The Presidential Helicopter and the I-35 Bridge

[Boyo_Jim]

@t-bonham@scc.net

No, that unit operates only the C-130 Hercules Transport planes. Eight of them. No helicopters at all. See a photo of a C-130 here.

I suppose they could put Bush in one and fly him over the site. They can go a bit lower and a bit slower than AF1. But still, cruising by at 200mi/hr or so wouldn’t do much. And they really don’t have much in the way of windows except for the pilots.

(Of course, since most of that unit just got back from Bush’s war in Iraq, where their tour of duty got extended 3 different times, the Secret Service probably wants to keep Bush away from them. They might say things that he doesn’t want to hear.)

Not only that, if he really wanted to get down and see, they could skim the ground, slap a chute on him, and have him sucked out the rear cargo door. He might live, and what a photo OP!

[mhendo]

@Tuckerfan

Thus proving that you are exactly the same kind of fuckwit you believe Carol to be. If Carol’s as bad as you say she is, and from what I’ve seen, she is, there will be ample opportunities for you to jump her shit with a valid reason. That, however, is apparently not good enough for you. You’ve got to jump her shit whenever you see a post by her. What a senseless waste of human life you are.

God you’re a fucking idiot.

[Boyo_Jim]

@kaylasdad99

While I’m generally in support of your scold of mhendo, Tuckerfan, I must confess to being confused by the reference to the Tom DeLay playbook.

When was DeLay ever right enough about something to be in a position to jump someone’s shit after they conceded error?

Or is it just about kicking someone when they’re down?

He was never wrong enough NOT to jump someone’s shit, I’m sure of that. He’s always been a ‘take no prisoners’ kind of guy.

[Boyo_Jim]

@mhendo

God you’re a fucking idiot.

Aren’t you named after an ape? Shut it down, hair ball.

[mhendo]

@Boyo Jim

Aren’t you named after an ape? Shut it down, hair ball.

An ape? I don’t get it? Is this a cultural reference i’m missing, or an insult that went over my head?

[Tuckerfan]

@kaylasdad99

While I’m generally in support of your scold of mhendo, Tuckerfan, I must confess to being confused by the reference to the Tom DeLay playbook.

When was DeLay ever right enough about something to be in a position to jump someone’s shit after they conceded error?

Or is it just about kicking someone when they’re down?

DeLay took a great deal of pride in partisan politics and saw nothing wrong with opposing something someone did, simply because they were on the opposite side of the political aisle. mhendo’s doing exactly the same kind of thing here, if not worse, because he claims to be “above” the likes of Carol and DeLay. And with his childish insults, he’s undermining his case even further, but, I guess, like DeLay, Rove, and so many others, it doesn’t matter how he wins, only that he does win.

[Boyo_Jim]

@mhendo

An ape? I don’t get it? Is this a cultural reference i’m missing, or an insult that went over my head?

Oops, sorry, I thought your were named after a species in a CJ Cherryh sci-fi series. My bad.

[Boyo_Jim]

Note to all. I have apologized, and I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve done that on these boards. I just can’t see how that’s a problem for anybody. Or am I about to hear a whoosh?

[mhendo]

@Boyo Jim

Oops, sorry, I thought your were named after a species in a CJ Cherryh sci-fi series. My bad.

I’m afraid the origin of my name is much more mundane than that. Although now i know that i’m also named after an ape, i’ll do my best to act appropriately.

[Dewey_Finn]

@Tuckerfan

[/list]Also, there may only be one Air Force One (officially there’s only the one, but who knows?), but there’s multiple helicopters and limos which will have the designation Marine One and Limo One.

Actually, there are two Air Force Ones (i.e., two Boeing 747s that are meant for presidential use), although any Air Force aircraft carrying the president gets that call sign.

[kaylasdad99]

@Boyo Jim

Oops, sorry, I thought your were named after a species in a CJ Cherryh sci-fi series. My bad.

I think that would be m’hendo, wouldn’t it?

[Boyo_Jim]

@kaylasdad99

I think that would be m’hendo, wouldn’t it?

