White House to Sen. Byrd- 'Do It Again, Please' (USS Lincoln Complaining) [Excerpt from The Note]

ABC News ^ | May 8, 2003 | Marc Armbinder

[ewing]

One Democrat moaned yesterday as he watched the cable news programs replay hours of footage of President Bush on the carrier with audio about Democratic complaints.

'Im watching him get high fived and buzz the tower again,' the Democrat said. 'The White House should have thought of this controversy themselves!'

Democratic questions about Bush's jet landing made the front page of USA Today complete with the 'Fly Boy' photo that will have Mike Deaver smiling.

Along these lines, a Senior Administration Official told the ABC Political Unit 'The more time the President talks about defense and security issues, the more he hurts Democrats and reinforces the public's positive perceptions of the Presdient.'

'Do it again, do it again is our message to Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia.'

The Democrats are doing things to make their base happy, but alienating the center of the electorate.

[ewing]

I love this Administration.

[OPS4]

Ping!
God Bless America!
God Bless GW!
Ops4

[Howlin]

'Im watching him get high fived and buzz the tower again,' the Democrat said.

Buzz the tower? They just lie about everything, don't they?

[ewing]

This is classic stuff..

Rove couldn't have planned it better, the Dims now know that they were lured into an obvious trap and now with Waxman heading an investigation -they cant get out if it

[Uncle Miltie]

Did you see Leno last night? He showed Bush in his flight suit, contrasted with Byrd in a KKK hood. Classic! Keep it up, Robert....

[B-bone]

'Im watching him get high fived and buzz the tower again,' the Democrat said. Buzz the tower? They just lie about everything, don't they?

They didn't do a Top Gun 'buzz the tower', but IIRC they did a flyby with the first jet turning to enter the landing pattern, followed by the landing of Navy 1.

[ewing]

Even Leno gets it in California..

[ewing]

Exactly it was a fly by, but I wouldn't expect the Dims to know the difference..

[ewing]

God bless Rove for giving our leaders such good advise and strategy..

[ewing]

Democrats-Fly by=Buzz the tower (all they know about the military is from 'Top Gun' and movies)

[B-bone]

Exactly it was a fly by

I will have to admit, however, I was secretly hoping they would 'buzz the tower'.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The Grand Kleegal's unintended political carom shot ? Or did Bush lure him into it ?

[ewing]

I think Rove lured Waxman and Byrd right into the trap..(no small feat with men who have been in Washington 30-40 years)

[ewing]

With State Dept. folks in the tower? (LOL)

[UB355]

I caught Maxine Water on MSNBC this morning moaning about the fact (she claims) that the President got a custom fitted flight suit. Oh the shame !!!!!! Michael Borone had the sense to just let her shriek. Priceless

[Paleo Conservative]

This is classic stuff..

Rove couldn't have planned it better, the Dims now know that they were lured into an obvious trap and now with Waxman heading an investigation -they cant get out if it.

There's a whole wall with the heads of all the politicians who have misunderestimated W.

[1Old Pro]

The Dems are all morphing into Hillary Clintoon. All they do is shriek and carp and complain in a shrill voice. It's really a great thing as it turns off any supporters they might have among the "Independents".

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The White House responded to Waxman, et al., by saying the Viking jet's operating cost was about $7/hour greater than Marine 1. However, Marine 1 would take more hours to get to the carrier.

[Wright is right!]

"They didn't do a Top Gun 'buzz the tower', but IIRC they did a flyby with the first jet turning to enter the landing pattern, followed by the landing of Navy 1."

I guess we haven't had any pilots find this thread yet. This wasn't a "buzz-the-tower" moment, nor was it a fly-by.

Aircraft land into the wind. This maximizes the ratio of airspeed to ground speed. When you make your landing approach, you use the Landing Pattern. A landing pattern has 3 basic components - the Downwind Leg, in which you fly abeam the field but in the opposite direction of landing to get you past the field so you can turn around for landing. Then there's the Base Leg, which is 90 degrees from Downwind. This puts you over the extended centerline of the runway. And then there is the Final. You turn another 90 degrees and you're lined up with the runway and on Final Approach.

What Bush's flight did was enter the Downwind leg as an extension of the flight out from shore. This was abeam the carrier but not called a fly-by. Then, the pilot turned Base about a mile out, then turned final. OK, maybe 3/4 of a mile out. It's a tight pattern they fly onto carriers.

Michael

[colorado tanker]

Rove must be thinking (but not saying) "this is just way too easy." The Dims learned nothing from their 2002 experience when the voters whacked 'em for opposing the Prez on national security issues.