The Empty Flight Suit

Has it really been five years since we were treated to that breathtaking "Mission Accomplished" scene aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln?

I remember watching the president's plane approach the carrier that day as cable news anchors gushed about the sheer genius of the setting for its public relations power. They talked about the president's bravery, his mastery of the moment, his leadership skills, his macho.

My mouth gaped at the sheer nerve of it all. We were watching, to mangle Obama's slogan, the audacity of a dope.

But back then, my skeptical feelings were tremendously out of step. Everyone else in the traditional media lapped up the phony photo op like hungry kitties handed a bowl of warm milk. According to DailyKos, here is what the New York Times wrote about the day:

Never before has a president landed aboard a carrier at sea, much less taken the controls of the aircraft. His decision to sleep aboard the ship this evening in the captain's quarters conjured images of the presidency at sea not seen since Franklin D. Roosevelt used to sail to summit meetings.

Mr. Bush was clearly reliving his days as a pilot in the Texas Air National Guard, more than three decades ago.

No, he wasn't. If he were reliving his days in the Guard, he wouldn't have shown up.

He would have been in Alabama getting out of bed late for the cushy job his father arranged for him with a friend's campaign. Or he would have been nursing a hangover, lounging by the pool in Houston at the Chateau Dijon. Back when he was supposed to fly a military jet -- when he promised to fly, was paid to fly, was obligated to fly -- the last place the future president seemed to be was behind the controls.

Besides, military records eventually unearthed by AP in 2004 showed that Bush had serious troubles actually landing a jet, a factor that would have made his approach to the USS Lincoln a little too exciting, if you know what I mean.

But on this day five years ago, Karl Rove once again did the impossible for his slacker client. He took Bush's greatest weakness and transformed it into his greatest strength.

How the heck did they pull that off? Were they that smart or were we that dumb?

I don't know of any current candidates who could get away with such an in-your-face rebuttal of the questions about them. It would be like John McCain fighting the age issue by using a walker in public and moving his campaign headquarters to Shady Rest Retirement Village. Or Barack Obama addressing racial and religious worries by wearing a dashiki and carrying a Koran on the campaign trail. Or Hillary Clinton downplaying her brains and drive by tossing back boilermakers and pumping her own gas.

Oh, wait. She's already done that.

And pundits have dutifully jumped all over her for the supposed phoniness of the scenes. Gosh, where were these diligent truth nannies five years ago? Maybe with their newly found assertiveness they can finally ask the president where he was when he disappeared from his National Guard duty for more than a year - a question he has never actually answered.

Oh, dream on.

There are new bus trips to cover, big issues to ignore and little ones to blow out of proportion.

Besides, it is already clear that the bravado and arrogance behind the "Mission Accomplished" moment dwarfs anything we'll ever see in the 2008 campaign. Today, the carrier landing, the bulging flight suit and the colorful banner all seem so long ago. So 2003.

That day was thousands of American military funerals ago, countless dead Iraqis ago. Too many lives and too many lies ago.

Maybe the New York Times was right after all. Maybe the "Mission Accomplished" extravaganza was a lot like the president's National Guard service -- unfair, unfinished, unforgivable.

Comments

[Hollyse]

You've done a "Direct Hit" on Mission Accomplished with not one too many bombs on Bush. Glad to read your Direct and Clear comments about this walking- talking IED. Bush is a squatter living in our White House the building where he denies access to most Americans. It's as if Bush offers privledge that he should be president of a nation soon to be called the "Hood" I only saw Keith Olberman bring up the MISSION ACCOMPLISHED photo op where FOX NEWS and others stayed away. Hmmm...Eight Bells compared to "One Ding-Dong" !

[evalpor]

Back in those days I remember Chris Mathews and Tim Russert gushing on and on about Bush like Tweety Bird versions of Beavis and Butthead - at times I could have sworn I saw little animated hearts floating around their bulbous pumpkin heads. Every time I see Mathews hammer someone Hard Ball style about their having allowed Bush's folly to continue unabated, I ask myself why in hell HE hasn't come clean about his little schoolboy crush on president Bunnypants. The press is largely to blame for the mess this country is in.

