Ship Carrying Bush Delayed Return

The Washington Post ^ | 5/8/2003 | Mike Allen

[Utah Girl]

Carrier That Spent Night off San Diego Could Have Gone Straight to Home Port

Pentagon officials said yesterday that an aircraft carrier waited within sight of San Diego last week while President Bush slept aboard, instead of heading straight to port after 10 months at sea.

A Pentagon official said the USS Abraham Lincoln made "lazy circles" 30 miles at sea and took 20 hours to cross a distance that could have been covered in an hour or two. But that official and others said the carrier was slowed to ensure it reached the dock at the time that had been promised, about 9 the next morning.

"We're not doing the families any favors by tricking them and coming in sooner," said Rear Adm. Stephen R. Pietropaoli, the Navy chief of information. "From the get-go, the White House staff was very sensitive to the Lincoln's schedule and wanted to accommodate the president's schedule to the Lincoln's schedule."

...Democrats tried to exploit what they sensed was vulnerability in a White House that has been reveling in the rout of Saddam Hussein.

[FreedomPoster]

It's just horrible that the commander-in-chief of the military went out to visit the military. I can't imagine what he was thinking. And the sailors seemed to really hate the experience.

I really hope the Dems try to push this issue for another 18 months. If this is all they've got, they're *really* in trouble.

[Just mythoughts]

So which is it the President detained the carrier or the carrier detain its scheduled arrival.

These people are now confusing themselves trying to make an issue over a "good" thing.

I wish there was another carrier coming in so he could do it again.

[Utah Girl]

President Bush is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't by the dems. I thought it was a wonderful gesture to the troops, and they were thrilled that he came to visit them onboard the ship.

[sd-joe]

>> "I really hope the Dems try to push this issue for another 18 months. If this is all they've got, they're *really* in trouble."

Yeah, and every time they push it, the media shows more of the great (more than great, the fantastic) pictures of Bush. Push away, I mean don't throw us in that tar pit. :)

[Utah Girl]

From what I am reading, the carrier detained its own schedule because family members, etc had scheduled to be there at a certain time. The White House didn't want to interfere with the homecoming for those troops. Just a big dustup by the Left.

[Paleo Conservative]

[FreedomPoster]

Anyone remember this? Anyone remember any press organization making a big deal about it?

I didn't think so.

I will note that the folks in the background don't look at all elated, unlike the semi-ecstatic crowds of sailors around Dubya the other day. (I don't know how long that image will be there - Clinton on a carrier deck in a flight jacket)

[Utah Girl]

That's the best part of this whole thing. The dems are whining and screaming, all the while, the TV is showing those wonderful pictures of him landing and then striding to meet the troops. And the audio is of those dim dem whiners. By complaining about it, they have just drawn more attention to it.

[mystery-ak]

The carrier was ahead of schedule..they could have arrived on May 1st but the families were told their arrival date was May 2nd...so they took their time coming into port...it had nothing to do with the prez's visit.

[annyokie]

[doug from upland]

A father who has a son on the LINCOLN called Hannity today. Absolutely, they slowed the ship because they were ahead of schedule. They were going to dock at the time they scheduled. What a non-issue.

[Utah Girl]

Seeing these pictures just make me smile all over again.

[crz]

If anyone knows a sailor who was on that ship, I would like to know his/her personal feelings about this and end it once and for all. My bets are on they loved it, as it showed all over that deck when he got out of that plane. Never saw Klintoon right in there with the boys and girls like GW was.

[Ole Okie]

I wish there was another carrier coming in so he could do it again.

Carrier landings are a little hairy, creating a fair amount of pucker factor. Dubya should be applauded for being willing to do this.

I am sure there are a lot of current and ex-servicemen who applaud his actions. I sure do.

And the dumbocraps are beside themselves! How quaint. They should have used a little more imagination than having Sick William Clintooon pick up a deliberately fallen flag by a Normandy grave.

Sick William would never have had the guts to go through a carrier landing.

[mombonn]

Does the compost mention that the ship was ahead of schedule?

Does it mention that families were advised of when to arrive?

Does it mention the multiple photo ops clintbilly orchestrated involving a military forced to appear with him?

[Williams]

First, it's obvious no one was delayed because if they had hundreds of families would have been unexpectedly waiting on the dock, and that didn't happen.

Second, it seems to me that if the president chose to visit the carrier as commander in chief and even IF the carrier was rerouted a few hours to make that possible, that would be a good thing and totally appropriate.

And finally, glaringly absent from all these stories are the crewmen and their families. Take the excitement any American has in seeing their President, then multiply that by 1,000 for career servicepeople just returning from a long, succesful tour of duty. In other words, they loved it and wouldn't trade the experience for the World. This "story" exists only in the perverse dreams onf the reporters/ dems.

[JohnEBoy]

One Democrat moaned yesterday as he watched cable news programs replay hours of footage of Bush on the carrier, with audio about Democratic complaints. "I'm watching him get high-fived and buzz the tower again," the Democrat said. "The White House should have thought of this controversy themselves."

Exactly right! Just what Rush said today. Everytime one of the bonehead democrats (Byrd or Waxman, etc.) brings this up, the local news around the country replays the landing, they show Bush getting out in his flightsuit and so on. It's like a free campaign commercial. The boneheads are too stupid to shut up.

This is called the power of incumbancy ... it's why you want to have the office and it is what the Elder Bush squandered in 1992.

By the way, notice that GW Bush DOES NOT APOLOGIZE. He just says it was great (and you know he would do it again, if the occasion arose.)

Oh please, Hillary, complain about this flight out to the carrier, so we can see it replayed a thousand more times!