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FR EXCLUSIVE: INTERVIEW WITH HIGH LEVEL NAVY COMMANDER REGARDING PRESIDENT BUSH'S TAILHOOK LANDING
a Navy commander
| May 9., 2003
| dfu
Posted on 05/09/2003 1:56:27 PM PDT by doug from upland
After listening to the rantings and ravings of the DemocRATS who are both jealous and livid after seeing a beloved commander in chief do a tailhook landing on the USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN, I wanted to get the real story.
After about 5 calls and transfers and return calls, I just spoke with a Navy commander who deals with public relations. He is very high level, but because this issue is so sensitive, I agreed that I would not use his name.
When asked whether the visit of the president delayed the arrival of the Lincoln, the answer was a resounding "Absolutely not!" The Lincoln arrived when it was scheduled to arrive. Ships slow down and speed up all the time.
The Navy does not have its ships land early. No. It is just not done. It is a logistical nightmare. Tugs and other port services have to be arranged. In 1991, the USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT arrived 20 hours early off the coast of Virginia. It sat out there looking at land for 20 hours. And they never come to port at night.
There were 20-25,000 families and friends expecting to watch the return of the ship and greet their loved ones.
"Psychologically," said the commander, "it would have been a nightmare. People made plane reservations, hotel reservations, long trips by car. Imagine what it would have been like for them to arrive to meet there loved ones, but it turned out that they came a day late for the event. We would have had 20-25,000 people really angry with the U.S. Navy."
The commander gave me his worst scenario for a public relations nightmare. It would be a grandma who drove all the way from Des Moines to see her grandson arrive, only to be told that she didn't make it in time; that they decided to come to port early. What do they say to her?
The commander is amazed at this flap, which has been totally invented by the media. This should be a non-issue with them. Some in the media were sworn to silence, and they were given the May 2 date about 3-4 weeks ago. They knew it would be coming to port at that time. At the appropriate time, the crew and families were notified. You just do not change the date.
As to the landing on a Viking rather than Marine One. The costs are roughly the same. Fuel and other costs for that Viking were already allocated and spent. If the President was not aboard that plane, it would have made a landing on the ship anyway. It would have done so sooner or later because it was in the budget to do it.
What has been lost in all of this, according to the commander, is that it was the Navy's idea for the President to come aboard and make a tailhook landing. They opted for an F-18. Because of security, however, the White House opted for the Viking, a 4-seater which could accommodate Secret Service.
"We would do this again," said the commander. "Ever since President Franklin Roosevelt, every president has landed aboard a Navy ship."
We finished with a laugh at the media. Members of congress and journalists are flown in and not charged. And these are the people creating an issue where none should exist.
TOPICS: Breaking News; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: carrierbush; lincoln; navy; navyone; tailhook; wonderful
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To: doug from upland
thank goodness, this commander in chief got off the ship and let the crew and families enjoy their glorious reunion without him getting in the way. No kidding. Everyone knows damn well that The 'Toon would have disembarked in port to get the exposure to another 25,000 voters.
bttt
To: husky ed
I love the work tailhook. It stick it in their faces and may take away the negative tailhook scandal that the RATS are fond of recounting.
123
posted on
05/09/2003 5:04:00 PM PDT
by
doug from upland
(my dogs ran from the room when they heard Hillary shrieking on the radio)
To: doug from upland
What a great report, thanks much for this.
To: okimhere
125
posted on
05/09/2003 5:16:20 PM PDT
by
doug from upland
(my dogs ran from the room when they heard Hillary shrieking on the radio)
To: doug from upland
Spellcheck is our friend.
126
posted on
05/09/2003 5:20:46 PM PDT
by
doug from upland
(my dogs ran from the room when they heard Hillary shrieking on the radio)
To: ohioWfan
Thanks Ohio. I knew that the Media was creating a tempest in a teapot. (more like a typhoon in a shot glass!)
127
posted on
05/09/2003 5:21:54 PM PDT
by
Maigrey
(Member of the Dose's Jesus Freaks, Take a Bullet Republicans, and Gonzo News Service)
To: N. Theknow
Not to metion how much he could have saved by hoboing or hitch hiking.
To: PeoplesRepublicOfWashington
During the live thread of this event, I jokingly predicted the next day's New York Times headline:
"Bush 'arrested' using government plane in Tailhook-related incident"
129
posted on
05/09/2003 5:24:53 PM PDT
by
Consort
To: doug from upland
Doug, what I'm interested in is whether or not someone had the presence of mind to preserve that plane? It became the first Navy 1 in history. Personally, I would like to see it go to the future George W. Bush presidential library. But if it can't go there for some reason, I'd like the see it in the National Air and Space Museum or some equally appropriate place. Do you have the connections to find out what happened to or is going to happen to that plane?
130
posted on
05/09/2003 5:29:32 PM PDT
by
Wolfstar
(If we don't re-elect this truly great President, we're NUTS!)
To: Paladin2
The President left on Marine 1 the next morning, and choppered into port.
Don't know about the media.
131
posted on
05/09/2003 5:34:16 PM PDT
by
ohioWfan
(President BUSH......Leadership, Integrity, Morality)
To: ohioWfan
Thanks. I was curious as there was so much interest in the method of arrival, but nothing on the departure. A catapult lauch could have been additional fun!
To: doug from upland
Thank you!
Did you know that three LIBERAL Democrats from Congress were also flown out there?