[cincigal]

And now Russert,Mathews,Olberman and Charlie Rose ar positively drooling and swooning over yet another empty suit.Obama,if elected will be an even bigger disaster than even Bush/Cheney.When that happens we can thank the losers in the Senate,house and the DNC (Kennedy,Kerry,Dodd Reid,Pelosi and Howard Dean)for their inability to accept the fact that a mere woman could do something that they failed so miserably to do.You people are walking into this with your eyes wide open.Obama is a Trojan Horse,along with him you will get Wright,Farrakhan,Jackson and Sharpton and god only knows what or who else.Once he is elected it will be forever too late.Clinton is so far ahead of him that it is really pathetic.Another Bush/Gore fiasco in the making.Oh well leave it to the dumb Democrats to screw things up.

[evalpor]

You seem to assume that I'm rooting for Obama, but I'm not. I actually agree, in the main, with your "empty suit" observation. Now, I'm not saying that Bush and Obama are equally gifted - Obama is by far the more prodigiously talented and intelligent of the two - but I've always felt that if we elect Obama AT THIS TIME we'd be making the same mistake twice.

I think Obama has a brilliant future, but I'd feel better if he were to be elected sometime in the relatively near future, rather than at this point time.

I voted for Clinton in the California primaries and I support her to this day.

[littleblackcat]

Ahh, yes. Another of the fools who won't look beyond the colour of someone's skin before they are pounding the drum of "Farrakhan,(don't know about this spelling, never been curious enough about a lot of hot air to learn how he spells his name) Jackson, Sharpton, etc. When will people use their heads and realize that the biggest reason so little has been able to be accomplished by Congress is repuke obstructionism and a few gutless wonders who continually vote with the repu side. Personally, I think these people should be put into public stocks and spat upon. But then, stupidity isn't a crime, for which chimpy mcflightsuit is eternally grateful. Besides, he has committed enough crimes for five lifetimes. If he had any smarts, he would wake up screaming every night and instead, he probably sleeps like a baby. When you refer to "dumb Democrats" surely you aren't holding up the repus as a viable alternative?

[OutsideLookingIn]

"The press is largely to blame for the mess this country is in."

No, the blame lies squarely on the American people. They accepted what the press was feeding them like babies at their mother's tit.

If I, an non-American from the other side of the world, could watch Bush's 2000 campaign and think, "how does the guy think ANYONE will believe a word he says?" what excuse have the American people for believing it?

Almost my first thought on seeing the news on 9/11 was the sickening dismay that I knew the US didn't have a President capable of rising to the occasion, or even come close to dealing with it. Events proved I was 100% right and in 2004 I simply could not entertain the notion that the people of the US would re-elect him, yet they did.

In a democracy - even a quasi-democracy like the US - people get the government they deserve. And the press they deserve.

[foxinthebox]

Believe it or not, there were many of us who were not as easily duped. I didn't vote for Bush the first time, but the Supreme Court made sure Dumbo was named President. In 2004, myself and many of my friends and family literally went into a Depression when Dumbo was able to Steal the election a second time.

I do believe the Press is to blame for the mess we are in because they don't have the "cojones" to stand up to Dumbo and his "thug" friends. They have towed the line for the republican party for too long.

In this democracy, many of the people are not getting the government they deserve!

[deminmo]

Five years ago on a flight deck, the President filmed a scene. He has done
very little besides set up senarios for the last eight years. If the newest effort
at negotiations with Iran fail to yield results, will there be another failed attempt
to be "dictator of the world?" Having lost standing in the world, our economy
falling apart, oil becoming the new gold standard, has this President taken us
beyond the point of possible return?

