Air Force One photo-shoot: No photos

Klayman insists that his Freedom Watch "will not rest until the truth about this episode is fully exposed.

By all means give these babies the photos that they really could care less about. It has very, very little to do with the photos and all to do with creating a controversy, again, that the American people really could care less about. Amazing, start a war on faulty intel, out a CIA operative, but heaven forbid they don't get these aerial photos of New York that are a dime a dozen.

It is unpatriotic to question the great Obama.

Any fool who would do so must need some re-education!

Why are Reichwingers concerned about the "enhanced interrogation" pictures being released? It's not torture. And John McCain was not tortured according to Republicans "tortured" logic.

What a joke. Has anyone reading this done any research on the whacko who has requested this flight info? When you look into it, you realize what seemed like a valid story in the Trib, is actually a story about a complete nutcase who has unsuccessfully tried to sue the clintons and many other politicians in washington. He is crazy.

It was AIr Force One! DUH

Gee... call him the messiah, worship him, faint in his presence...

and we're surprised that he's the most arrogant ass on the planet?

Shouldn't the major media outlets such as the Chicago Tribune, CBS, NBC and ABC be joining in on this FOIA request? Why should Freedom Watch have to do the investigative job the media should be doing?

And while the media is at it, they can ask about Obama's promise of government "transparency?"

Oh, I forgot. It's Obama. No wonder the media aren't seeking the facts.

Way to go Larry, don't let this idiot get away with this crap!

Way to go Larry, don't let this idiot get away with this crap!

They won't release the photos because that would probely reveal to many additional details about this "event". It was either some other stunt rather than a photo op or it was a bunch of his cronies who were getting a joy ride in AF1. Either way, additional details would damage the white house, so no suprise about the witholding of these "photos"
P.S. Robert Gibbs comes across as such an arrogant and incompetent buffoon!

The problem with this other than being complete waste of money and the obvious stupidity of a low altitude buzzing of 9/11 ground zero- would be if the intent of the photo op was to provide campaign material, or is the equivalent of Clintons renting out Whitehouses sleepovers- Obama is always campaigning. I would like to know who was in the plane..

--

Use of taxpayer money for campaigning would be a violation of campaign financing laws - good luck in getting the federal election commisision to look at this though.

WHERE IS THE MICHAEL SAVAGE ARTICLE? Britain has banned him. IT WILL HAPPEN HERE. Say goodbye to free speech. Michael is the best in America. HE SHOULD BE PRESIDENT. He knows what's good. Read my ltr-to-ed on his show. Wrote this before the 2004 election. Should have written one like for BO!

John Kerry got three Purple Hearts in 90 days of combat in Vietnam. He didn't stay a day in the hospital. My hero, George Patton, got his nose broken three times and an arm broken twice just playing football for West Point. He received a Purple Heart in World War I by almost dying from machinegun fire.

John Kerry opted to go home after three Purple Hearts and four months of duty (one month in training). George Patton ... took tank training from the French in World War I, then trained our men and led them. After the war he wanted Congress to build tanks but they didn't listen until the blitz.

Between the wars he learned to fly and led the way in light-plane flight observation of the battlefield. You know what he did in World War II. Maybe you didn't know that after the Germans were defeated, he volunteered to fight in the Pacific. Can you imagine MacArthur and Patton together?

George Patton had a son named after him who graduated from West Point several days after he died. He fought with honor in Korea and Vietnam. He died last month and the Boston Globe reported that Patton II said Kerry's anti-war action "gave aid and comfort to the enemy and probably caused some of my guys to get killed."

Freedom watch? Where you been the last 8 years? Your as useful as baseballs anti-steroid program from the 90's.

As someone who voted for Obama, here's my take: The individual who authorized the flight without informing the President should be fired - there does need to be some accountability.

Obama should also fire Gibbs - he's far too glib about an episode that could reasonable induce trauma in New Yorkers by a fly-by.

If there are any images - release them immediately - this was paid for by taxpayer dollars. Even though the $300K is a drop in the bucket (compared to the bank bailouts) - it's still our money and should be accounted for.

Obama should apologize for the incident and we should then move on.

I elected the person I thought was best suited to lead the country. At no time did I think he was infallible or a messiah. If you think otherwise, you must be thinking of the mainstream media.

