Plane Folks

The hoopla regarding the ill-fated Flight of the Photo Op debacle over the skies of lower Manhattan got me thinking . . . why were they flying Air Force One for a photo op?

It would be easy to surmise that Obama, in his infinite egotism, just could not bring himself to use the pictures taken by previous administrations. After all, I have seen plenty of publicity photos of Air Force One taken by nationally-known sites, such as Mount Rushmore. So it seems reasonable that somewhere there is a shot of the plane by the Statue of Liberty. News reports said that because of this, another such flight scheduled for Washington DC by the Capitol Building was scrapped (what, no buzzing the Pentagon?).

But what use are these photos? They are used for publicity - postcards, playing cards, t-shirts, etc. And then it occurred to me - Obama is going to use Air Force One like the Clintons used the Lincoln Bedroom. Be a $upporter . . . and get a plane ride. Probably even a photo of a landmark nearby where you rode Air Force One with a pre-printed autograph of the President. The crew will give you their real autographs, if you ask.

Don't even ask if there's a drink service. Bottled water only.

And you'll take it in the rear. Oh, boarding, I mean - what were you thinking?