Air Farce One
By Richard Olivastro
May 5, 2009

If last week's Air Force One incident weren't such a serious matter, it would be farce.

That any unnecessary low-level plane flight over Lower Manhattan would be permitted is inappropriate. That it occurred under cover of a federal directive to local authorities that the flight be kept secret from the public, with "threatened federal sanctions if the secret got out" is unacceptable.

The plane we call Air Force One - because it is the president's plane -- made the flight last week. Ostensibly, the mission called for the president's plane to be photographed with the Statue of Liberty in the background. Mission accomplished, apparently.

While some complained about the substantial $300,000 plus the cost of flying Air Force One and two F-16 fighters to take pictures that could have done in Photoshop, that point, while valid, serves only the administration's efforts to cloud the real concerns.

Who ordered the mission? Who in the White House knew? Who ordered that the public not be told?

The public, after the fact, has been told that Louis Caldera, the director of the White House Military Office, was responsible. Does President Obama really expect Americans to believe that Mr. Caldera woke up one morning, decided to gas up Air Force One, and do a low flyover joyride over Lower Manhattan? Are we really expected to believe that Mr. Caldera phoned the Defense Department, the FAA, and those in charge of AF1, but didn't tell President Obama or Vice President Biden or Chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel?

Breaking through the cloud cover, the most important result of the surreptitious flight of Air Force One, enables us to realize the host of failures and weaknesses within multiple functions of the White House, federal branch agencies, the military, and New York City government.

In the aggregate, ordering such an inappropriate low level flyover of Lower Manhattan, New York City -- the same area that was ground zero on September 11, 2001, thus, terrorizing thousands of Americans, suggests that either a September 10 mindset has returned and permeated the aforementioned bureaucracies; or, perhaps, the flood of bureaucrats that arrived as part of the new administration have managed to flush out the horrifying lessons learned on 9/11 from the minds of those officials already in place.

There's damning evidence of both.

As CBS reported, "Federal officials knew that sending two fighter jets and Air Force One to buzz ground zero and Lady Liberty might set off nightmarish fears of a 9/11 replay, but they still ordered the photo-op kept secret from the public". James Johnston, with the Federal Aviation Administration, said the agency was aware of "the possibility of public concern regarding... aircraft flying at low altitudes" in and around New York City. Still, they "demanded total secrecy from the NYPD, the Secret Service, the FBI and even the mayor's office", and, worse, "threatened federal sanctions if the secret got out".

After the incident, the White House said the flight was a "photo-op"; but would not explain their thinking on their perceived need for secrecy. Obviously, they did not seem to care about the emotional turmoil that people in the area did undergo when the low flying airplane approached. That type of attitude does not bode well. While some Americans might remain skeptical, others have already bought into the rationalization that security was needed to protect the president's plane from attack. Of course, the flaw with that spin is that radio and television news could have announced the flight to the public 30 to 60 minutes before the low-level flyover thus avoiding the terror flashbacks.

But, no. Due to amateur hour ineptitude, arrogance, or both, citizens were "terrified".

The implications of that reality is one reason why some Americans are dazed and confused, while others chose not to pay any (more) attention. Because, in a post-9/11 world, any plane flying low over any city would be a reason to panic. If people knew about it in advance, there is no reason to panic.

NYPD and the mayor's office were either asleep at the switch or were cowed in face of the Feds. Whoever got initial word in New York should have immediately questioned the FAA directive and immediately escalated to both Police Commission Raymond Kelly and Mayor Michael Bloomberg. In turn, an immediate telephone call from Bloomberg to President Obama should have been made. If Mr. Obama was previously unaware, at that point he would have become aware, and responsible for stopping the flight. But, of course, the public is told that a lower level staff person received the FAA directive and failed to advise Mayor Bloomberg.

President Obama said, "It was a mistake. It will never happen again".

But, Mr. President, why did it happen at all? Who approved the flight? , Who was and who was not told? Who specifically ordered that the public not be told?

Unfortunately, in this case of absent leadership, the answers are likely to be as terrifying as the event itself.

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Richard Olivastro is a professional member of the National Speakers Association, president of Olivastro Communications - an executive leadership development company - and founder of Citizens For Change.

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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA.