My school-days buddy, John Martin, was a flight mechanic on an aircraft carrier in WWII. As he got ready to service an incoming aircraft, John sensed that the pilot wasn’t going to make it.
When the “ground” crew saw the looming crash, they all dove for the safety of an emergency deck “pit” for protection. John dove for the pit, too. But there were men on the deck that didn’t officially belong there when aircraft was coming in, and the pit got full before John got all the way in.The plane hit the edge of the deck, slid across it, and rolled over John’s exposed leg, taking it off at the hip.
He survived, but the memory of it made me think of two important factors about aircraft carriers.
One, terrible accidents can, and do, happen when you least expect them to. Two, an aircraft carrier is no place to play like you’re a Top Gun, especially when there are hundreds of people gathered together in one place when the plane lands.
I submit that when President Bush came roaring in on the USS, Abraham Lincoln, both factors had somehow been totally ignored.
In my opinion, Bush’s decision to make this showboat entrance, was not so much a “salute to the boys on the carrier” as it was a little cowboy, riding a bicycle, and yelling. ” Look. Ma, no hands!”
And, as far as the huge crowd standing together is concerned, whoever gave that order ought to be reprimanded, if not court-martialed. If the crowd had first been dispersed, they could have easily been called back to one location, AFTER the aircraft had landed.
The President’s jetman act is now, of course, taking flak from the Democrats.
But for all the wrong reasons.
The bumbling Dems are yakking about the price tag of Bush’s performance— from $800.000 to a $1 million Lots of money, but no cigar.
The Dems are also babbling about the fact that by sitting in for Tom Cruise, Bush will have a flying start in the 2004 presidential campaign. As Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said:: “He used the Navy and Air Force for his own private purposes in a way that exploits them and misused taxpayers’ dollars. The military of this country is not a toy for him to use for his own amusement, or a prop for his campaign reelection.”
A candid assessment, but also, no cigar.
Doddering democrats really missed the gravy boat this time. They were so busy vilifying Bush for emulating a jet-jock kicking off his 2004 campaign, and so insistent on comparing the expense of Bush’s borax bonanza with the national debt, that the REAL danger to the nation sailed right over their heads.
What is this REAL danger to the nation?
The real danger is that in the middle of this international crisis, we could have easily lost the leader of our country. The President of the United States has responsibilities to the nation and to its people. One important responsibility is to keep himself in the best mental and physical condition possible. Because he makes decisions that affect millions of people, he has no right to take chances with his own life, as Bush did.
Am I being melodramatic? I don’t think so, when you consider these points:
Landing a plane on a carrier, even in peacetime, is always inherently dangerous. (As my buddy in WWII found out.) That’s one.
Bush had the option of flying in by helicopter; but he chose to play the “heavy” in this drama, and jetted in on the carrier deck. That’s two.
I was told that there are four cables an aircraft can hook onto in landing. If the plane misses all four, the plane can’t stop and it goes off the deck and into the ocean. Reports are that Bush’s aircraft hooked onto the fourth, and LAST, cable. That’s three.
If Bush’s pilot had miscalculated in any way and crashed, not only would he and the president have been injured, if not killed, but thousands of personnel on deck would have been in serious trouble and a major tragedy might have taken place. That’s four.
Of course, knowing the slo-mo Dems, I’m not too surprised that they didn’t pick up on this facet of the President’s performance. What I am troubled about is that the President in his ‘little boy” effort to show-off, let his ego outstrip his commonsense and allowed his self-image to override his responsibility to the nation.
As far as I’m concerned, George W. Bush, President of the United States needs to think less about the impression he’s making and more about the office he’s holding.
“Published originally at EtherZone.com : republication allowed with this notice and hyperlink intact.”