I can’t imagine that the Secret Service or whoever clears the President’s methods of travel could possibly approve Shrub’s landing on an aircraft carrier by jet.
By helicopter, yes, but by jet???
I’ve read that carrier landings by jet are one of the most dangerous things to do, so why submit the “Most Powerful Man In The World” to that process?
Unless it was for the PR value, which just makes what happened even that much more outrageous.
So, what’s the deal?
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A983-2003May1.html
Sounds fine to me.
Why did he do it? Pure publicity. Wait for the commercials for his 2004 presidential campaign. You will see it again, and again, and again, …
When you’re the President of the USA you get to do whatever the hell you want. It’s one of the perks of the job. Ask Saddam Hussein.
I heard this same question answered on radio the other day. The plane Bush was on was no fighter, and lands at about 12mph. Also it was an absolutely beautiful and calm day. There wasn’t really any more danger than landing at an airport.
If it were dangerous, Bush himself would’ve been derilect in his duty as the president.
Peace,
mangeorge
You may be interested in this simul-thread in GQ: Carrier Landing by Bush
Or in Payton’s Servant’s Pit thread on this topic: Shrub’s landing on the aircraft carrier, WTF was the Secret Service thinking???
12 MPH? Maybe you meant 120.
I love GW but landing is easy. If he lauches off an aircraft carrier… I’m sorry, but at that point I gotta give the man the “Brass Pair” award.
Apparently you don’t know what you’re talking about, JamesCarroll. Landing an aircraft isn’t easy, and it certainly isn’t easy to land it on a very small, moving, unstable platform such as the flight deck of an aircraft carrier.
Nah. I was exaggerating. The gist of the story was that there wasn’t much risk. The prez isn’t allowed to risk his life. As long as he’s in office it isn’t his life to risk.
mangeorge: Cite?
I’m not alone in my propensity for exaggeration, I see. 
Sigh.
I don’t know, Monty. The Oath of Office?
Because he’s the “president” and being president is next to godliness…therefore, president = god-like status…
When did he get elected?! :eek:
If that wasn’t sarcasm, here’s the answer to that:
Nope. According to the US constitution, the oath of office is as follows:
“I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.” (From article II, section I)
I agree that this was pretty safe for him to do (although a difficult, demanding task for the pilot) and that the president’s life is not entirely his own, but that is more of a matter of tradition and duty rather than hard and fast rules or the oath of office. I think that it would be better to say that he has an obligation to consider the risks and benefits of the actions that he takes, not that he’s obligated to never take risks. It’s a small distinction, but an important one I think.
What’s with the sigh? When you write something like the President isn’t allowed to risk his life and it’s not his life to risk, I think a cite would be in order. And writing “The Oath of Office” isn’t a cite.
Yes, I was being sarcastic. What’s to cite? It’s something I learned in high school, around the Kennedy assassination. In fact, there was a *lot[i/i] of discussion about how much the president should be allowed to expose himself to danger. I’m sure a late evening stroll, solo, on DC’s mean streets would be disallowed. As would real rock climbing. He’s the president, not the king.
To me, the thing is obvious. Hence the sigh.
BTW; I’m 58, out of shape, and not a pilot. I’d have taken that flight (and the controls) in a heartbeat.
Ignore the italics. It’s too early for this.
According to this article there were 13,000 take offs and landings from the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln during it’s deployment.
I think that to Navy pilots with this amount of experience, a carrier landing is demonstrably safe. They even stopped the ship so as to make it an even easier landing.
Also, this ship had the largest media contingent in the history of any military campaign onboard, and I don’t recall a single accident reported.
So, if it worked the last 13,000 times… you get the drift.
as for
the deal is, some people will attempt to attack this president’s actions on the flimsiest of excuses.
There was a mix-up with the Florida ballot.