He can go snag a decent burger, though.
This. All it takes is one loony and here we go again. It’s all about security.
I strolled in here just to be the smartass with the dorky answer. The maximum takeoff weight for Air Force One is listed at around 830,000 lbs. At MTOW on a normal, average day, that plane would need about a 9,500 ft runway to takeoff. DCA falls well short at about 6,800 feet.
WAAAAAAAA!
What a bunch of babies!!! so the Prez makes you late or whatever…why not just think of it as the small price we pay for our democracy???
It’s like NIMBY. All the inconveniences are supposed to happen to someone else.
Ok, fine. Isn’t there a base up in Antelope Valley? That seems like a win for everyone. He could fly in there, which wouldn’t tie up traffic in LA. Antelope Valley could probably do with the additional revenue brought in by people coming to the fund raiser and the security detail. And the political donors only have to drive an hour or so to see him. That’s where he should have gone.
Works for me.
So is the SS like a fourth branch of government? I thought they were under the Department of Homeland Security, which is an executive branch department, and the executive branch is headed by the President.
On 9/11, didn’t Bush overrule the SS when they wanted to take him to NORAD? He said let’s go back to Washington.
Back in October 2001 (or possibly it was 2002), President Bush visited Sacramento. Large parts of downtown were closed to traffic for the better part of the day, including the area around our son’s daycare (he was 3 at the time). This would have been inconvenient on the best of days, but this happened to be the day that the daycare was supposed to be taking a field trip to the pumpkin patch.
After some discussion, it was decided that the children did not pose a credible threat to the President. They opened the barricades and allowed the children down the already cleared street to go on their field trip (though they told that under no circumstances would they be allowed to return to the school until after 2 PM, when the President’s motorcade would have cleared the area).
Apparently the Secret Service is nothing compared to a half dozen moms of 3 and 4 year olds… 
It’s not about democracy and it’s not about the Secret Service–nor is it about adequate security. It’s about the L.A.P.D. over-reacting, or more likely, just not having the consideration to think the thing through. They do have the capacity to plan a route that would be more logical and less disruptive. But, no, they want the motorcade to take the glamor route, and the fundraiser just has to be in Hancock Park–far from any freeway. This is Los Angeles, not Mayberry RFD.
As a former L.A. taxi driver, I could have applied strategy and forethought to make the whole thing work much better. I would have told the prez to keep a low profile, as we wound are way through the La Tijera overpass. Wilshire? Pshaw! Why would anyone take Wilshire to get from the airport to Hancock Park? We might have taken Hauser or Rimpau, or just to throw the terrorists for a loop, taken a detour through Koreatown (with the meter off, of course) and stopped for some bip bim bob. (Sub shop? Ho hum.)
Wow! More than a mile and a half! I’ve only ridden a 747 once, and didn’t take notice of how long it took to take off.
Are 747s and other planes about that size used that much within the US anymore? Seems like most airport concourses are about the height of typical airbusses, and would need a special ramp or a 1960s-style ladder ramp to service a 747.