Wait 'Til They Find Out...

Wait until it is revealed that Christophe was a guest on the Manhattan flyover.

This from the Times is fraught with peril:

The president directed his deputy chief of staff, Jim Messina, to “conduct a review into how the decision was made to conduct the flight,” said Robert Gibbs, the White House press secretary, “to understand why the decision was made and to ensure that it never happens again.”

The review is focused on Louis Caldera, the director of the White House Military Office, who took responsibility for the matter.

Two senior administration officials said the review would determine whether Mr. Caldera, who served as secretary of the Army in the Clinton administration, would keep his job.

Blaming the military would be dumb, whether it is deserved or not.  If Caldera is viewed within the Pentagon as sufficiently non-military he will be fine as a scapegoat.  Otherwise, they need to look harder for a fall guy.

Comments

[lonetown]

I'm betting it was Soros on the flyover!

[hit and run]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/16/us/politics/16inquire.html>Obama Inquiry Shows Nothing Wrong

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama said Monday that an internal review had found that his advisers were he was not involved in any “inappropriate” talks with Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich or his aides decision to scare the shit out of New Yorkers

[Elroy Jetson]

Nice, Hit. They are just going to recycle the template. Saves time.

[narciso]

Well 'don't let a template go waste', or something

[clarice]

Why are we making fun of the hagiographic coverage of the One-Der Years and not using this gullible carp to our advantage? I just read that all that swooning over michelle's costumi (weird as they often are) has driven up wildly the share price of J. Crew.

Mr PUK, start circling brand names mentioned in the press drivel please. We are missing a lot of great opportunities.

[Jane]

If Caldera is viewed within the Pentagon as sufficiently non-military he will be fine as a scapegoat.

According to Bill Kristol he is utterly non-military. The post has always been filled by a military guy until O changed that with Caldera.

What I find not believable is that this guy has the authority to spend a half a million dollars for the purpose of advertising and requires no instruction from above..

That seems fishy to me.

[BumperStickerist]

Memorandum of Findings:

To: President Obama
From: Jim Messina, Deputy Chief of Staff
re: Statue of Liberty Photo Op

The situation resulted from a managerial decision to break long-standing precedent by hiring for the position of Director, White House Military Office.a person who lacked both military experience and the common-sense God gave small children.

-

[Charlie (Colorado)]

That seems fishy to me.

"Plausible deniability."

There was a guy on the Gunny Bob radio show last night who purported to have been CO of the marine unit that flies Marine One. He said that all movements of the Preznit's planes are controlled by the Chief of Staff.

[Appalled]

A summary of Caldera's early career is LUN and isn't terribly military. He does not look like a good fall guy for poitical reasons. Which could be trouble for O.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

The situation resulted from a managerial decision to break long-standing precedent by hiring for the position of Director, White House Military Office.a person who lacked both military experience and the common-sense God gave small children.

Just wanted to see it again.

[hit and run]

From Appalled's link:

He was then appointed by Clinton to head up the Corporation for National and Community Service

He was a freakin' community organizer.

[matt]

The President was in Missouri today to celebrate his 100 days in office. How many days has he been on the road?

He was apparently pissed off with the tea bag movement as well and snarked Fox News.

[dk70]

Someone in the PR office must have told Caldera to schedule the flyover. The decision that we need more photos of Air Force 1 against the NY skyline and the Statue of Liberty wouldn't originate from Caldera's office.

[clarice]

The plane's movement is controlled by the Chief of Staff .
The brother of the COF is a Hollywood finagler extraordinarie.

Every rational look at thr joyride on the Judson suggests it was a movie stunt.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[clarice]

**CoS (Chief of Staff)

[clarice]

**Hudson** *&^%

[Jane]

He said that all movements of the Preznit's planes are controlled by the Chief of Staff.

I can just imagine Rahm and The Won laughing at the WH about every ruse they kick up. I'm haunted by Judd Gregg's remarks that he was offended by the language going on in the oval office. I assume they are like 14 year old boys talking about preying on the girl next door. (Do 14 year old boys do that?)

[maryrose]

Watch this administration let Caldera be the fall guy.We all know ultimately this was done to promote "the One" bad PR move all around No wonder Obama is mad...

[K]

We learn our lesson in the reaction. No one in D.C. gives a hoot about the waste of money. They only wish to not be embarrassed again.

If someone in the military caused this mess then blame that person. None of this tactical scapegoating.

And if someone not in the military did it, the same answer.

I doubt Caldera needed any authority to spend a half a million. After all it wasn't cash. When the AF is told the White House wants plane pictures do you think they read the budget or consult the GAO about rules? I don't.

You only need authority when challenged.