[tandrmcdonald]

True, but painfully sad. Thousands died for George Bush's moment of artificial glory, this make-believe reliving of his non-existant military service. Where were all of our keener-than-keen investigative reporters when this fraud was perpetrated on the world?
Stalking Anna Nicole Smith and/or Brittny Spears or soiling themselves for a new angle on the Brangelina crapola.
Aptly described by Ms. Mapes as "gushing" they greedily swilled the Kool-aid doled out by Bush's brain like starving refugees. They squandered whatever journalistic credibility they had for a "get" and metamorphized into the media moonies now populating our television screens and newspapers.
Why haven't they demanded an answer from George Bush about those missing military months? Ignored and bamboozled by the man behind the cutrtain, why weren't they raising a stink like the latest media frenzy over what was said by the intelligent but feckless Jeremiah Wright?
The answer is as painfully simple as Bush's ego flight was painfully fraudulent.
They are too spineless to seek the truth, too gutless to publish it.
George Bush has blood on his hands, and the media moonies who celebrated his flight of fancy are looking for a rag to wipe that sticky red stuff off their fingers.

[paco833]

Mary Mapes...?

You've got to be kidding. I thought they confiscated all this wretches pencils?

Say hi to Dan Mary.

[VernonC]

Ms. Mapes, it's 2008, in 8 months George Bush will step down, having served 8 years in the highest office in the land, if not the world, why bring this up now? You rehashing this old and tired Dan Rather speculation means nothing, Dan Rather lost his pretigious position because of this baseless story, you won't because it no longer matters, if Dan Rather had waited until now, like you, he would still be employed. George Bush qualified as a pilot, whether he was good at it or not, he did push that stick and those pedals, perhaps you believe it is a simple task to lift off in a 500 MPH jet into the darkness over the Caribbean - they weren't combat missions but they were dangerous missions. Ms. Mapes, get over it, you can do him no harm, despite the war, sorry syntax and all, he has a good soul and the majority of us will miss him.

[Bettysdad]

Vernon, you are delusional. Bush is a truly evil man, and will be missed only by thos he hastransferred trillions of taxpayer money to, and people like you.

[JSquercia]

First of all Vern it is about 30% of us who will miss him according to the latest Polls .I am glad you think he has a good soul but I am not so sure . I couldn't tell if you thought the Bush was flying off a carrier but just so you know he WASN'T . Navy Pilots are the best in the world PERIOD . There is no way on God's green earth that Bush could have possibly flown that plane though by walking around in a flight suit he convinced a lot people that he did .
As for Rathers story suffice to say that what caused his downfall was the fact that the memo could not be authenticated and supposedly was a forgery . The following FACT was not in dispute Ben Barnes gor Boy George into the Texas Air National Guard by using his influence to help Bush jump the line . Col Killian's Secreatary while denying ever typing the letter in question said it represented Killian's opinion of Lt Bush . Bush lost his flight status for failing to take a required Physical . So we the taxpayers got shortchanged on our investment in teaching him how to fly . Funny in the book Karen Hughes wrote concerning Gov Bush it was implied that he flew for a far greater period than he did . No mention of the missed Physical OR of the fact he was released early to attend Harvard .

[VernonC]

Time will tell on whether and how many will miss him, you liberals still miss JFK and LBJ when JFK did little other than getting shot and LBJ advanced socialism to a stage never seen before, and most liberals become weepy wishing the return of playboy Bill Clinton.
His avoidance of military service is ten fold more shameful than Bush's half-hearted service, which, by the way, is so of many Vietnam era veterans - even those that were in-country were less than thrilled with their experience. I said that he flew missions over the Caribbean, most know the aircraft carrier in the Mission Accomplished episode was off San Diego, that's in the Pacific and we all know he didn't land or take off from the carrier, no one has ever said he did that. Rather got what he deserved, his hatred of Bush was practically a sickness, it's best he's gone and it's not strange that no one misses him, the pompous blowhard. Whatever you might believe about the hours Bush flew, he flew enough to earn his wings. That is one tough chore.

[quest44]

Vernon and just who did Bush serve in those almost 8 years ? Himself ,Cheney and the large corporations that run this government ,,that is who he served ,,it certainly wasn't the American people !
Bush and Cheney should have been impeached long ago for many illigal acts perpertrated on the American people and prisoners in Iraq and Afganistan ,,but they weren't because the big guys behind the puppet who have a stangle hold on our government wouldn't allow it .
How anyone can still stand behind Bush after all he has done to distroy our country is beyond me.
Where is your intelligence ? Don't you have a mind of your own to scrutinize what is really going on in this country right now or are you a robot watching Fox News believing what your told to believe ?

