Comments on: Air Pelosi? Uh, not so much...

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 05:10:41 +0000

[...] By Michelle Malkin Photoshop credit: Bucktown Dusty Lazy, lazy, lazy. Bull, bull, bull. Time�s Karen Tumulty cites ABC News to prove that critics of Diva Pelosi�s air travel are blowing smoke. Both outlets [...]

By: Paul Dirks

Paul Dirks — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:12:53 +0000

The service the USAF gives to our country is being on call to fly.
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And the degree to which certain members of the USAF may be grumbling about it reflects directly on them, not necessarily on their charges.

By: usesherbrain

usesherbrain — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:45:01 +0000

I just wanted to point out the the USAF maintains a fleet of C-20/C-37 aircraft for exactly this purpose. The whole mission of those aircraft are to ferry government personnel (both military and civilian, more often high-ranking) to and from work-related travel. For groups of government personnel going to the same place, this ultimately saves a whole lot of time and money, and allows flexibility to meet the scheduled events and respond to changing situations.
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The reason there are "plush" ones is that high-ranking officials (be they Generals, Admirals, Speakers of the House, or Secretaries of Defense) are afforded a tad more luxury and respect by the military than your average joe. That's just part of the culture.
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In general, I would say that chartering a flight to take you home for non-governmental purposes is fraud, waste, and abuse. However, we don't scream when the President takes AF1 wherever he goes. We make the assumption that it's better for the AF to take care of his particular needs. Rep. Pelosi is extremely visible and recognizable, and there are quite a few people in this country that dislike her (thank you for providing an excellent example, hula!) For her, or Sen. Hoyer, or any of the members of the cabinet, I could see this option as being better for everyone involved.
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If your concern is over the cost of military flights, remember that the only extra cost that they're incurring by taking a military jet is fuel. Whether they're flying or not, the crew is on duty, maintenance is being performed, and hangars are using energy. The service the USAF gives to our country is being on call to fly.

By: dunedweller

dunedweller — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 03:31:26 +0000

hula honey all of that was already happening in 08 thanks to your hero W. I think what you meant to say was that Democrats told you it would continue if you voted for John McCain.

By: stuartzechman

stuartzechman — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 03:29:47 +0000

QH:
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We never said that Iran would get a nuke.
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Our VP is less of an embarrassment, too.
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Other than that, I can't argue with you.

By: FlownOver

FlownOver — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 03:19:50 +0000

KT –
Good (and responsible) of you to respond, but with Malkin it's like explaining arithmetic to a brine shrimp. Better to call out the "responsible" voices who regurgitate this crap uncritically.

By: hulagate

hulagate — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 03:15:45 +0000

In '08, the Democrats told me that if I voted for John McCain, the US economy would worsen, the market would tank, unemployment would go through the roof, we'd lose the war in Afghanistan, deficit spending would increase, Iran would get a nuke, the administration would be filled with crooks and lobbyists, our VP would be an embarassment, and we'd have troops in Iraq until at least 2011.

Well I did vote for McCain, and damned if all that didn't come to pass.

Mission Accomplished Barry Hussein.

By: dunedweller

dunedweller — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 02:45:51 +0000

I was just telling dune husband about this post, and he reminded me of the time about 3 years ago when we were waiting at SFO for our plane to board for Vegas. The plane was there, ready to go, yet they wouldn't begin boarding. As time passed, we began to grow frustrated and wonder what the hell was the hold up. Three hours later guess who shows up? Joe Lieberman! And what do you know, once he's boards the plane they let the rest of us board. Moral to the story - if this is what happens when politicians fly commercial, let them fly on military planes.

By: bobcn1

bobcn1 — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 02:05:14 +0000

The idiot Malkin wrote: 'Pelosi's absurd demand in December 2008 (that's just three months ago, not “early in her tenure”) that the military move her jet from San Francisco airport to Travis Air Force base' . Does Malkin have any idea how much money it SAVES the taxpayers to land a military jet at a military base rather than at a commercial airport? Landing at a military base avoids commercial landing fees, parking and refueling costs, etc., and provides the aircraft with the full maintenance support of an Air Force base The fees for a jet to occasionally land at SFO are substantial. I'm sure this never even occurred to Malkin -- and, of course, if it had she would be bitching anyway.

By: hulagate

hulagate — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:55:50 +0000

"Or are you a scab savant, crossing the elite picket line to bestow your brilliance upon us?"

Yes, let the $60-an-hour slacker card check law prevail.

Good plan.

The 25 MILLION jobs lost as a result will doom the DNC for the next 100 Years.

Speaking of McCain being right, after all.