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Photograph of Air Force One flying over the Statue of Liberty from the White House
The White House spent up to $357,000 for the Presidential Airlift Group—which includes the 747 that is Air Force One when the President is on board and a military fighter jet escort—to fly over lower Manhattan and take pictures—and this is the photograph they release? It's really mediocre—we guess they didn't want to spend the money/time to Photoshop it up. And why not at least give us a shot of the darn plane in front of the lower Manhattan skyline? Or is that too good for us?
The White House released the above photograph and a report about the seriously ill-advised plan to have the planes fly over lower Manhattan on April 27—freaking out New Yorkers who remember 9/11. Plus, the White House aide who ordered the photo op, Louis Caldera, resigned from his position as director of the White House Military Office.
Here's a link to the report (PDF): Apparently the Deputy Director George Mulligan sent an email to Caldera on April 24:
Sir: per our conversation about [the airlift group's commandeer, Colonel] Scott Turner's plans to fly over the Statue of Liberty - it's scheduled for this Monday, April 27th. All has been coordinated. AF PA plan/statement is below and will be released only if asked. Will probably receive some local press, but WH shouldn't catch any questions about it. Provided in case you want to pass to Jim Messina or Robert Gibbs for awareness. This is an AF operation, in close coordination with FAA. Happy to discuss with you as necessary.Of course, deputy chief of staff Jim Messina and press secretary Robert Gibbs weren't told.
Caldera, when asked when they weren't informed, said:
He noted that the Deputy Director had not told him (and he did not understand) that Air Force One would be flying over lower Manhattan at a very low altitude. He then stated that people frequently recommend that he notify Mr. Messina about certain events. Sometimes they are right; sometimes they are wrong. Finally, the Director stated that he was not asked to approve the flight. If he had been asked to make a decision, he would have received a formal package requesting his approval and he would have expected earlier and more extensive discussions with Colonel Turner and the Deputy Director.Mulligan said he didn't tell Messina or Gibbs because he "believed-based on his discussions with Colonel Turner and the various emails he received-that experienced professionals had planned the mission, and they had taken necessary steps to ensure the public was notified. Second, he believed that the Director would pass the information up the chain of command. This was standard office procedure, and he believed the Director preferred it that way."
The Daily News reports staffers were unhappy: "The FAA warned the Military Office that the media needed to be advised of the flight. There were red flags" and "This (incident) was just plain stupid." Or plane stupid! Also, why not give the public a photo of the plane in front of some NYC buildings at least?
Also, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, a man who has better things to do than to worry about plane photo ops, wrote a letter to Senator John McCain about the mission, "I am concerned that this highly public and visible mission did not include an appropriate public affairs plan nor adequate review and approval by senior Air Force and DoD (Defense Department) officials... The mission was coordinated with FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) liaisons, Systems Operations Security team members, and traffic managers; New York air traffic control representatives; and Newark and LaGuardia tower supervisors...On April 24, 2009 the FAA notified multiple agencies ofthe impending flight, including the US Park Police, NYC Mayor's Office, NYC Office of Emergency Management, NYC Police Department Operations, New Jersey State Police Regional Coordination Center, and several New Jersey area emergency operations centers." You can read the whole thing here (PDF).
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That is quite good but I was expecting better.
Not quite enough to justify the hysteria/expense
Exactly. I was hoping for a gorgeous photo so at least something positive would come out of this debacle.
I think its Good. I would have liked to get the cash to take it though.
Why is the flag backward? Or is that how we're SUPPOSED to display the colors in BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA'S AMERIKA.
Dude you forgot to switch profiles to "thefacts".
I promise I won't tell anyone your secret identity.
You outed him once and for all.
Why is the flag backward? Or is that how we're SUPPOSED to display the colors in BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA'S AMERIKA.
Freak.
LOGIN FAIL.
Anyway, that's proper flag protocol. When a flag is painted on any vehicle, it is required to simulate the direction it would be blowing if it were a real flag. It appears "backwards" on the right side of other Air Force jets, airliners, NYC subways, etc.