[tandrmcdonald]

Note to VernC;
What planet have you been living on? A majority of us won't miss this gutless wonder, we'll be praying for the day he's indicted and brought to trial.
Then again, I suppose a lot of North Koreans think Kim Jung Il also has a good soul. Hmmm? Maybe you're drinking too much Karl Rove Kool-aid.

[littleblackcat]

Vernon, lay off the hard stuff so early in the morning!!! Are you nuts? Dan Rather was drummed out because the repuke spin machine has the money to do so. Chimpy mcflightsuit's military records seem to not be available AT ALL!! That usually means daddy bush's powerful friends and money got them destroyed, just as daddy bush's money got the jackass (jackasses of the world, forgive me, I know you are smart animals) into school and paid for a meaningless diploma. Meaningless because it wasn't earned and its holder too stupid to grasp the basic beginnings of business, much less hold a MASTER'S DEGREE in BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION! gwb isn't enough of a man to HAVE a soul, much less a good one. He is covered with the blood of over 4000 young Americans who have died for his lies! If he had a soul he would commit self-execution as penance for his greedy ego and its cost to the world. Eighty per cent of the world's people will not miss this thing one bit, and the MAJORITY of Americans will celebrate his going! My cats cover things in their pan that are as much "pilots" as bushit. (Those things get a lot of "fly time")

[Bettysdad]

I think everyone's been making a mistake. The "Mission Accomplished" banner referred to starting the war, not ending it.

[bruce9432]

OBAMA is going to lose....the U.S. is out of money and ideas, whoever gets the ok will inherit the worst bunch of illeterate, untrained, populace any president ever had to preside over.

[whatsmyname]

So, bruce9432 is NOW YOUR NEW NAME, RUMSFELD? Then, with all the time off now, why don't you take spelling lessons or have one of those DoD's that visit you often bring you a dictionary. In case you haven't noticed Rummy, Obama, is leading in all authentic polls. Operative being, Authentic.

[Nofoolhere]

BET BUSH WAS A "WHITE KNUCKLE" PILOT -Part 3 of 3

No natural pilot would avoid flying for any reason. The limits imposed by flying in the national guard would be experienced as a restraint. They need to fly. They love it. They live it. So I put George W. Bush in the "white knuckles" category, TRYING TO FLY A LIE.

At least he escaped with his life and didn"t harm any person who had to trust in his REAL skills. To give him his due, he certainly did somehow manage to marry a decent woman. Perhaps wealth trumps everything else. The rest of G W"s life is living a series of lies, as his record along his life"s path so clearly shows.

We need to release the lie values of this administration and the corporatist right who elected them because everything about them is a lie, and the evidence of the price we are paying is everywhere around us. God save America from the right wing imbeciles who believe in these lies, cannot see the evil being spawned from them, and who have thus brought us the ruin of this tragedy of America today. Pray that the electorate has learned the bitter lesson and can recognize the courageous Spirituality of Barack Obama.

[Dingoangst]

I, too, was disgusted that day, not only with the act itself but the fawning news coverage. There that idiot was, with a potato in his pants and not a brain cell in his head.

[JackG]

At least he had the potato in the front.

[Reveille]

It wasn't just the flight suit that empty.

[emmaco]

For the Huffington Post to become something of lasting value it will have to be something other than what it is, an anti-Bush diatribe. We all get it- Bush celebrated the defeat of the Iraqi armed forces and underestimated the guerilla war backdoor financed by the Saudis and Iranians and fought by their proxies. Once we get passed "Duh!?" on this subject, there is really only one other alternative- TOTAL WAR. Certainly it has always been within American power to annihilate the insurgency within mere minutes. I suppose you'd be whining about the implications of that one too.

Seems to me he made the humane choice and you're scalding him for it without proposing a reasonable alternative, something only putzes do.

P.S. The last WWII Japanese officer surrendered to the US in April of 1980. Look it up!

