CA.). Here's the text of my email. Don't know if I'll ever receive a reply, but if I do, I'll share it with you:
TO: sara.carter@dailybulletin.com
Dear Ms. Carter,Your article published on the San Bernardino Sun's website, dated 6/16/06, is one of the worst pieces of journalism it's been my misfortune to read.
First, did you contact anyone at the White House to obtain their side of this, or were you intent on doing a stealth hit piece they know nothing about? Your article is so one-sided, if it were a building it would fall over due to lack of structural integrity.
Second, this paragraph in your article is extremely confusing: "In May, all of the Republican House members from Texas traveled to Washington, D.C., to meet the president regarding border security. Bush did not meet with them, however, and former White House spokesman Scott McClellan was sent in his stead."
To whom are you referring in that paragraph? Members of the Texas state legislature or members of the U.S. Congress who happen to be from Texas? If the latter, as I believe is the case, the information makes little sense. Members of Congress don't have to make special trips to Washington. They are there every day of the week when Congress is in session.
Additionally, any member of Congress can pick up the phone and call the White House to discuss legislation. Granted they may or may not be able to speak directly with the president, but opportunities to do so are not terribly hard to come by for members of Congress. In fact, just yesterday, the president and first lady hosted the annual White House Congressional Picnic.
Third, the president has made recent trips to the border and spoken with Border Patrol, as well as state and local elected officials and members of law enforcement. I call the following photos and captions to your attention (from Yahoo News photos):
CAPTION READ IN PART: President Bush speaks to reporters as Texas Gov. Rick Perry, rear, looks on during a visit to the Laredo Border Patrol Sector Headquarters in Laredo, Texas, Tuesday, June 6, 2006.
CAPTION: President Bush, center, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry, second right, sit down with U.S. Border Patrol and other law enforcement officers during a stop at the Cotulla Style Pit Barbeque after Bush's visit to the Laredo Border Patrol Sector Headquarters in Laredo, Texas, Tuesday, June 6, 2006.Why didn't Rep. Poe, the Texas Republican delegation, and the sheriff's group they claim to be representing contact their own state's governor about being included in the events when the president visited Laredo? If planning for the president's trip could not accommodate a meeting, they certainly could have requested that Gov. Perry -- or any of the other Border Patrol and law enforcement officers who did attend -- deliver a letter or message for them. As a journalist, did it occur to you to do this easy research? Did it occur to you to ask these and similar questions so you could write a balanced piece?
The harm your article has done cannot be undone, but perhaps you will consider doing a follow-up after obtaining the White House perspective and asking Rep. Poe some of the above questions.
Sincerely,
The First Lady greets Lydia Hancock, 10, after Mrs. Bush attended a performance at the Boys and Girls Club, Friday in Guadalupe, Ariz.
Mrs. Bush greets a group of young children from the area after she attended a performance of 'Tomas and the Library Lady' at the Boys and Girls Club.
Gov. Bush confirmed this week that he has been approached by the NFL and offered the job as the next NFL commissioner. However, the Governor said that he intends to finish out his term, which ends in January, and he doesn't think the NFL will hold the position open that long. Gov. Bush also said he has no intention of running for president in 2008.
The Roll of Honor at the Mariner's Chapel on the campus of the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. The book records the names of the Merchant Mariners who gave their lives at sea in enemy action during World Wars I and II.
Just got to the computer, thanks for the Dose! My husband conducted a wedding ceremony in our living room just a little while ago. It was very sweet.
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