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Last week, Air Force1 was sent on a low-flying mission over Manhattan - to do what? To pose for a picture. It sounds unbelievable, but it's not. Miscalculated - absolutely, extravagent - totally, given our current economic crisis, incredibly thoughtless - without question, just ask any of the New Yorkers who were thrown into a panic over this absurd exercise, but unbelievable - I'm afraid not.
Aside from the fact that it was a serious miscalculation to terrify the people of New York, making them run from what they believed to be a repeat of 9/11, one really has to wonder what our government officials were thinking or if they were thinking at all.
Haven't they heard that we are in a recession and can ill afford the luxury of a $300,000 photograph? Does anyone out there doubt that, for a fraction of that amount, a skilled Photoshop expert could have achieved a realistic effect and then some?
And what else did that little photo op cost us? Is no one considering the environmental price tag of these ridiculous little excursions? How much jet fuel was burned through our ozone layer during that unnecessary escapade? Are the bureaucrats in this country so short-sighted that they cannot look beyond their knee-jerk impulses? When are the people holding this country's purse strings going to get with the program?
I am quite impressed with what Obama has accomplished during his short time in office and I realize that he cannot micro manage every dolt in the White House but in this instance I have to wonder how this escaped his attention and what he is going to do about it. I would have to think that authorization to use Air Force One does not come without Presidential approval. So, who fell down on the job and what will be the consequences?
Maybe, as with corporate CEOs, it is time for us to demand that those who screw up big, pay the price tag out of their own pockets. I guarantee that we would see a less cavalier attitude about making costly mistakes.
Aside from the fact that it was a serious miscalculation to terrify the people of New York, making them run from what they believed to be a repeat of 9/11, one really has to wonder what our government officials were thinking or if they were thinking at all.
Haven't they heard that we are in a recession and can ill afford the luxury of a $300,000 photograph? Does anyone out there doubt that, for a fraction of that amount, a skilled Photoshop expert could have achieved a realistic effect and then some?
And what else did that little photo op cost us? Is no one considering the environmental price tag of these ridiculous little excursions? How much jet fuel was burned through our ozone layer during that unnecessary escapade? Are the bureaucrats in this country so short-sighted that they cannot look beyond their knee-jerk impulses? When are the people holding this country's purse strings going to get with the program?
I am quite impressed with what Obama has accomplished during his short time in office and I realize that he cannot micro manage every dolt in the White House but in this instance I have to wonder how this escaped his attention and what he is going to do about it. I would have to think that authorization to use Air Force One does not come without Presidential approval. So, who fell down on the job and what will be the consequences?
Maybe, as with corporate CEOs, it is time for us to demand that those who screw up big, pay the price tag out of their own pockets. I guarantee that we would see a less cavalier attitude about making costly mistakes.
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