[Nooneyouknow]

Since "total war" to defeat the Iraqi insurgency would mean wiping out Iraq's population with WMDs, you're right: I'd whine about the implications of that. Are you saying Bush made a humane choice by not murdering most everyone in Iraq? Because if you are, you're scary.
Bush didn't "misunderestimate" the guerilla war financed by his very good friends, the Saudis; he said there would be no more war. It was "Mission Accomplished," when any idiot could see that the fighting would go on for years.
But thanks for the info on the Japanese officer. I have no idea what it means to your argument, but what the heck.

[wavydavy]

If this is meant to be serious, and not a really bad attempt at satire, I must ask:

Are you really that stupid?

Because, if you are, you should be working in the current maladministration, as you would fit right in.

Seriously, you think that Chimpy McFlightSuit made "the humane choice" by staging some phony ceremony highlighted by cheap (in the dramatic/emotional sense, not the actual cost) theatrics? Humane in what way, exactly? And does someone really have to tell you that a "reasonable alternative" would have been to NOT have staged such an empty and baseless ceremony (much less not have invaded a country that had done us no harm whatsoever)?

And thanks for once again proving that every neo-con foreign policy ends with phrase, "by killing people".

P.S. The last WWII Japanese officer surrendered to the US in April of 1980. So what?! (Or are you suggesting that we "annihilate" Japan, too?)

[racom]

I've read and reread it. I vote yes, he really is that stupid!!!

[newsketeer]

"there is really only one other alternative- TOTAL WAR"

Not really. Total War might have made a quick end to Iraq. By all accounts and measures, the Iraq War (and War on Terror, in general) are proceeding just as intended. A quick end isn't good for fat no-bid contracts, that need a sustained, long-lasting enterprise. Everything is going as intended.

Now we hear things like "hundred year war" and "war on terror". You might as well declare war on what people think. The more we learn about Iraq, the stupider we should all feel for having bought it. And buy it we did. And we'll be paying for it long after it ceases to be a revenue stream for a few elites.

You mentioned the last Japanese officer surrendering, which brings up Pearl Harbor, which brings up more questions about the Iraq War.

[Bettysdad]

So which lying excuse for the war do you believe: WMD's. democracy, regional stability?

[SonnyBono]

"P.S. The last WWII Japanese officer surrendered to the US in April of 1980. Look it up!"

And your point is???? I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt on this one but - what was the guy doing - planting roadside bombs or hiding out and hoping that the folks back in Japan would overlook the fact that he was an idiot for hiding in the jungle for as long as he did.

Typical right wing clap trap - Bush didn't make a humane choice - he made a stupid choice and we are all paying a price. He made war on a country that didn't attack us on 9/11 and was not a threat to us or its neighbors. To top it all off - he compounded the mistake by running the war with the worst idiots in the known world.

TOTAL WAR - oh, you mean the nuclear option - but what about the millions of innocents - oh wait, they are not born again Christians, so I guess it's okay to kill them - or do you mean an escalation on top of the surge - we are going to need a bigger army. Please let the rest of us know when you enlist - you big sissy.

[Ironfox]

Sonny, why do you bother to engage cognitively impaired sociopaths like this. It only encourages them. They are blind to the obvious, oblivious to reality, and absolutely incapable of recognizing or learning from error.

[benalbanach]

I fear that in the end Bush will just be regarded as an idiot in a flight suit and that will be the end of it.......No matter what he does.
But he is more than that...(or less). He has inflicted grievous harm on the world. He is ....really...a monster.
His VP is a monster. These are not just mis-guided men. They are monsters and should be shunned at the very least.

[seawolf77]

The American people are sick of $4 gas and Iraq. So let's leave Iraq (where all the oil is) and we will have $8 gas. Thanx alot America. Oh wait. Iraq ain't pumping no oil. Yeah right. Stick your head back in the sand America. You are more attractive that way.

[nancytheragingliberal]

Fake, phony, liar, mean, nasty, spoiled, deranged, dummy in an empty flight suit. He su**s and su**s bad. He and has administration are a bane on the world. What a sorry lot and the joke is on the American people. Do you like paying $4.00 a gallon? Give your thanksto the oil and gas "men" you elected. Twice.