I am sure Obama was all smiles when the photos were clicked. Good stuff. Just like all smiles when shaking hands with Hugo. He sure has lots of crony machine pols in his back pocket. Laughing, laughing. Paying income taxes are for the stupid, not for Obamas guys and gals.

What exactly was the purpose of the fly over? Yeah! we bilked the tax payers out of 300K but these photos aren't for public consumption? Where's the transparency?

So much for transparency eh?
Bush looks like a genius compared to this guy, and he was an idiot. I guess a harvard education just isn't what it used to be.
I'm also amazed the tribune actually reported this story.

Wow-all that money spent with nothing to show. Kinda like the bailout program from Obama. Lots of money but no results. Pretty typical of this president. And the joke continues........

I BELIEVE that Klayman has a right to request the photos under the Freedom of Information Act, same as anybody else would. By all means, he should pursue his rights if that's what he wants to do. It's his cost, not mine or yours.
.
Was Obama wrong to have allowed this flight? Yup! Durn Tootin'! It was insensitive if he knew about it and SHOULD HAVE BEEN something he knew about if he didn't.
.
Now -- will I abandon all confidence in Obama because this happened? Of course not. Do I think Klayman's being an idiot and a tool for taking the incident to this level? I do, indeed.

This cost the American TAX PAYER $300,000+ for Air Force One and how much for the two fighter jets?

That's an additional cost.

Obama's transparent, open policy only is in effect when it profits Obama.

Glad this guy is filing Freedom of Information...don't care how long the Obama administration delays the request....the public "owns" those picture.

As for Gibbs, what a dolt.
He is an insulting figure and shows no respect...well and neither does the rest of the Obama administration.

Obama is a lousy leader. It is evident that chaos is occuring in the White House. No one knows what is going on. Bad news for the American people.

A chaotic American government.

Another thing we don't know is who was on Air Force One???

Also, I agree that it's terrible that Obama is willing to put out all sorts of photo's, confidential information and classified information about dealing with terrorists, but he is hiding this information.

Obama claims to be outraged by the Air Force One photo-op. Nonsense. This was just another one of the many power plays from a president who is obsessed with power plays and photo-ops. We're keeping score, Barack.

The title to this column is incorrect.

The airplane's designation is AF27000; it is only called Air Force One when the President is flying on it.

The same thing goes for the Vice President's plane. It's designation is AF27001 and is called Air Force Two only when the Vice President is flying on it.

Posted by: Harold Reimann | May 6, 2009 12:05 PM

First off, your rightwing rant has absolutely nothing to do with the topic at hand. Secondly, you are wrong. Britain has not "banned" Michael Alan Whiner Savage - they are putting him on a list of people whom they will deny admittance to their country. That's it. They are not banning or censoring him in any way, shape or form. They are not preventing any television or radio station in the country from broadcasting his show. And if he streams his show over the Internet, Britain is not preventing anyone with a computer from listening to him.

Once again Bill R. apologizes for his Messiah. Gee, if Obama took a gun and killed 100 people, Bill R and the Obama Minions would still find it OK.
This asinine flight scared people. Videos shows people running in fear like it was 9/11 all over again. Then we have Robert "The Jerk" Gibbs.
He has to be the worst press secretary ever and is far too bombastic for that job.
But it is funny, that this Badministration will release photos of someone being tortured but not of the Air Farce One fiasco. Course, this is the same badministration that released the torture memos but REFUSES to release the memos that tells what we got from those three we "tortured."

About a helf dozen leftnut responses to this story so far. Not one of them in favor of "transparency" or in favor of publishing the facts.

Sadly revealing.

P.S. Robert Gibbs comes across as such an arrogant and incompetent buffoon!

Posted by: Huge Ackman | May 6, 2009 11:38 AM

I like to call him "Twinky or Jelly Roll"

Obama was a mistake.

Remember the "sunshine before signing" pledge? Of the 11 bills he has signed, only 6 have been posted, and none have been posted for the promised 5 days before signing.

Remember how were were going to be able to track how all this stimulus spending was being spent? Try that will be available in 2010.

