Sunday, May 15, 2005
Updated daily? That's a lie.
Ok, so it is...sue me. So the incident this week where the poor moron flew the plane within a couple of miles of white house and capitol was unfortunate. The scene it created was chaotic, though maybe necessary...the interesting stories it's spawned are the real meat though.
First up, the President was away from the white house at the time of the incident. It's come to light that he wasn't told about the plane while it was all unfolding. His spokesman said that this was because he wasn't in any immediate danger. This is, of course, bullshit. Who cares if he's in immediate danger? If his country was under attack, which is how the incident was treated as it unfolded, shouldn't our commander in chief be made aware. This, to me, was extraordinarily disturbing.
Was this an order from the President? "Don't bother me while I'm out riding a bike, you know, unless we get some confirmed kills?" Was it a decision made by someone on their own, in which case that person should be fired. Then again, even if he had known, history seems to show he takes his time to respond to such things anyway.
Second, apparently no one told the city of Washington that it was under attack...surprise! While norad is scrambling fighters and the white house and capitol are being hastily evacuated...the city was left in the dark. Don't know who dropped the ball there, but it certainly seems like that might be a problem. Then again, maybe it's the old steamliner rules in place (with a twist). Save federal government employees first, then you can call the city and then maybe take care of the little people (if there's time before the ship goes down). Good to know.
One other thing that caught my attention this week was the interview with former Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge. Ridge said that during the election cycle the terror alert level was raised numerous times over his objections. Many of these alerts seemed to come when John Kerry was gaining momentum. Who knows if there's a true connection there, but someone needs to ask, who was making these decisions and why?
First up, the President was away from the white house at the time of the incident. It's come to light that he wasn't told about the plane while it was all unfolding. His spokesman said that this was because he wasn't in any immediate danger. This is, of course, bullshit. Who cares if he's in immediate danger? If his country was under attack, which is how the incident was treated as it unfolded, shouldn't our commander in chief be made aware. This, to me, was extraordinarily disturbing.
Was this an order from the President? "Don't bother me while I'm out riding a bike, you know, unless we get some confirmed kills?" Was it a decision made by someone on their own, in which case that person should be fired. Then again, even if he had known, history seems to show he takes his time to respond to such things anyway.
Second, apparently no one told the city of Washington that it was under attack...surprise! While norad is scrambling fighters and the white house and capitol are being hastily evacuated...the city was left in the dark. Don't know who dropped the ball there, but it certainly seems like that might be a problem. Then again, maybe it's the old steamliner rules in place (with a twist). Save federal government employees first, then you can call the city and then maybe take care of the little people (if there's time before the ship goes down). Good to know.
One other thing that caught my attention this week was the interview with former Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge. Ridge said that during the election cycle the terror alert level was raised numerous times over his objections. Many of these alerts seemed to come when John Kerry was gaining momentum. Who knows if there's a true connection there, but someone needs to ask, who was making these decisions and why?