What’s an apostrophe more or less?

[kaylasdad99]

@Tuckerfan

DeLay took a great deal of pride in partisan politics and saw nothing wrong with opposing something someone did, simply because they were on the opposite side of the political aisle. mhendo’s doing exactly the same kind of thing here, if not worse, because he claims to be “above” the likes of Carol and DeLay. And with his childish insults, he’s undermining his case even further, but, I guess, like DeLay, Rove, and so many others, it doesn’t matter how he wins, only that he does win.

Yeah, I know, and I’m really disappointed in him. 'Cos, by any objective standards, he is above the likes of them, and it makes me sad to see him pass up an opportunity to be gracious about it.

Oh, well, there’ll be other days.

[kaylasdad99]

@Boyo Jim

What’s an apostrophe more or less?

You might need to ask Cherryh, but I thought it was the thing that designated a hybrid.

[John_Mace]

@Carol Stream

You know, I think you’re right, I did jump the gun. My apologies, everyone.

Congrats. We could use more straight forward apologies like that around here.

[Boyo_Jim]

@kaylasdad99

You might need to ask Cherryh, but I thought it was the thing that designated a hybrid.

A hybrid word, or a hybrid species?

[kaylasdad99]

Never mind, I was thinking of Cordwainer Smith.

[LouisB]

If Bush would just stay the hell out of the way and never leave Crawford, Texas , we would be spared the expense of shipping his toys all over the freaking place and we wouldn’t need threads like this one. On the other hand, I didn’t know we shipped his toys every place he went, so I’ve learned something. I suppose the toys have been shipped for previous presidents and will be shipped for future presidents and that’s okay; my preference would be to keep Bush parked in one spot, preferably with no way of communicating with anyone at all.

[John_Mace]

@LouisB

If Bush would just stay the hell out of the way and never leave Crawford, Texas , we would be spared the expense of shipping his toys all over the freaking place and we wouldn’t need threads like this one. On the other hand, I didn’t know we shipped his toys every place he went, so I’ve learned something. I suppose the toys have been shipped for previous presidents and will be shipped for future presidents and that’s okay; my preference would be to keep Bush parked in one spot, preferably with no way of communicating with anyone at all.

Yeah, that’s really intelligent. Did you think of that all yourself?

[buttonjockey308]

@riker1384

I’d bet the helicopter also has countermeasures against anti-aircraft missiles. And besides checking for bug or bombs, the Presidential helicopter probably gets extra top-notch maintenance for safety in general.

If wonder if they also have designations for Segway One and Shoes One.

I’m sure they do and they have Bike One. The 10-speed (though it could be a mountain bike by now) with the kevlar inlaid wheels to pull over the package.

The short list of stuff…

1. Generally speaking, everything goes everywhere. Always has, no matter who the president is.

2. Not only does the C-5 Globemaster(s) that carry 1 or 2 of like, 5 of the Sea Kings that may be used as Marine One (hoo boy does that piss off the Air Force) go everywhere, but if there’s going to be ground transport, so then goes the advance team which consists of;

              a. A black ford van loaded with a HUGE amount of high-speed comm equipment.
   
              b. Two (very heavily armed) war wagon suv's, the Presi limo, a decoy and a license plate for every state in the union.
   
              c. A c-130 to carry other assorted stuff, on occasion.
   

3. An advance team of anywhere between 25 and 50 people (not including local LE) and a ground team (if there is to be a personal appearance) of uniformed SS agents, plain clothes SS agents, snipers and crowd dummies.

and

4. Two fighters (they’re probably using F22’s by now, I don’t know) and 2 KC135 stratotankers (one for AF1 and one for the fighters).

All this stuff went with Clinton, and probably goes with Bush too. That and probably more will go with the next President.

Marine one is specially equipped (can’t say how) and is, as someone pointed out, pre-checked for all manner of badstuff.

Facts are that the Big Dog needs to have all of that stuff and more at his disposal, y’know…just in case.

Surely no one expects the president of the United States to RENT a vehicle, do they?

Nah…