$329,000 for some pictures? I thought they were taken of AF29000
and not from inside. Which was it? Regardless, we paid for them, they're not classified, they should be posted for all to see and enjoy.

come on, we all know some low level functionary at the white house has complete control of Air Force One. Just like we know that no campaign contributors were on board for this little joyride authorized by some low level functionary. we just know it.

About a helf dozen leftnut responses to this story so far. Not one of them in favor of "transparency" or in favor of publishing the facts.

Sadly revealing.

Posted by: Rodney Daingerfield | May 6, 2009 12:55 PM

Reread my post then. I said by all means, get those important photos. If you can't wait, just google up aerial photos of New York.com and get as many as you want until you get the other. Maybe if I get you those pics, you'll get the ones of torture for the rest of us. Ooops...that's right...they were destroyed.

It's called the Freedom of Information Act. These pictures have no bearing on national security and should be released immediately, especially since we paid for them!

Nice work Barry! $330,000 spent for nothing. It could have saved a couple of jobs, but us little people don't mind at all.

Look! Here comes our stimulus....bend over.

Why are we all assuming there's photos from inside the plane in the first place? Of what? The skyline? The fighters flying alongside? You could take those photos from ANY plane, so why would they have used the backup Air Force One for that? It makes no sense. Also, Obama was not on the plane. I have a feeling that any photos from the photo op were most likely taken from outside the plane, where one could see it!

$329,000. Enough said. America, you are getting exactly what you voted for.

Janet, it that sarcasm? Otherwise, by Godwin's law, you lose.

The cost of the disputed "Air Force One photo-shoot,'' a flyover over the Statue of Liberty that stirred a furor in New York:

About $329,000, according to the Air Force

For no pictures.

This cost should immediately be reimbursed by our first African American President. If he is as concerned about people like he wanted us to believe during his rune to be the First African American President, he should not need prompting, he should have already wriiten a check. But, maybe the first African American President is more of a politician than the african americans that voted for him thought.
Might make people think twice about electing xomeone based soley on color.

It would have been possible to Photoshop Air Force One onto the New York skyline, so here's a question? Who was joyriding on that plane? Who wanted a closeup view of New York City? Close friends of the President, the 1st Lady, the President himself? Who?

Where's Fitz today? the resident Obama apologist billyr has his half cent in play.

Anyone have the body count in Afghanistan today? little billy? Donny Fitz?

It's always nice to see people downplay the incompetence as much as possible and make childish excuses. Every poltician has his/her supporters no matter how ignorant they act.

But it is funny, that this Badministration will release photos of someone being tortured...

Posted by: John D | May 6, 2009 12:53 PM
Little Johnny D,
I thought we don't torture? Your statement is very telling. You will look the other way when torture is involved....Just like obedient little Nazis did. You have zero credibility to lecture others about "looking the other way".

Has Barry ever heard of Photoshop. Would've been a lot cheaper. Even the stripped down Photoshop would've done it./

Posted by: Tired of Hearing It.. | May 6, 2009 1:48 PM

White Guy President George Bush would never have made a mistake like that right? Would White Guy McCain have made that mistake? How do all the White Guys who voted for White Guy McCain feel about this?

About a helf dozen leftnut responses to this story so far. Not one of them in favor of "transparency" or in favor of publishing the facts.

Sadly revealing.

Posted by: Rodney Daingerfield | May 6, 2009 12:55 PM

Reread my post then. I said by all means, get those important photos. If you can't wait, just google up aerial photos of New York.com and get as many as you want until you get the other. Maybe if I get you those pics, you'll get the ones of torture for the rest of us. Ooops...that's right...they were destroyed.

Posted by: bill r. | May 6, 2009 1:28 PM

Ditto, mine too. Could it be that the reichwingers omit any evidence that runs contrary to the conclusion they want to come to (to which they want to come, sorry)? An INTERESTING little trait when laid atop their insistence that that gosh-awful EEEEvulll Libbrul Media tries to portray facts in a manner they don't like to acknowledge. Glad to know there's no hypocrisy THERE, huh?

About a helf dozen leftnut responses to this story so far. Not one of them in favor of "transparency" or in favor of publishing the facts.

Sadly revealing.

Posted by: Rodney Daingerfield | May 6, 2009 12:55 PM

Reread my post then. I said by all means, get those important photos. If you can't wait, just google up aerial photos of New York.com and get as many as you want until you get the other. Maybe if I get you those pics, you'll get the ones of torture for the rest of us. Ooops...that's right...they were destroyed.