IMO it was someone above Caldera who arranged it as a perk for some O friends. And eventually we will find out.

[madawaskan]

Caldera's office is organized under the White House he is not part of the Pentagon structure.

Air Force One is a glorified chauffeur service for the President and is always at his beck and call.

I doubt the military takes out the Prez's' transports for "joy -rides" without their approval hence Caldera admitting to as much when he says he signed off on it last week.

Also they play a bit of a ponzi scheme with the planes for the safety of the President. That is why the flight plans of all the planes are classified to eliminate an enemy guessing just which one the President is in-it's a built in redundancy for his safety.

Here is a link for Caldera's office and job description-you don't "find" it at the Pentagon's website you find it at the website of The One-at The White House.

LOUIS CALDERA
Director, White House Military Office

Louis Caldera is Director of the White House Military Office.

Caldera has had a distinguished 30-year career as a soldier, lawyer, legislator, high ranking government official, university president and professor of law. In 1992, Caldera was elected to the California State Assembly, and later served in the Clinton administration.

From 1997 to 1998, Caldera was managing director and chief operating officer for the Corporation for National and Community Service. From 1998 to 2001, he served as the nation’s 17th Secretary of the Army. He has served as a vice chancellor for the California State University system and president of the University of New Mexico, after which he joined the faculty of the UNM School of Law as a tenured professor.

Caldera is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and earned his law and business degrees at Harvard University in 1987, later practicing law in Los Angeles.

WHMO

[MayBee]

What I find not believable is that this guy has the authority to spend a half a million dollars for the purpose of advertising and requires no instruction from above..

Yeah, and for something that had to do with Obama's image, too.
I think they manage Obama's image much more carefully than that. At least Axelrod would know about this it it was truly for advertising.
I'm still going with the movie angle.

[madawaskan]

http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/whmo/director/

[madawaskan]

Ha!

I like Joy Ride on the Judson so much better!

[PeterUK]

Would not the Secret Service have some say in the use of the presidential air taxi? It might just be possible the spare could be needed in an emergency.

[ben]

http://www.polls.newsvine.com/_question/2009/04/29/2748978-the-president-has-completed-100-days-in-office-based-on-his-performance-so-far-what-grade-would-you-give-him?GT1=43001

You can vote on Obama's performance at the MSNBC poll. So far it's polarized between A's and F's.

[SlimGuy]

Caldera also sat since 2002 on the [url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2002_May_13/ai_85871423/]board of IndyMac[/url]

[Jane]

Oh good Rush just anounced that Greg Craig is going to investigate this matter.

What a joke.

And why doesn't someone just ask the President?

[SlimGuy]

sorry for the botched link LUN

[MayBee]

I found this in the comments at IMDB:
The old version of the script (by Kurt Wimmer) was great. You have 2 CIA ops who are friends - then a Russian defector names one of them as a double-agent, even though he maintains his innocence. The friends become mortal enemies, and chase each other across the country with numerous shootouts and close-calls while we slowly figure out what's true and what isn't - with flashbacks to Salt's past (e.g. how he met his wife). Then the whole thing ends in a completely over-the-top Michael Bay style action setpiece on a busy highway with speeding cars, a huge truck, surface-to-air missiles, and a jet. I'm not joking.

[Molon Labe]

Regarding the potential "Salt" connection, that may explain why the photo plane was tailing the 747. The money shot would be taken from behind the plane with the targeted building in the shot.

[centralcal]

If there is a Salt connection, there is no way they can use the footage now. Obama will come out with some phoney baloney investigation result unrelated to movie making, I am sure.

[Thomas Collins]

Perhaps Bill Ayers and Reverend Wright wanted a ride on Air Force One.

[matt]

Obama has one of the most carefully managed images in history and is also a sneaky, Chicago style pol. Between him and Emmanuel and whoever is in charge of "image" is where the blame lies.

[Molon Labe]

Here's a link to the script (maybe pre-Jolie):

http://www.mediafire.com/file/tmizg5kqiwg/SCRIPTEdwinASalt%28Wimmer%29.pdf

[Molon Labe]

Script linkified.

[Richard Aubrey]

As a commenter noted, you don't "authorize" something you thought of yourself. You "authorize" the carrying out of somebody else's request.
If it's your request, you "dreamed it up".
So, if C authorized this, we'd like to know who dreamed it up

[sylvia]

Maybe Obama offered his own jet to save his Hollywood campaign donors some cash so that they could donate it to him instead. You know how pricey it would be for a filmmaker to rent a jet and do it up to look like AF1? Obama was like, "heck you can just borrow mine for free. Just bring it back in one piece."

