Bush Soars, But How He'll Land Is Another Story (Cynthia Tucker Alert)

Atlanta Journal & Constitution ^ | 05/10/03 | Cynthia Tucker

[kcordell]

Bush soars, but how he'll land is another story

Remember Bill Clinton's infamous haircut on board Air Force One?

In 1993, according to front-page headlines and blaring broadcast reports, Clinton shut down Los Angeles International Airport to get a trendy haircut from a celebrity stylist. Those reports, which turned out to be dead wrong, took on a life of their own because of alleged inconvenience to the passengers left circling in frustration.

Later news reports that put the episode in perspective -- there were no delays of scheduled commercial flights -- ended up on the back pages of newspapers or were mentioned briefly at the end of broadcast reports.

Fast forward a few years to President Bush's decision to don a flight suit and engage a Navy jet to fly him to an aircraft carrier nearing shore, just so he will have heroic imagery of himself to use during his re-election campaign.

Bush not only wanted the footage to burnish his image as a successful commander in chief but also to remind voters of his brief experience as a pilot in the Air National Guard. Insinuating himself into the ranks of combat-hardened veterans, Bush, who sat in the co-pilot's seat of the S-3B Viking, told reporters, "Yes, I flew it."

Even by current political standards, this was rank. Not only did Bush seek to link himself to combat pilots, he did so despite his less-than-stellar National Guard service.

But so far, Bush's flight suit has proved Teflon-coated. His fancy airplane ride has received glowing coverage that was the mirror-image of the negative accounts of Clinton's haircut: Initial reports of Bush's flight were adulatory. Days later, questions of cost and delays to the crew were relegated to back pages of newspapers or brief broadcast reports.

While the White House has denied delaying the arrival of the USS Abraham Lincoln, Ari Fleischer had to back away from an earlier statement that the ship was too far out at sea for the president to fly to it by helicopter. "The ship will be hundreds of miles from shore when the president arrives," Fleischer said. In fact, the Lincoln was 39 miles off California, well within range of Bush's Marine One helicopter.

So Fleischer's story changed: The president decided to fly in on the Viking because he "wanted to see an aircraft landing the same way that the pilots saw an aircraft landing."

Notes Time magazine: "Then there was the carrier's position, which had to be tilted to obscure any view of the nearby coastline."

The president's self-promotion may not immediately affect his stratospheric poll ratings, but he is nevertheless taking a political risk: The gimmicky landing aboard the Lincoln only calls attention to the contrast between his Top Gun imagery and his actual service. During the 2000 campaign, the Boston Globe and other news media raised serious questions about Bush's attendance for required Guard drills.

While still in the Air National Guard, he signed up to work in the losing U.S. Senate campaign of an Alabama Republican named Winton "Red" Blount. To fulfill his military requirements, he transferred to a unit based in Montgomery. But there is no record that he showed up for the periodic drills he was required to attend.

Bush's superior officer in Alabama, William Turnipseed, told reporters that he didn't believe Bush fulfilled the requirements. "I think I would have remembered him," Turnipseed, who retired as a general, told The New York Times.

At least a few veterans were offended by Bush's use of an aircraft carrier full of weary sailors to film a campaign ad. Marietta resident Donald Watkins wrote to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

"I own a pair [of Navy Wings of Gold] -- except, unlike Bush, I earned mine, wearing them proudly during two consecutive tours of Vietnam combat duty. . . . Bush could have offered his services there but declined, opting instead to . . . save Texas from surprise attack."

"It is a profound insult to the skills, bravery and sacrifices of real naval aviators for Bush to masquerade as one."

It may be that the president's short airplane ride will prove costlier than he expects.

Cynthia Tucker is the editorial page editor. Her column appears Sundays and Wednesdays.

[kcordell]

I wonder why she compares President Bush' carrier landing to Clinton's haircut and not Clinton's three(3) ship visits?

[kcordell]

E-Mail: Cynthia Tucker

[Slings and Arrows]

Is there any way to nominate Miss Cindy for a Lifetime Achievement Garofalo?

[patriciaruth]

President Bush has had a grim 2 1/2 years since Election 2000, and the left wing fascists begrudge him the fun he had being at the controls of a jet again. I haven't seen Dubya look that happy in a long, long time.

But the perveyors of this bilge are desperate, cornered RATS. So what do you expect?

[TomGuy]

It may be that the president's short airplane ride will prove costlier than he expects.

In your dreams, Cynth.

Can you say, ?

[Slings and Arrows]

In 1993, according to front-page headlines and blaring broadcast reports, Clinton shut down Los Angeles International Airport to get a trendy haircut from a celebrity stylist. Those reports, which turned out to be dead wrong, took on a life of their own because of alleged inconvenience to the passengers left circling in frustration.