133
posted on
05/09/2003 5:44:21 PM PDT
by
kcvl
To: doug from upland
Wow! Thanks for the report, DFU.
To: Vinnie
Personally, I think the WH should ignore the dims.
I think Bush should offer to pay the $7.00 difference between landing the Viking vs a chopper. Just as soon as Sen. Byrd pays back the PORK he has been using to buy WV votes for himself.
135
posted on
05/09/2003 5:46:15 PM PDT
by
gitmo
("The course of this conflict is not known, yet its outcome is certain." GWB)
To: doug from upland
GREAT post, doug.
136
posted on
05/09/2003 5:48:42 PM PDT
by
gitmo
("The course of this conflict is not known, yet its outcome is certain." GWB)
To: plain talk
The media knows the truth. They prefer to carry the sewer water for their america hating cohorts.
137
posted on
05/09/2003 5:49:00 PM PDT
by
OldFriend
(without the brave, there would be no land of the free)
To: Paladin2
A catapult lauch could have been additional fun!As long as he didn't use a photo of it on a campaign poster........ :o)
138
posted on
05/09/2003 5:49:25 PM PDT
by
ohioWfan
(President BUSH......Leadership, Integrity, Morality)
To: doug from upland
Some in the media were sworn to silence, and they were given the May 2 date about 3-4 weeks ago. They knew it would be coming to port at that time. The Media/Press/Dems KNEW 3-4 weeks ahead of time and they are making a stinker about it now ???
UNBELIEVABLE!!! ... They can kiss my Irish Butt ..
139
posted on
05/09/2003 5:49:47 PM PDT
by
Mo1
(I'm a monthly Donor .. You can be one too!)
To: Mo1
Bolter! Bolter!
By Rich Galen
CNSNews.com Commentary from Mullings.com
May 09, 2003
* The Democrats continue to miss the mark on this USS Abraham Lincoln thing.
* The Dems have trotted out Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia and Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) to demand - DEMAND -- an investigation into the Presidential event aboard the carrier off San Diego.
* As I mentioned on MSNBC the other day, Senator Byrd who quotes Plato and Cato need only go back to the early 90's to find that President Bill Clinton flew onto the decks of two aircraft carriers with nary a peep out of the old Byrd.
* In 1993 Clinton flew onto the deck of the USS Theodore Roosevelt, which was about 100 miles off the coast of Virginia from which he did his Saturday radio address. A year later he went by launch from Portsmouth, England onto the USS George Washington, which was cruising through the English Channel. According to former Clinton staffers he: "toured the ship top-to-bottom, ate dinner with the crew, gave a speech on deck (repeat: gave a speech on deck), did live network interviews from the flight deck (repeat: did live interviews from the flight deck), attended a memorial service, met with the crew and ..." sit down. Are you sitting? Are you sure? Ok:
* "He steered the ship part-way across the English Channel."
* After he was done not wasting taxpayer money, President Clinton helicoptered to France where he participated in D-Day commemoration activities.
* We don't even want to get into the 1,200-person 30-million-dollar photo-op to China in 1998 while the scandal about Clinton doing you-know-what with you-know-who was in full flower.
* Next point. The home port of the USS Abraham Lincoln is Everett, Washington. This, from the Everett paper the day of her arriving in port: "Even before the carrier docks, Gov. Gary Locke and 10 other officials will be flown to the Lincoln on a helicopter -- weather permitting. Expected are U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray..." as well as the Governor a couple of Congressmen and some state legislators.
* Senators Cantwell and Murray are Democrats. Senator Byrd said of the President's visit, ""I am loath to think of an aircraft carrier being used as an advertising backdrop for a presidential political slogan, and yet that is what I saw." One wonders whether Senator Byrd's eyesight was good enough, and his loathing great enough, to pick Cantwell and Murray out of the crowd at the weekly meeting of the Democratic Senate Caucus the better to wag his accusing finger in their faces for using "an aircraft carrier as an advertising backdrop" for their own political purposes.
* One thinks not.
* Unmentioned in that newspaper piece is a report that the Navy had to send their helicopter transportation to Paine Field in Everett, Washington which, according to the airport's website is a "General aviation and industrial airport hosting major tenants Boeing and BF Goodrich Aerospace," lest the august visitors be inconvenienced by actually have had to drive their cars to NAS Whidbey Island - where the helicopter lives.
* Next point. Senator Robert C. Byrd is the all-time champion of pork barrel legislation for projects in West Virginia. There are Robert C. Byrd highways. Robert C. Byrd bridges. Robert C. Byrd senior citizen centers. Robert C. Byrd public mosquito breeding ponds, and Robert C. Byrd public mosquito rotisserie and picnic areas.
* Byrd has gotten so much pork for West Virginia he should be known as Trichinosis Bob. The only thing that ISN'T graced with his name is the State of West Virginia itself - but he's not done yet.
* Last point on all this. I do not understand why the Democrats -- who have been rubbing their hands together in glee while awaiting the end of the 23-day quagmire in Iraq to be able to talk about domestic issues -- come right out of the box and take on the President about the aircraft carrier.
* Every time one of the cable nets ran footage of Byrd or, worse yet Henry Waxman they split the screen with those shots of the President, in full fighter-pilot swagger, posing for photos with a clearly delighted crew.
* Memo to Robert Byrd and Henry Waxman: Thank you.
Signed,
The Bush/Cheney 2004 Campaign
140
posted on
05/09/2003 5:50:37 PM PDT
by
kcvl
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