Posted by: bill r. | May 6, 2009 1:28 PM

Ditto, mine too. Could it be that the reichwingers omit any evidence that runs contrary to the conclusion they want to come to (to which they want to come, sorry)? An INTERESTING little trait when laid atop their insistence that that gosh-awful EEEEvulll Libbrul Media tries to portray facts in a manner they don't like to acknowledge. Glad to know there's no hypocrisy THERE, huh?

Incredibly lifelike clip -- circling NYC airspace endlessly for no apparent reason!

There is obviously something in this story that the administration wants to hide. My guess is that Bill Clinton was using Air Force One for a trip with a bunch of the Hooter's girls and he wanted to impress them by having the pilot do a low flyover.

Let me see if I understand this? Under the Bush Administration the US Treasury LITERALLY sent pallets loaded with cash to Iraq and the money disappeared w/o a trace and Republicans were silent, but now they are up in arms about a stupid plane flight? Let's see which mistake caused death and mayhem? Oh it was the boondoggle in Iraq.

And just think, this white guilt social experiment goes on for another 3yrs. and 6 months.

Grab the ankles...Obama's not even out of the gates yet.

Paulo

This waste of taxpayers'
money on a photo op
won't be complete until/unless
the Obama administration
releases the plane's manifest
of everyone on the plane at the time it terrorized Manhattan
or until someone requests the list of everyone on the plane under the FOI Act.

Was this really a photo op of the Statue & Plane
or a joyride by the winners
kicking up their heels as an extension of the telling phrase,
"I won, get over it!"

QUO WARRANTO

When this occurred, the story was that they took a backup aircraft to create updated images of it passing in front of various national monuments and icons. i.e., Statue of Liberty, St. Louis Arch, Mt. Rushmore, etc. The prints would be used as souvenirs for persons who actually fly with the President. The only aircraft that is designated "Air Force One" is the aircraft the President is actually on at the time. This was yet another waste of tax money. Now they won't even use the images. That's even dopier. Yes, it does defy logic to release info that our enemies will use against us. The authorized torture was bad enough, so why make things even worse? The entire bunch (Dems, Reps, & Indeps) need to be replaced. Term limits are our only hope of bringing some sanity back to our govt.

"About a half dozen leftnut responses to this story so far. Not one of them in favor of "transparency" or in favor of publishing the facts.

Sadly revealing.

Posted by: Rodney Daingerfield | May 6, 2009 12:55 PM

Reread my post then. I said by all means, get those important photos. bill r."

"bill r.", if you bothered to read what you comment on, you would perhaps realize that "transparency" and "all the facts" means getting a lot MORE than just the photos. Such as answere to questiosn like: who authorized the flight? Who was on the flight?

I repeat: how can anyone be opposed to ALL the facts coming out? And why isn't the Tribune trying to get these facts?

Posted by: Tired of Hearing It.. | May 6, 2009 1:48 PM

White Guy President George Bush would never have made a mistake like that right? Would White Guy McCain have made that mistake? How do all the White Guys who voted for White Guy McCain feel about this?

Posted by: Non White | May 6, 2009 2:22 PM

Where in my post do I mention Bush??? Where do I mention McCain?? Where do I say Bush would or wouldn't have made the same mistake??? I know far many more blakcs that voted for Obama SIMPLY because he is black than I do whites that did not vote form him for the same reason. If I had chosen McCain simply because he was white, that would be very racist, as well as stupid. But, racism and equality cut BOTH ways. Anybody that voted for Obama SIMPLY because he is black made a very racist and stupid decision. See the correlation? One scenario cannot be construed as racist unless both are!

I do give you credit for trying to turn the focus of my post away from my point. You are a classic example of someone who will do whatever it takes to focus on the past, and shy away from the ramifications of choosing an elected official based on race. Too many blacks voted for Obama SIMPLY because he is black. So, we hear about the First African American president in every other sentence.
No, he is now simply the President, with all racial and ethnic issues aside, and HE is responsible for this gaffe. He is responsible for ensuring that not ONE AMERICAN, white, black, gray, blue or yellow does not spend one penny for this stupid act.
Again, please show me where I made the references to Bush or McCain. Or, try making a response that address the actual post. Let's see how anybody feels about your one/short sightedness.

stil no body counts don & billy? better get to your J O B and give us the latest from Afghanistan - Barry's War.

