IF BUSH HAD DONE IT - AT 4:54 P.M. ET:  From The New York Times:

An Air Force One lookalike, the backup plane for the one regularly used by the president, flew low over parts of New York and New Jersey on Monday morning, accompanied by two F-16 fighters, so Air Force photographers could take pictures high above the New York harbor.

But the exercise — conducted without any notification to the public — caused momentary panic in some quarters and led to the evacuation of several buildings in Lower Manhattan and Jersey City. By the afternoon, the situation had turned into a political fuse box, with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg saying that he was “furious” that he had not been told in advance about the flyover.

At 4:39 p.m. Monday, the White House issued an apology for the flyover.

COMMENT:  Can you just imagine the press reaction if BUSH (!!) had done this?  Militarist.  Cowboy.  Recklessly endangering American lives.  Wasting fuel.  Polluting the environment.  Scaring the Statue of Liberty. 

Then there'd be a congressional investigation into harsh flying techniques.

April 27, 2009