[verner]

Do any of the JOM regulars who went through SERE school want to be interviewed for a well know National newspaper?

If so, let me know.

Daddy, NYTs calling....

[Pofarmer]

The President was in Missouri today to celebrate his 100 days in office. How many days has he been on the road?

He was apparently pissed off with the tea bag movement as well and snarked Fox News.

If I said out loud the first reaction I had when I heard he was going to be in my home state, I would probably have some guys in suits and dark glasses stumbling around the place.

[Porchlight]

He said that all movements of the Preznit's planes are controlled by the Chief of Staff.

Common sense tells us this must be true. WH peons do not get to decide where AF1 and its backups travel. I wonder, though, if we'll ever find out who was responsible. This WH Rahm is very very good at finding fall guys when necessary.

[Pofarmer]

That is why the flight plans of all the planes are classified to eliminate an enemy guessing just which one the President is in-it's a built in redundancy for his safety.

Maybe he could declassify it, 'cause, ya know, not having secrets makes us safer.

[JM Hanes]

MayBee:

I think the movie connection is brilliant!

How about this for a detail that could top the embarrassment list:
Filming Salt with an Obama look alike on board.

[RichatUF]

Doesn't the Pentagon have a "Hollywood" office which deals with all sorts of movie and television productions issues? Those guys would know something, and I'm unsurprised that no one in the media to my knowledge has bothered asking.

[Ann]

OT

Clarice and JMH,

Have you seen that Jane Harman has hired Lanny Davis?

State of play in the Harman case

[clarice]

I think I did read that, Ann. She's no dope.

[Porchlight]

Sorry if already linked, but here's some juicy stuff about Caldera and the flyover from "The Prowler" over at American Spectator (my emphasis):

The suspicion that civilians -- or a high-ranking White House official -- may have been on the flight is the result, in part, of the involvement of Louis Caldera, the Obama Administration's director of the White House Military Office, who authorized the New York City flyover, and who was brought into the administration, say Obama donors and transition team members, for his understanding of the Pentagon's inner-workings, his relationship with high-powered donors with backgrounds in the defense industry, and his ties to both Bill and Hillary Clinton and New Mexico governor Bill Richardson.

"He's a fixer in the classic sense of the term, and I wouldn't be surprised if there is more to the flyover story than we know," says one former Obama defense transition team member. "He would not have been my first choice to put in that position given his background, but it wasn't my decision. The fact that he is in that position raises questions of judgment on the part of [chief of staff Rahm] Emanuel, I think."

...

But there are suspicions there is more to it. "This is a bigger deal than the White House is letting on, and there are some nervous people there, and I'm not clear why," says the former transition team member. "If I were still advising them, I'd say live up to the transparency pledge and release all the documents. But from the get-go, this was a top secret operation, which raises a whole bunch of red flags."

Anonymously sourced, but interesting that the source is supposedly a "former Obama defense transition team member."

[clarice]

Rich--I tried to ask a question using that website but it didn't work--maybe someone disabled it.

O didn't have to be on the film when it flew there and I doubt that he was..That part can be filmed on the ground.And it would be too bold a lie--really. I think they are just pretending not to know Ari Emanuel or George Lucas got his Rahm to do a favor .

[JM Hanes]

It occurs to me if Salt needed shots with the Presidential plane flying around NY Harbor, Scare Force One would be about the only plane in America that could get that kind of clearance don't you think? ESPECIALLY if fighters were required.

Pretty compelling reason to keep the whole thing a secret, no? If it hadn't been for the poor terrorized people in lower Manhattan, we probably wouldn't be hearing about it now. I doubt that even Hollywood is that obtuse -- and even if they were, think about the lawsuits! You can bet that Hollywood lawyers won't let a frame of that footage see the light of day now, even if the NY Skyline was just a blur in the background. It's probably been melted out existence already. The Statue of Liberty shots make much more sense, but I bet it's being written out of the script as we speak.

You know, if this were the Democratic Underground when Bush was Prez, someone would be suggesting that everyone spread out and start repeating the Hollywood mantra everywhere, till it became a fixture in the Obama narrative. Scare Force One strikes me as the TOTUS style sticky name here.

[Sue]

http://www.polls.newsvine.com/_question/2009/04/29/2748978-the-president-has-completed-100-days-in-office-based-on-his-performance-so-far-what-grade-would-you-give-him?GT1=43001>MSNBC poll on how Obama is doing.

A comment from one of those polled:

If you understand Keyensian economics not spending near enough on economic bailout. Us or them someone has to spend!

I can't even wrap myself around the thought of someone who doesn't realize "us" is "them".

