The Air Farce One Report -- A Classic Case Of Misdirection

The Obama File ^ | 5/9/09 | Beckwith

[Beckwith]

A White House military aide who authorized an Air Force flyover of New York that caused panic among some people in the city resigned on Friday.

Louis Caldera said in a resignation letter to Obama that the controversy over the mission -- a photo shoot of a jumbo jet used as Air Force One with the Statue of Liberty in the background -- made it impossible for him to lead the White House Military Office (WHMO).

White House officials said the flight was designed to update the official photo of the plane, known as Air Force One when the president is aboard.

The flight over lower Manhattan for a photo shoot scared some New Yorkers who remembered the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001 involving hijacked airliners that destroyed the World Trade Center.  Many people panicked and evacuated office buildings when the planes flew over -- as low as 150 feet.

Caldera had approved the mission.  His resignation came on the same day Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in a letter to Senator John McCain that the photo shoot cost U.S. taxpayers as much as $357,000.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs (Gibbels) said Obama had accepted the resignation.  Obama had been described as furious when the incident occurred on April 27 and demanded a review.

Isn't that tidy -- Louis Caldera is responsible -- but responsible for what?

Louis Caldera is responsible for "approving" the flight.  No need to look any further.  Caldera is responsible -- off with his head -- move on!

However, none of this answers the key question -- WHO REQUESTED THE FLIGHT?

Start with Caldera's boss.  Who does Caldera work for -- and who does that guy work for -- and who does that guy work for.  Somewhere up that food chain is the genius whose brainstorm is responsible for this clusterflop -- that person is the "Requestor" or "Initiator" -- that's the guy that is really responsible.

When the flight was a "Go," the WHMO Deputy Director sent an email to the Director, saying the flight would receive some "local press," but the White House shouldn't catch any questions about it.  The email also suggested notifying Jim Messina and Robert Gibbels.

The flight then flew into history.

The White House (read Rhambo) investigated the flight and The White House Counsel's Office (Gregory Craig) produced a report, "Internal Review Concerning April 27, 2009 Air Force One Flight."  (It's interesting this report uses the "Air Force One" designation, as the aircraft is only referred to in this way when POTUS is on board.  Is Craig suggesting that Obama was on the flight?)

The report (I could access only the first 3 pages of the .pdf file for some reason) says that the Deputy Director of the WHMO "suggested that when the plan was finalized, the Director MAY want to inform White House Deputy Chief of Staff, Jim Messina (not the singer). The Deputy Director believed that Mr. Messina would want notice because the plan involved the use of the Presidential aircraft and because it was unusual."

I'll say!

Note, the focus of this report is on the WHMO, the initial flight planning and the subsequent processes and reviews that resulted in the flight.  Nowhere in the "official" report is there any mention of the person or persons who initiated the request for the flight mission that was ultimately "approved" by Caldera.

And, it doesn't answer the secondary question -- WHO WAS ON BOARD?  Any honest investigation would provide the flight and passenger manifests.  Neither of these are addressed in the report (whitewash).

A Reuters news article said the report of the review, mentioned above, said ultimately Caldera did not notify relevant White House officials about the flyover in advance.

"When asked why he failed to do so, he did not offer a coherent explanation.  He stated that it was not a conscious decision -- he did not intend not to notify them," it said. "Instead, he suggested that it may have been an oversight."

An oversight?  I just find that statement to be unbelievable.

Caldera had previously apologized for the April 27 incident, saying, "Last week, I approved a mission over New York.  I take responsibility for that decision (approving the flight).  While federal authorities took the proper steps to notify state and local authorities in New York and New Jersey, it's clear that the mission created confusion and disruption.  I apologize and take responsibility for any distress that flight caused."

And like a good little Obot, Caldera fell on his sword.

The White House Military Office (2,300 managers and staff) knew about the flight, and so did the Department of Defense, and Andrews Air Force Base, and the Air Mobility Command, and the Presidential Airlift Group, and the 89th Airlift Wing, and the Federal Aviation Administration and air traffic control representatives in the New York are, and "federal, state and local authorities."

It seems everyone in the government knew about the "secret flight" except Obama and his senior White House advisers.  Sgt. Schultz ("I know nothing") would be proud.

Of course Obama was furious when the incident occurred.  It hit the fan the day before his 100th day's celebration and victory speech, dramatically affecting the news.

But he knew nothing about it -- nor did any other "responsible" person in and around the White House -- just Caldera, even though the report contains several mentions of Jim Messina, whose boss is Rhambo -- and Rhambo's boss is Obama -- that's two degrees of separation.

[livius]

Thanks! Great information in those threads. That’s what I love about FR!

[livius]

I agree that the flight was probably for the movie, but wouldn’t this require that there be another plane somewhere filming the flight?

And my other question is who got off the plane in Atlantic City.

They obviously didn’t spend $300,000 just to get a snapshot taken by an escort pilot through his canopy, which is clearly what the photo they “released” was. I suspect that it’s probably not permitted for pilots to take photos like that, although they probably all do it, and one of the delays was probably convincing the pilots that they wouldn’t get into trouble for turning over their photos. Any opinions on this from more knowledgeable folks (people who’ve been in the AF, for example)?

[razorback-bert]

bookmark

[PhiKapMom]

Exactly! That is one of the worst pictures I have seen released and that is NOT from an AF photographer. It looks like a photo one of the ANG pilots took for his own use.

Figure someone getting ready to retire along with the past Commander of the VIP fleet including AF 1 and 2 the end of May could lend some interesting insight into all of this. The former AF1 pilot for Pres Bush flew his last mission as a co-pilot on the plane returning from taking Pres and Mrs. Bush back to Texas. His last official flight as Pilot was the trip to Texas.