Yep, the same protocol is used on military uniforms. The flag is on the right shoulder so appears "backwards" to look as if it's flowing as the wearer moves forward.
Are you retarded? You'd think a "patriot" such as yourself would know proper flag display protocol.
Argh, meant to reply to RC's comment of course.
Argh no I didn't. I'm giving up now.
Yep, JDS just got his butt handed to him by several people for displaying his legendary combination of snarkiness and ignorance. An embarrassment to Gothamist, if you ask me.
Yeah not a great photo. Would have been nice to get it without the glare from the inside of the canopy of the plane the photog is in (polarizing filter maybe?) and without the black edge of the bottom of the canopy in the lower right corner of the shot. Hopefully that's not the best one of the series.
I would expect better from a professional photog even if he is a federal gov't employee :-)
JDS - say it aint so! I've posted the BARCK HUSSEIN OBAMA thing to make fun of Hugo_Mego and all his various incarnations, but now, these are some serious allegations... Are you also Zyskandar A. Jaimot??? The truth must come out. Jen, Jake, can we see some comment IP address logs?
Alter Ego FAIL.
Idiot...
The flag isn't backwards. That's is the proper direction of the flag, given that it's painted on a vehicle. On the opposite side of the tail, it's painted in the other direction. This is the case for flags on all vehicles and on military uniforms, IIRC.
If you were paying attention in Social Studies, you might have remembered what the rest of us learned that day.
John Del Signore, you are a very silly person.
Over $350,000 for THAT?
Yeah, I think someone dropped the ball on that... For $350k you'd think they could at least get the colors to look better, or maybe consult a meteorologist? Weak.
It was a clear sunny day. The darkness is from the F16's glass canopy, as is that awful reflection above AF1's nose.
Yeah, hence why I said to tweak the colors after the photo was taken. I live here, I know it was sunny, but this still looks like shitty weather in the photo and for that much money and pain in the ass incurred in taking it, you'd think better could have been done.
Technically speaking, it's a shitty photo.
almost a great photo but a waste of money and the weather sucks so the photo sucks
haha nice work on the lower right side. did they do this with a point and shoot?
comment of the day
For a few hundred bucks someone could have just photoshopped this plane on a stunning background, this is a really bad photo. The amount paid for it is *obscene*.
Yeah, then people would be whining, "What is the matter with this government? We deserve a real picture rather than this Photoshop garbage."
There's something about "The government should have photoshopped it" that has 'slippery slope' written all over it.
In some cases, yes, I agree with you, but is this worth the money, or actually, is this some kind of vanity project? What was the actual point? So in this case, I think saving 350,000 or so and photoshopping is totally warranted.
yeah that photo is garbage...the photoshopped submissions to the papers were 1000 x's better
I've seen better.
The could have done a way better job if they hired some "intern" from a craigslist post.
Bloomberg blame his aide for not informing him of this planned flight. what a scam and yet the new york post, new york daily news and times give him a free pass. No criticism of King Bloomberg
bulletin from the future: the flag is "backwards" because that's the way it blows when you're walking into battle--so they say.
I would have done this and better in Photoshop and for a lot less, say $50,000. They could have used the rest of the money for yet another bank bailout.
Louis Caldera...fired. White House Military Office...under review. Michelle Obama...still shaggable.
Why is this a big deal?
Why is this a big deal?
I'm the last person that would ever defend the Obama administration but people keep forgetting that it wasn't $350,000 just for a few photos. It was also a training exercise!!!! You cant do all your training in a flight simulator or in a class room, to train properly you have to go out and actually fly the damn planes.
Nice shot! Now all you pussies, who probably weren't even around for 9/11 yet claim distress, can shut the fk up by now!!??! If you can't tell the difference between Air Force One and a Passenger Airline (nonetheless trailed by an f-16) then maybe you should be working in a Kansas City Hardee's rather than New York. Get a fucking clue!
Technically speaking, it's a shitty photo.