[bad]

In case you missed Noemie Emery: LUN

Why did Obama, at the height of his power, give in to Moveon.org? He has them already, they’re not going anywhere, and he won’t need them for years. The people he needs are the critical cohort that swung from him to McCain-Palin between the Republican convention and the fiscal collapse, and then swung back to him even harder when the Republicans (in Congress, even more than the candidates), did not seem to handle it well. These people - independents, and “soft” party members - are the ones who elected him, the ones he’s not sure of, and the ones he should court. They are not amused by unhinged or highly partisan antics, and while they may have wanted Bush-Cheney retired, they do not want them hung. Richard Nixon, who should know, said at his exit that hatred destroys you, and Moveon.org should have learned from the master. The shot aimed at Bush bounced off on their hero. The country is more vulnerable now, and so is Obama. Well done.

Read it all. She does a good job summarizing the JOM position.

[Sue]

This probably ruined the thread. Sorry!

http://www.polls.newsvine.com/_question/2009/04/29/2748978-the-president-has-completed-100-days-in-office-based-on-his-performance-so-far-what-grade-would-you-give-him?GT1=43001>MSNBC poll

[Old Lurker]

Bad, I don't think Moveon.org or anybody else made him do it.

That's who he is.

And I think he believes his own PR and thinks he really is the most beautiful in the land cause the mirror told him so.

[RichatUF]

clarice-

Air Force Office of Public Affairs
Entertainment Liaison
10880 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 1240
Los Angeles, CA 90024-4113

Pho: 310-235-7511
Fax: 310-235-7500

E-mail: [email protected]

Department of Defense Instruction 5410.16, DoD Assistance to Non-Government, Entertainment-Oriented Motion Pictures, Television and Video Productions

Those are the folks that Hollywood turns to for AF script doctors and requests for Air Force property, base access, and personnel (I'll see if I can dig up some other emails, the Press Office at Andrews might not be a bad place to ask either). However, since we're talking about the President's plane the Chief of Staff would have his fingerprints on it with or without the knowledge of a small Hollywood AF outpost. And I suppose the vail of secrecy is another stumbling block to keep press offices from talking.

I remember the outrage caused when some VIP's were taking a joyride in the USS Greenville when the Captain decided he'd do an emergency blow and wrecked into a Japanese fishing boat in the process.

I was thinking that if it were for a big production that other requests might have also been made. Just brainstorming.

[PDinDetroit]

I can only imagine what the "9-11 Truthers" are going through right now after this "weapons-grade" stupid stunt.

[Danube of Thought]

Short OT note on living in California: I just went out and bought an I-phone, $299. However, I was required to pay the sales tax (8.25% now) on the "original" price of $599. Signed into law and approved by Arnold.

[PDinDetroit]

DoT - was this because of special pricing due to a service contract?

[clarice]

Rich--I used that addy and made a request for information about what role if any that office had in the joyride down the Hudson.Let's see what we hear--I also asked whether they'd provide any backup documentation without a FOIA request.

[JM Hanes]

Porchlight:

Sounds like maybe some folks on the Pentagon side of the White House Military Office, or on the military end of the transition team, were none too pleased when Caldera got his spot? The Prez would want a real friendly/political guy on his end of the military equation where he's clearly uncomfortable. Someone posted Caldera's CV, and he graduated from Harvard Law School. Meant to check the date with Obama's bio, but got distracted. IIRC Caldera came out in the 80's -- like maybe '87.

RichatUF:

The Air Force Hollywood office is a really interesting angle:

The Air Force Entertainment Liaison Office is the entertainment industry's direct liaison to the United States Air Force. Our primary purpose is to assist film and television professionals in all matters relating to the U.S. Air Force. We are staffed with experienced personnel who are thoroughly familiar with industry production requirements.

The request that Caldera authorized didn't just show up on his desk one morning out of nowhere, and he would certainly be the military go-to guy at the White House to arrange the authorization. Hard to believe he wouldn't have asked up the chain before approving it.

The info about the (generic) cost of the such a flyover sent to Greta van Susteran last night came from the"Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs" at the "Air Force Press Desk." It included the bizarre assertion that it was a training mission that would have taken place anyway. I'm sure training missions take place nearly everyday -- somewhere -- but that only walks back the cost. They are obviously in damage control mode, and surely that's being coordinated by the White House.

I bet that the Press Secretary knows all about this. A woman quit that office just this week, hinting that Gibbs was a real pain to work with -- and that he was an Oval Office insider's insider who plays his cards close to his chest. Maybe some enterprising reporter could check in with her about the inner workings. If Gibb's presser today wasn't the stuff of farce, the whole press corps should be getting their pink slips. Assuming he held a presser.

