How incredibly stupid:

President Obama's White House was forced to issue an apology Monday after a photo opportunity gone badly wrong — an Air Force 747 plane did a low flyover over Lower Manhattan, prompting terrified citizens to flee from their offices and high-profile accusations of government insensitivity in the post 9/11 era.

White House Military Office Director Louis Caldera issued a brief statement saying he was too blame.

"Last week, I approved a mission over New York. I take responsibility for that decision," he said. "While federal authorities took the proper steps to notify state and local authorities in New York and New Jersey, its clear that the mission created confusion and disruption. I apologize and take responsibility for any distress that flight caused."

The panic started Monday morning when a backup 747 known as Air Force One when the president is aboard flew by Lower Manhattan with a U.S. fighter jet closely following, rattling windows and causing some limited evacuations.

Hot Air has several video clips gathered by panicked citizens; judge for yourself if the evacuations or the terror the flight caused as the huge 747 made aggressive high-speed banked turns just above the skyline was in any way "limited."

President Obama, of course, is furious. I rather doubt that he was directly in the loop about the photo op beforehand, but he is certainly taking the heat for it nonetheless, and by the rules the game established by his own supporters over the past eight years, deservedly so.

Regardless of whether or Obama was personally involved in this decision, he is the head of the branch of government that made this decision, and if we've learned anything from his most vocal supporters, it is that the President doesn't have to directly participate in an act to be fully culpable for any adverse reaction.

If President Bush is to blame for torture, the recession, and trumping up fake WMDs to start a preemptive war as the left has howled for years, then President Obama has earned the "right" to take the blame for this debacle and every other than can be tangentially be blamed on his watch.

Posted by: Confederate Yankee at 09:16 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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