Later news reports that put the episode in perspective -- there were no delays of scheduled commercial flights --

Can anyone confirm or deny this? IMO, Miss Cindy's claim doesn't pass the smell test - if it were true, the 'Rats would have thrown it our faces every time we criticized DIRTXPOTUS.

[Savage Beast]

"just so he will have heroic imagery of himself to use during his re-election campaign."

"Liberals" cannot understand valor, courage, and integrity. They misinterpret such virtues as some sort of cynical attempt to manipulate people; that's they only sort of thing they can understand or believe.

[TomGuy]

If you're a Liberal leftist, you are allowed to revise history to fit your needs. It's in the Constitution--just ask them.

lol.

Sometimes, though, history just won't spin--and this dang internet doesn't help---transporting truth at the speed of electrons. How can a spinmaster make a decent living any more?

[JZoback]

These liberals must horrific dream at night, tossing, turning and screaming, finally bolting awake up in cold sweat shocked about the Bush administration being in power.

Writing this bilge is probably the only way they catch 40 winks thinking someone actually cares about this except for the lunatic left fringe

[Fzob]

In fact, the Lincoln was 39 miles off California, well within range of Bush's Marine One helicopter.

.... Notes Time magazine: "Then there was the carrier's position, which had to be tilted to obscure any view of the nearby coastline."

I wonder how the Time figured out the carrier had to be tilted? I have been out fishing many times and after 25 miles the shoreline is below the horizon or at least very difficult to see. Perhaps the height of the carries makes it possible but somehow I doubt one can see the shoreline at 39 miles

It may be that the president's short airplane ride will prove costlier than he expects.

I find it delicious that Dems can't figure why Bush can pull off this stunt with flare and Clinton couldn't.

[Dick Bachert]

"Remember Bill Clinton's infamous haircut on board Air Force One?"

Hey, Sinthia, I not only remember that, I remember your hero klintoon smacking Paula Jones around, groping Mrs. Willey, getting hummers in the Oral Office, jerking off in a White House sink then lying under oath to the entire country about all of the above.

What a guy!

BTW, I'd call you a total moron but don't want to get hate mail from REAL morons who would probably resent the comparison.

[Brian Allen]

<< ..... just so he will have heroic imagery of himself to use during his re-election campaign. >>

Good to see Psychopathological Projection Syndrome* [PPS] is alive and well in Tucker and still affords US a warning glimpse into the black hole that does that obscene liberal and her every similarly-mentally-incapacitated liberal cohort for a soul.

[*Don't look for it in the Physicians' Desk Manual. PPS was invented here on FR, by me]

[an amused spectator]

It's hard to read Cynthia's columns, because beyond the upfront bald-faced lies, there's usually a few buried ones.

It's like stepping in a pile of rotted dog crap that's been covered up by grass clippings.

Cynthia Tucker Versus Byron York: Who Is Telling The Truth?

[Howlin]

Clinton visited no less than FIVE Navy ships.

But there is no record that he showed up for the periodic drills he was required to attend.

I am SO SICK of reading this:

The Real Military Record of George W. Bush: Not Heroic, but Not AWOL, Either -- From George Magazine

[an amused spectator]

Insinuating himself into the ranks of combat-hardened veterans, Bush, who sat in the co-pilot's seat of the S-3B Viking, told reporters, "Yes, I flew it."

See, here's a rotting dog-egg right here. I wonder if Cynthia "I'm A Lying F***er" Tucker could tell us what the training mortality rate of National Guard pilots is?

You know, the little news stories you read every once in a while about Lieutenant Smith or Jones crashing and burning in Idaho or Iowa.

Not Cynthia. She prefers a sneering snotball directed at an Evil Republican over the truth any day of the week.

[Howlin]

Presidential Visits to Naval Ships

This list includes ship visits by presidents, during their terms as president, presently known to the Ships History Branch. There have undoubtedly been others; any additional information would be appreciated. Commissioned presidential yachts are included though these were not, strictly speaking, "visits to Navy ships" since these yachts were not part of the operating forces. The yacht Sequoia is listed under F.D. Roosevelt only, the only period during which she was in commission. Small craft, such as the motor boats used by a number of presidents after World War II, are not included. Individual ship histories are included in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

John Tyler (1841-45)           Steam sloop Princeton (1844)

Franklin Pierce (1853-57)      Steam frigate Wabash (1856)

William McKinley (1897-1901)   Yacht Sylph (1898-1901)