But back to Hollywood. It's interesting that word never got to the Mayor, who would have been at the top of any legitimate list. I don't doubt that he was genuinely furious about the trauma to lower Manhattan, but I suspect he would also be none too pleased that New York's film board was cut out of the loop, especially if filming means $$ to a cash strapped city. Even without a Salt connection, the flight could have been turned into a PR bonanza for the city in all kinds of ways -- something that it could sorely use at the moment. Apparently, the Prez has yet to set foot on Manhattan since he took office. RINO or not, it wouldn't hurt if Bloomberg ended up more firmly fixed on the Republican end of the spectrrum.

There may actually be more here to "review" that it looked like at first glance. We need to come up with a sticky name for the Blago style exonerations that hit's way back machine produced above! If Caldera was an Obama pal at Harvard, we've also got the makings of a Law School mafia here too, no?

[Porchlight]

Even without a Salt connection, the flight could have been turned into a PR bonanza for the city in all kinds of ways -- something that it could sorely use at the moment.

Good point - this could have been promoted as a tourist event (although I'm sure not everyone would hear about it in advance and so it would still end up scaring some people).

But in that case there wouldn't be panic on the streets of lower Manhattan to be captured on film.

[Will]

The press should certainly ask who was on the flight, name, rank and serial number, and were there any passengers. Remember the Lincoln bedroom.

Were the fighters an escort or were they scrambled to escort the plane out of NY airspace?

There is no reason to keep the classified. Every terrorist knows now the airspace over Manhattan is open to anyone.

The press baffles me on this stuff. I agree with what Rush said today, maybe they are just stupid.

[JM Hanes]

Maybe someone who doesn't remember Obama at Law School might remember Caldera. Interesting possibilities there, especially if ObamaRahma decides letting him take the fall requires giving him the boot. Which is probably why he won't get fired. Although a generous severance package could smooth things out. The country may be headed to debtor's prison, but it's a safe bet that the Presidential outfit is positively floating in money.

[hit and run]

Obama entered Harvard Law in late 1988.

Caldera "earned his Harvard law and business degrees in 1987."

[hit and run]

No links?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama>Obama

http://change.gov/newsroom/entry/president_elect_barack_obama_names_louis_caldera_director_of_white_house_mi/>Caldera

Well, they'll pro'lly show up while I'm not looking, but I'll repeat just in case.

[JM Hanes]

Porchlight:

I really don't believe the panic was part of the plan. There's really no way you could count on it, or even know where to place your cameras if you did. Even if a director couldn't predict major blowback, studio lawyers would have seen it, and a pile of lawsuits, coming miles away. If not immediately, then certainly when the film debuted. The plane was flying around the Statue of Liberty, and I think it never occurred to anybody that buildings downtown would empty out.

[JM Hanes]

hit: Oh well. Never mind.

[clarice]

"But back to Hollywood. It's interesting that word never got to the Mayor, who would have been at the top of any legitimate list."

I understand that his aide was told and neglected to tell Bloomberg, jmh.

[Porchlight]

I really don't believe the panic was part of the plan.

Perhaps not. But how can no one have foreseen that panic would ensue? That blows my mind.

[PeterUK]

Obama - Terrorist in Chief.

[clarice]

Hit--the links came up and then vanished in the typhus maw. Odd that. Sometimes it simply devours lnks.

[daddy]

I have been posting on last nights link but see you guys are over here. If you don't mind let me repost my last few concerning the Clinton Admin's misuse of Military transport and what resulted from that; (The links work in the original posts but don't know if they will work here after copy and paste.)

"Haven't read all the comments yet today so don't know yet if you guys have brought this up, but vaguely recalled a White House Military Chopper landing at a DC area Golf Course early in the Clinton Administration so as to beat traffic to the links for White House Big Shots. (What is it with Dem Admin's and military aircraft. Maybe they honestly took Ron Silver's words to heart "Hey, those are our aircraft now!")

Anyhow, was surprised that searching for further info about that Clinton Helo escapade thru Google, the only mention I could find of it was in this linked comment:

" To: Dixie Yooper. Only if the President is aboard. ... Philip Lader, flew it to Holly Hills Country Club in Fredrick, MD for a round of golf."

That story is from PUK's Mail online, where we find Taxpayers angry about Prince William flying a Chinook Helo to his girlfriends back yard at a taxpayer cost of 30,000 pounds, angering both citizens and reporters.

Perhaps we can get some Brit tabloid reporters over here to help us investigate Air Farce One.

Posted by: daddy | April 29, 2009 at 05:10 PM

This is interesting. It is the official letter from the Clinton White House in 1994 letting us know that the top White House guy tied in with using Official Military Helicopters to travel to golf courses resigned.

