"If he were reliving his days in the Guard, he wouldn't have shown up"- By Mary Mapes

[kpete]

The Empty Flight Suit
Mary Mapes
Posted May 1, 2008 | 01:25 PM (EST)



Has it really been five years since we were treated to that breathtaking "Mission Accomplished" scene aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln?

..............................

Never before has a president landed aboard a carrier at sea, much less taken the controls of the aircraft. His decision to sleep aboard the ship this evening in the captain's quarters conjured images of the presidency at sea not seen since Franklin D. Roosevelt used to sail to summit meetings.

Mr. Bush was clearly reliving his days as a pilot in the Texas Air National Guard, more than three decades ago.

(NOT)

No, he wasn't. If he were reliving his days in the Guard, he wouldn't have shown up.
He would have been in Alabama getting out of bed late for the cushy job his father arranged for him with a friend's campaign. Or he would have been nursing a hangover, lounging by the pool in Houston at the Chateau Dijon. Back when he was supposed to fly a military jet -- when he promised to fly, was paid to fly, was obligated to fly -- the last place the future president seemed to be was behind the controls.

Besides, military records eventually unearthed by AP in 2004 showed that Bush had serious troubles actually landing a jet, a factor that would have made his approach to the USS Lincoln a little too exciting, if you know what I mean.

more at:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mary-mapes/the-empty-flight-suit_b_99654.html

[teamster633]

1. Her ending could be the epitaph of his pResidency...

"Maybe the New York Times was right after all. Maybe the "Mission Accomplished" extravaganza was a lot like the president's National Guard service -- unfair, unfinished, unforgivable."

[blm]

2. Media knew the story that Bush was afraid of jet landings but refused to puncture his image

that they helped to craft.

Kerry, in contrast, was an accomplished pilot by his second year of college and even continued to do stunt piloting, but you'd never know that from America's corporate media.

[MADem]

3. At the controls, eh? I can remember, years ago, they used to have a little car seat

for children with a steering wheel on it. That's about as "at the controls" as the Monkey was. He couldn't even remember to loosen the straps on his parachute, leaving his 'business' painfully pinched and on display.

There's a shitload of practice--ON LAND--that precedes landing on a carrier. The idea that anyone would think Bush actually did that landing (oh, the guy at the controls, he ended up DEAD, BTW) is absurd.

[mitchleary]

4. Ha!

I bet the cod piece he had on was filled to the brim with urine.

[KSinTX]

5. Glad to be 5th rec on this thread. Well worthwhile.

nt