Theodore Roosevelt (1901-09)   Yacht Sylph (1901-09)
                               Battleship Illinois (1902)
                               Yacht Mayflower (1905-09)
                               Submarine Plunger (1905)
                               Battleship Louisiana (1906)
                               Battleship Connecticut (1907; 1909)
                               Battleship Mississippi (1907)

William H. Taft (1909-13)      Yacht Sylph (1909-13)
                               Yacht Mayflower (1909-13)
                               Battleship Arkansas (1912)

Woodrow Wilson (1913-21)       Yacht Sylph (1913-210
                               Yacht Mayflower (1913-21)
                               Transport George Washington (1919)

Warren G. Harding (1921-23)    Yacht Mayflower (1921-23)

Calvin Coolidge (1923-29)      Yacht Mayflower (1923-29)
                               Battleship Utah (1928)
                               Battleship Texas (1928)

Herbert C. Hoover (1929-33)    Battleship Maryland (1928-29)
                               Battleship Utah (1928-29)
                               Battleship Arizona (1931)

F. D. Roosevelt (1933-45)      Yacht Sequoia (1933-36)
                               Cruiser Houston (1934; 1935; 1938; 1939)
                               Yacht Potomac (1936-45)
                               Cruiser Indianapolis (1933; 1936)
                               Destroyer Phelps (1937)
                               Cruiser Philadelphia (1938)
                               Cruiser Tuscaloosa (1939, 1940)
                               Cruiser Augusta (1941)
                               British battleship Prince of Wales(1941)
                               Battleship Iowa (1943)
                               Cruiser Memphis (1943)
                               Cruiser Baltimore (1944)
                               Destroyer Cummings (1944)
                               Cruiser Quincy (1945)

Harry S. Truman (1945-53)      Yacht Williamsburg (1945-52)
                               Cruiser Augusta (1945)
                               Battleship Missouri (1945, 1947)
                               Destroyer Lansdowne (1945)
                               Submarine U-2513 (1946)
                               not yet identified (1946-47)

Dwight D.Eisenhower (1953-61)  Yacht Williamsburg (1953)
                               Carrier Saratoga (1957)
                               Submarine Seawolf (1957)
                               Cruiser Des Moines (1959)
                               Cruiser Saint Paul (1960)
                               Submarine (unidentified)
                               Submarine Patrick Henry (year?)

John F. Kennedy (1961-63)      Destroyer Joseph P Kennedy Jr (1962)
                               Coast Guard training ship Eagle (1962)
                               Submarine Chopper (1962)
                               Submarine Thomas A. Edison (1963)
                               Missile test ship Observation Island 1963)
                               Carrier Kitty Hawk (1963)
                               Carrier Oriskany (1963)

Lyndon B. Johnson (1963-69)    Carrier Enterprise (1967)

Richard M. Nixon (1969-74)     Carrier Hornet (1969)

James E. Carter (1977-81)      Submarine Los Angeles (1977)
                               Carrier Dwight D Eisenhower (1978)

Ronald Reagan (1981-89)        Carrier Constellation (1981)
                               Battleship New Jersey (1982)
                               Battleship Iowa (1986)

George H. W. Bush (1989-92)    Carrier Forrestal (1989)
                               Guided Missile Cruiser Belknap (1991)

William J. Clinton (1992-2001) Carrier Carl Vinson (1993; 1995)
                               Carrier George Washington (1994)
                               Carrier Independence (1996)
                               Carrier Harry S. Truman (1998)
                               

George W. Bush (2001-    )     Carrier Abraham Lincoln (2003)

[an amused spectator]

"It is a profound insult to the skills, bravery and sacrifices of real naval aviators for Bush to masquerade as one."

I don't know where she dug up this yellow-dog Democrat fossil, but my father was a real naval aviator, and I know he would have been proud of Dubya.

And I personally have no respect for this Donald Watkins character (if those are indeed his words) - only for his service to the country.

[YaYa123]

We think Ari Fleischer gets a hard time from White House reporters, but read how they crucified little Georgie Stehphanopoulis over the Christophe haircut. It's hairlarious!!

http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/archives/whitehouse-papers/1993/May/Press-Briefing-by-George-Stephanopolous-52093

[TomGuy]

William J. Clinton (1992-2001)

Carrier Carl Vinson (1993; 1995)
Carrier George Washington (1994)
Carrier Independence (1996)
Carrier Harry S. Truman (1998)

---

Yeh, but Clinton's visits weren't "flamboyant". lol.

Interesting that he didn't visit the carriers as much during the Impeachment Years.

[Paleo Conservative]

I bet it would have been dangerous for Clinton to have made a tailhook landing if Monica were aboard.