"David Watkins, the senior White House official on the trip
to Camp David and the Holly Hills Golf Club in Maryland, has
submitted his resignation to President Clinton, and his
resignation has been accepted."

Standing by to see which Obama-ite bites the dust.

Posted by: daddy | April 29, 2009 at 05:23 PM

[JM Hanes]

Porchlight:

To tell you the truth, it took me by surprise. They probably figured they could zip in, circle the Statue of Liberty a couple of times and be gone before anybody really even noticed. They might not have know what their final flight path in and out would be till they came in range, (daddy can probably tell us about that). It seems possible, if careless, that they might not have realized the silhouettes would look so much like 9/11 from the ground, where your depth perception would not be good enough to tell that the trajectory would take the planes behind the buildings, not into them.

When you think about how fast the actual flyby of lower Manhattan must have been, the reaction to it must have been nearly instantaneous. I think that's what is so heartrending, really.

[clarice]

OT--apparently the deal made with Specter was that he could keep his seniority when he switched and the Senate Dems who might lose a chairmanship to Specter are very angry:
Knife fight in the Senate

[clarice]

Yes, jmh.

[PeterUK]

The overflight by the presidential jet was,without public announcement,simply callous.A quick mention on the news and there would have been no panic.New Yorkers are theatrical enough to have enjoyed the show.

[JM Hanes]

Porchlight:

Meant to add that it would certainly be interesting to know if/where the Salt crew were filming, regardless.

Which brings the NY York film board to mind again, because they've had a certain regulatory fever about picture taking in the city. Seem to remember either a brief brouhaha about tourist cameras being confiscated, or some pushback because under the film board's new rules tourist cameras could be confiscated, if they didn't have permits to take pix. I wonder what the reaction there to a surreptitious shoot might have been, although I suspect that angle will get lost in the shuffle.

It's funny, but the Salt thing makes so much sense, I find myself just assuming it's true. If not, though, I find it hard to believe that the White House wouldn't have conjured up a dual purpose photo op as a joy ride for some big time supporters. If anybody made a contribution to any of the President's ancillary political organizations for the privilege, it could turn into a full blown legal scandal. Shoot, it could be a legal fiasco even if his political arm didn't get a dime. When I saw the Obama clip yesterday, he didn't look like he was thinking about New Yorkers at all, and he certainly didn't apologize to them. It was just a terse, I-didn't-know-till-you-did-it-won't-happen-again.

[MayBee]

More from that NYT blog about it:

Ms. Rivera said eventually there was a message made over the public announcement system that the plane was an advertisement for a movie — which she said that did not coincide with what they were reading online about the plane taking pictures of the Statue of Liberty. “It was a little confusing. What was the truth?” she said.

So there was word about a movie soon afterward.

[Pofarmer]

Man, I hate to spam every thread with economic stuff but, according to MSNBC

THIS is good news?

NEW YORK - In another sign the housing crisis could be reaching the bottom, home prices dropped sharply in February but for the first time in 25 months the decline was not a record

[JM Hanes]

MayBee: Even more props to you!

Speaking of props: Using Scare Force One as a prop in a Hollywood commercial? Priceless.

[RichatUF]

Pofarmer-

Housing probably won't go to zero.

JM Hanes-

If not, though, I find it hard to believe that the White House wouldn't have conjured up a dual purpose photo op as a joy ride for some big time supporters.

I was thinking the exact same thing. To go with daddy's links about Clinton misusing Marine 1, I also remember he rented out the Roosevelt Room for "coffees", which were 50K a head fundraisers. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if a few VIPs (say 100K+ contributors) hitched a ride. It wouldn't surprise me in the least that it was a movie shoot. It also wouldn't surprise me if it were approved by Rham and everyone in the White House is lieing and hoping the press covers for them (its worked so far). I suppose the speed with which Caldera wants to spend more time with the family will indicate how worried the WH is.

[daddy]

Verner,

I sense a request? I would prefer not to, but let me go for a long bike ride and mull it over. I am unaware of Shin and what he's saying or writing, and my SERE stuff was in 1980 or 81, so quite a while ago, but would you mind posting some e-mail etc, where I can get a hold of you to find out more about who, what, where, when and why. I do know that your home town, memphis, has about a million FEDEX Pilots in it, and probably 80% of them are military boys who had to go through SERE Training also, so if you have any close FEDEX neighbors, you might ask them as well.