Check out these photos at the Airlift Wing site and see what is missing: http://www.andrews.af.mil/photos/index.asp?galleryID=2052

[maggief]

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080604062402.9hhqclqi&show_article=1

“We have a hero in the making back in the United States today because we have a new candidate for president of the United States, Barack Obama,” Lucas said when asked who his childhood heroes were.

Obama, “for all of us that have dreams and hope, is a hero,” Lucas said.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0209/18758.html

We all know that Barack Obama has achieved superstar status. But is he an actual hero? Like in the action movie sense?

You betcha! says “Star Wars” creator George Lucas, who was in Washington Wednesday night for the Ford’s Theatre reopening celebration where both he and screen legend Sidney Poitier were being honored with the Ford Theatre Society’s Lincoln medal in a ceremony attended by President Barack Obama, a Lincoln aficionado.

Lucas says that, in a contest between Luke Skywalker and Obama, our 44th president wins hands down—even without the lightsaber. In addition, Poitier told Politico that Obama’s rockstar status is still going strong.

http://www.cnsnews.com/public/Content/Article.aspx?rsrcid=44632

‘Star Wars’ Director George Lucas Fully Supports Obama’s Economic Approach
Friday, March 06, 2009

(video at link)

[Squantos]

......so yer betting a scene is in that movie that shows CG looking out the window of AF 1 at lady liberty ?????

[Diogenesis]

This sooooooo fits together.

Venus One - Red Tail - Classified - Celebrity - Fawning Terror for Ordinary People - Cover-up

I think that Lucas-Obama Industries expected the New York citizenry to wave,
and then by millions of tickets to the MOVIE.
But the citizenry fled in terror. Hence NO pictures of Red Tail aircraft.
Hence NO everything become classified.

---

"Tapes of the conversations between New York approach controllers and pilots of the presidential VC-25 (Boeing 747-200)
that performed what can best be described as an airshow routine over Lower Manhattan in New York City yesterday
reveal a joviality that is in stark contrast to the outright panic that gripped the uninformed citizens
just a few minutes later (as a nightmare from Sept. 2001 appeared to be playing out again...)"

---

[Squantos]

Gonna be good...ing......:o)

[Beckwith]

Then you should know better.

Thin resume.

[maggief]

Lucas, George W Jr
San Rafael,CA 94912 Lucasfilm Ltd/Executive 7/25/08 $28,500 DNC Services Corp (D)
Lucas, George W Jr
San Rafael,CA 94912 Lucasfilm Ltd 7/31/08 $2,300 Obama, Barack (D)
Lucas, George W Jr
San Rafael,CA 94912 Lucasfilm Ltd 7/31/08 $2,300 Obama, Barack (D)

opensecrets.org

[Mr Rogers]

I did a lot of low level flying as well. By your standard, there would be no urban airports. The odds of AF1 losing all 4 engines is...remote.

From what I saw, most of the flying was over water. If it HAD lost all its engines, it would have ditched in the water.

[r-q-tek86]

Venus-1 heavy ping

[Diogenesis]

GOTTA SEE THIS: Red Tail Terror?
A Most interesting FReeper thread. Developing .......

"Red Tails is a film about the Tuskegee Airmen being developed by George Lucas.
George Lucas has had discussions with Samuel L. Jackson about Jackson acting in and possibly directing the film,
and also sent him the script to review. Jackson praised the script,
and suggested Lucas could mentor him through parts of directing such as special effects,
though Jackson is not yet committed to either role.[41] The film has been under development by George Lucas since 1990.[41][42] J
ohn Ridley penned the most recent screenplay draft.[41]
Lucas says the film is close to production as of August 2008.[43]
Location scouting was taking place as of June 2008 in Prague and Italy, and filming may begin in late 2009.[44] Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Terrence Howard have been confirmed to star in the film.[41]
The cast also includes Bryan Cranston, Nate Parker, David Oyelowo, Tristan Wilds, Method Man, Lee Tergesen,
Ne-Yo, Elijah Kelley, Andre Royo, Jesse Williams[41], Gerald McRaney[45], Kevin Phillips, Rick Otto, Marcus T. Paulk, Leslie Odom Jr., Michael B. Jordan,
Jazmine Sullivan, Edwina Findley, Daniela Ruah and Stacie Davis.[46] Filming is taking place in the Czech Republic.[47]

[Squantos]

Can anyone blow up that pic of the red tail on the F16D ?

[Squantos]

Here ya go folks........

http://www.f-16.net/news_article2511.html

These SOB’s were making a movie with AF 1 !

[Squantos]

There ya go .....the AC chasing AF1 over NYC is from a new Alabama ANG unit honoring the Tuskegee Airmen....

[Travis McGee]

This is going to be fun. I guess now Obama won’t be able to do a voice over for “Red Tails” with the red tail F-16 flying with AF1 over the Statue of Liberty.

I’m thinking that was the plan. Tie the barrier-breaking Tuskegee Airmen to Obama.

That’s why he was so angry. This fly over fiasco blew that plan out of the water.

[Squantos]

Yep........how did ya connect the movie to this ??? I didn’t read entire thread just your post !!

[Travis McGee]

Somebody up-thread mentioned that George Lucas is filming “Red Tails” about the Tuskegee Airmen up thread. The coincidence is too great to be a coincidence. It’s already been mentioned on a few blogs. I just googled

“Red Tails” Air Force One George Lucas Tuskegee Airmen

[Travis McGee]

http://perfunction.typepad.com/perfunction/2009/04/red-tail-escorts-air-force-one-over-lady-liberty-wtc-site.html