Official May Be Fired for Authorizing N.Y. Flyover. By Michael D. Shear and Ann Scott Tyson. The Washington Post, 29 April 2009, Kindle Edition
The plane known as Air Force One when the president is onboard flew over New York on Monday so that the photo file could be updated. Sounds reasonable to me. Steps were taken and New York City officials were notified of the event but were asked to not notify the public. I'm not sure why the public was not notified but it just might have something to do with terrorists and the fact that taking pot shots at the plane could be a PR coup for the like of al Qaeda. Even if the public were notified then there is the question of just how many "in the public" would get notified.
Well, come Monday it seems the folks in New York had panic attacks when they saw a plane flying low. Yep, they claim flashbacks to 9/11. Fear they were under attack. To read news accounts the city shut down out of shear panic. To hear and read some reports it was almost a repeat of Orson Welles' broadcast of War of the Worlds. Now here seems to be a call for heads to roll.
"Asked repeatedly whether White House Military Office Director Louis Caldera, who made the decision, would lose his job, [White House press secretary Robert] Gibbs told reporters yesterday 'I think the president has rightly asked that a review of the situation and the decision-making' be done."
The only dumber than having New Yorkers panic over a low-flying aircraft would be fire someone over this event. Come on people, grow up and get over it. I hope the Obama administration will realize this for what it is and let it go. To fire someone like Caldera over something this trivial would be insanely ridiculous.
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