Let me also give you another anecdotal story about one of your home town hero's you might like to hear about, Fred Smith. None of us are perfect and all of us have some false steps in our past, so I don't want to exalt him, but years ago (early 90's) a former CO of mine (one of the finest humans I ever met) who happened to have been in Hanoi for 6+ years, retired from Active Duty. He wound up getting an application for Fedex, and as I understand it, Fred Smith was entirely cognizant of my former CO's application. (My CO was fairly amazing and in the history's is I believe the guy responsible for giving up the vital information to the NK that his CO was Ben Casey and his XO was Clark Kent, and if I recall correctly it was jane Fonda's crew who informed the NK that that info was BS and beatings ensued and torture and I believe 1 death occurred as a result of that. He never ever personally talked about any of it to us Junior Officer's. He was a great man.)

Anyhow, whatever dumbs--t was doing the pilot interview, he failed my former CO. As I understand it, my former CO took it in stride, neither complaining nor demanding nor thinking anything was owed to him etc, exactly as I would expect of him, and he went on his way. But the rest of the story (as I understand it) is that when Fred Smith heard about it, he went "What the @#$%^&!!!" or some such list of whatever adjectives you care to supply, and personally dialed up my CO for a class date starting next Monday thank you very much. It was great to have him onboard.

I can't swear text and verse, nor cite or link to anything else about it, nor do I want to, but simply to say that word of that passed quickly among knowledgeable folks in my industry and it was exceptionally gratifying to say the least. It was also another example of how leadership, prompt, proper, brave and inspirational, can improve the attitude of a group in about 5 seconds. What with Arlen Specter and Air Farce One and NYTimes Quislings like Friedman and Brooks, couldn't we as a nation use some of that nowadays.

Anyhow, I'm going bike-riding now. It's a gorgeous day, almost 50's, bright blue sky and yesterday spotted a big moose on the Kincaid Bike Trail. Re-telling that tale energized me. Hopefully you guys too. See you in a couple hours.

[clarice]

Actually, a poster named Mustang who I don't recall ever being here before, was i think the first on this board to mention a movie--he thought it was "Red Tail" a George Lucas film. MayBee's idea was the Salt film. I really do think this story has legs and will be a huge embarrassment when and if the truth comes out.

[Pofarmer]

Housing probably won't go to zero.

Thank you for that wisdom Rich. d;o}

It does however, still have a lot of air under there.

[Pofarmer]

It also wouldn't surprise me if it were approved by Rham and everyone in the White House is lieing and hoping the press covers for them (its worked so far).

What if they are and the press doesn't?

Who's gonna make something of it?

[PapayaSF]

Sorry, the whole "photo op" explanation makes no sense to me.

1) If you want pro-quality pictures of Air Force One against Manhattan, why do it from a single-seat F-16? Did they find some fighter jock who's also a pro photographer and can fly a twitchy fighter with one hand while working a camera with the other? This objection applies even more to the "Hollywood movie" explanation. And no, I don't think using the gun camera would work: lack of high resolution and the fact that it only points forward.

2) Why was the F-16 always behind the other plane? Glamour shots of aircraft are from the side or the front, not the rear.

[Pofarmer]

why do it from a single-seat F-16?

FWIW, there are twin seat F-16's. I don't really know if that changes much. The Air Force would have Aircraft to take pictures of other aircraft especially those that commonly work with NASA.

[bad]

Wouldn't a camaera be mounted like the ones in NASCAR and Indy cars?

[matt]

some reporter needs to find a talkative maintenance tech or caterer at Andrews and ask them who they saw. Where there's smoke there's fire.

For the FAA to specifically order and threaten the NYPD and other agencies not to divulge the information indicates they knew there would be a firestorm of criticism and they were prepared to accept this fact.

To have an internal FAA memo leaked that outlined the potential consequences smacks of a cover your ass memo. This goes deeper than a simple photo op.

[clarice]

OT: How stupid are Republicans? Very.

At the very time that the NRSC (National Republican Senatorial Committee) is running a big ad campaign to defeat Specter, its vice Chair Orrin Hatch is quoted as saying there is no way they can defeat Specter.

These are the same geniuses who defunded Santorum while pouring money to Lincoln Chafee.

[centralcal]

I have one problem with the movie theory - that is similar to that voiced by PapayaSF - who was filming and from where? He spoke of the issues of a photo shoot from the military jet.

Hollywood type film crews usually descend on a place and take over - so they would have surely been noticed on the ground or stationed in a skyscraper, wouldn't they?

I am wondering if any filming was being done from Scare Force One.

[Molon Labe]

Here's the IMBD message board for "Salt". Might be worth monitoring.

Salt message board

[JM Hanes]

Clarice:

Mustang has posted here before; I recognized the name.

[clarice]

cc-what if they were filming from boats in the Hudson and helicopters (Sunday) and tops of buildings..If it's a film it's the chase of AF2 by the fighter planes that's the action. No?