I like Obama but I admit this is not looking good. Not the open honest and all. I think they might be released soon

How dare anyone question the Almighty One. Please go directly to Washington for immediate re-programming!

B. Hussein al-Chicago Obama blows $300K of our money on photos of Air Force One over Manhatten, and won't even show us the pictures.

How much taxpayer money did he blow on saving Chrysler, and what exactly did we as taxpayers get in exchange for that?!?!

Thanks Obamatrons!

Who was on the plane and why? An open White House would release this information if it did not have something to hide.

Don't put Robert "know nothing"" in front of the public to act stupid.

I'm sure the flight log of this flight has the names of all on board. In case of an accident they would have notify their families.

It's a simple thought....is this an honest president or a dishonest one?

Klayman?
He is right up there with Andy Martin and that Corsi guy.

sheesh.

This could have been conducted better at least the citizens of New York could of been told what was going to happen untill after the fact.

Net Essentials Llc.
www.netessentialsllc.com

When the aggregate cost of all of Barack's frivolities reaches half the cost of W's "Mission Accomplished" day -- remember that, aircraft carrier, codpiece, etc ? -- you wingnuts will be heard to complain. Until then, be silent.

More stupditity from BC:

First off, your rightwing rant has absolutely nothing to do with the topic at hand. Secondly, you are wrong. Britain has not "banned" Michael Alan Whiner Savage - they are putting him on a list of people whom they will deny admittance to their country. That's it. They are not banning or censoring him in any way, shape or form. They are not preventing any television or radio station in the country from broadcasting his show. And if he streams his show over the Internet, Britain is not preventing anyone with a computer from listening to him.

Posted by: BC | May 6, 2009 12:50 PM

BC, dear, you state that England is putting Savage on a list of people whom they will deny admittance to England. Yet, you then say England is not banning him? BC, darling, (and this from a person who has no geographical knowledge), if England is putting Savage on a list of those it will deny entrance, isn't that banning him? And, isn't it so sweet that England will "allow" him to be on the Internet! BC writes that like it would be OK if they didn't allow some Englander from watching or listening to him on the Internet!
Just because one doesn't like what one says, doesn't mean an alleged Democratic and free country like England should bar someone from entering it or being on the airwaves. I can't stand Keith Olberidiot or Rachel Madcowdisease, but I would hardly suggest they be banned. Course, sending them to a remote deserted island is not a bad idea!

Posted by: Tired of Hearing It. | May 6, 2009 3:14 PM

Let's test your brilliant theory with facts, shall we?
#
In 2000, the Democratic Presidential Candidate, Al Gore, who was not black, took approximately 90% of the african american vote, and 42% of the white vote.
http://www.pollingreport.com/2000.htm
In 2004 The Democratic Presidential Candidate, John Kerry, who was not black, took approximately 88% of the African American vote and 41% of the white vote.
http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/states/US/P/00/epolls.0.html
#
In 2008, the Democratic Presidential Candidate, Barack Obama, who is black took 95% of the African American vote and 43% of the white vote.

At best a 5% swing of black voters and a 1-2% swing of white voters. Hardly worth your sweeping generalizations, and attacks on black voters as a group. I wonder why you felt the need to interject race into this discussion, after all it was YOU that brought it up.The facts certainly don't warrant it. What other reason could there be for YOUR vigorous introduction of the "race card" into this discussion?

Hello White House, this is the Photo Hut, we have this 8 1/2 by 11 of Air Force that is ready for pick-up. Please being the $329,000 in cash only - you credit rating isn't too good.

Let's not understate the magnitude of this reckless spending frivolity. $300k+ represents more than one one-hundreth of a cent for every person in this country. Sobering, yes?

Robby Gibbs promised we will get "a photo" today after getting insulting about watching those blurry things on CNN (heaven forbid he mention FOX) while the photographer was running for his life. $329.000 for a photoshopped photo. Wow, rampant inflation is change. Does ANYONE actually think this was a photo op? President Transparent needs to come clean.

President Transparent is out of focus.