[verner]

"I sense a request? I would prefer not to, but let me go for a long bike ride and mull it over. I am unaware of Shin and what he's saying or writing, and my SERE stuff was in 1980 or 81, so quite a while ago, but would you mind posting some e-mail etc, where I can get a hold of you to find out more about who, what, where, when and why. I do know that your home town, memphis, has about a million FEDEX Pilots in it, and probably 80% of them are military boys who had to go through SERE Training also, so if you have any close FEDEX neighbors, you might ask them as well."

Daddy, I'm not in M'phis. I know one FedEx pilot very well, but his health is not good. I'll tell you who it is in an e-mail, you might know him.

As for Fred, I've heard great things about him too. He has been very generous to his home town, and I don't know anybody who has a bad thing to say about him.

E-Mail me at [email protected] and I'll give you the details. With the slightest effort, Shane should be able to find dozens who will say just what you did, but it would be great to have someone like you giving his point of view.

[matt]

Payaya;

that was my comment yesterday. It doesn't make sense. There were apparently 2 F-16's, neither of which is especially suited to photography. There are RF-16 packages that are for the reconnaisance function, but these are hardly optimal for professional or promotional photography. They carry big pods with ultra high res cameras in different wavelengths that shoot hundreds of frames/second in some cases.

The Red Tails (100th FS) of the Alabama Air National Guard is a tactical fighter unit, so would have limited recon capability normally.

To do motion picture or high quality commercial photography would normally entail a specific photo aircraft. These typically have large, optically clear glass windows in the fuselage for this purpose. Purpose built, in other words. Otherwise, they can also use a helicopter fitted with the gear, but no helicopter has been mentioned.

In addition, I'll bet a dollar to a donut the Pentagon only included the cost to operate Air Force One in that $330,000 number. Operating costs for F-16's are similar. To fly them up from Alabama on anything other than an already scheduled training hop would require orders. Orders have to be signed.

[matt]

Clarice;

The WH has already given their reason for the flyover. They are going to be dangling in the wind again if they change their tune now.

[Charlie (Colorado)]

THIS is good news?

Yes.

Remember when we were all talking about the bubble and how prices are too high? now they're returning to reasonable levels.
And prices can't start going back up until they stop dropping, so dropping less fast is good.

[JM Hanes]

Thought I'd take the liberty of pulling one of MayBee's comments from the last One-der thread, which I found interesting:

Salt is by the same production company as Transformers 2, which just wrapped and had unprecedented cooperation from the military. Transformers used personnel, Raptors, missile ranges, humvees, f-16s, paratroopers, and on and on.


How hard would it be to convince some over- eager airforce personnel to let them film AF1?

As to who was behind the camera:

Someone on another blog commented that normally such filming would be done from smaller plane, which would provide a more stable platform. I think he may have mentioned a Gulf Stream, but I'm not sure. We would probably have heard about it if another plane had been spotted, but I wonder if it wouldn't have had to keep some distance. It seems like a pretty small space, if the other planes were doing much maneuvering, which they would have, if they were making more than a single pass at the Statue. There would be a lot of wash from the fighters in particular wouldn't there? If you're trying to get the statue and all the planes into your shot and/or keep them in your lens, I don't think you could be in too close either. Is it also conceivable that only official Air Force planes could be authorized to use secure air space?

I just like the film story too much to give up without a fight!

[clarice]

Yes,matt--vagueish though --first photo op (IIRC) then photo op linked the photos to souvenirs in the WH gift shop..I suppose if we're right they'll come up with a deal with the movie company to give them a big cut of the film souvenirs or something..

Gibbs deliberate nonchalance and the leaked FAA letter suggest there's more.

[Pofarmer]

Yes.

Remember when we were all talking about the bubble and how prices are too high? now they're returning to reasonable levels.
And prices can't start going back up until they stop dropping, so dropping less fast is good.

LOL, but, when the BEST news you can come with is that things aren't falling as fast as they were the month before???? And, that's FEBRUARY NUMBERS. We already know that housing starts, well, dropped a little less quickly in February and then picked up steam again in March. I'm willing to bet that the same thing happens to housing prices. C,mon. Truck tonnage is down. Rail tonnage is down. Foreclosures are up, Baltic index is still outta bed, exports and imports are abysmal, etc, etc, etc. I know, I know, those are all lagging indicators. So, show me a leading indicator that's positive.

[RichatUF]

JM Hanes-

"We shall fight on the blogs, we shall fight on twitter..."

It's too juicy and really too good to check. The libs never bothered with the fake turkey, and its about time someone roasts the fake turkey in the White House.