Obama Approves Stupid Photo Op Over NYC, Public Freaks Out

Straight from the forehead-slap files:

The Obama administration is doing their best to keep New Yorkers on their toes:

An Air Force fighter jet and one of President Barack Obama's official planes on Monday flew low over the Statue of Liberty in an approved photo opportunity that startled some New Yorkers who have memories of the September 11 attacks.

New York City officials notified some businesses but not all city agencies or the general public. People in New York remain sensitive to such incidents in lower Manhattan, site of the 2001 attacks involving hijacked airliners that destroyed the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.

Many people left their buildings, and stock prices extended losses at the time.

The U.S. Air Force, which operates the president's plane, said the "aerial photo mission" involved an F-16 fighter jet escort and one of the Boeing 747s designated as Air Force One when the president is aboard. Obama was not on board.

Police said federal authorities told them not to disclose the information ahead of time but to direct inquiries to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Mayor Bloomberg is reported to be "furious" — either because most people weren't informed of the fly-by and were scared by it, or that he found out the plane was carrying foods loaded with trans fats.

Look for Obama's people to claim it was a selfless gesture on the part of the president to take New Yorkers minds off the swine flu.

Click the pic below to watch the CBS 2 story on the ill-timed buzz of Lady Liberty [I'm not sure if the link will work from here]:

As for the environmental impact of this photo-op, we'll have to consult the "carbon footprint calculator" — though it can't be nearly as bad as "Hurricane Latrina" that blew through DC on inauguration day.

I can't decide if this means Obama just doesn't remember 9/11, if he doesn't think the rest of the country remembers 9/11, or if he doesn't care.  Maybe all of the above.  Regardless, this was an exceedingly foolish thing to do.  It's a good thing no one was seriously injured, though it would be pretty entertaining to watch someone try to sue the President for damages to their stock portfolio.

Ace of Spades has more:

Another example of Obama's extreme childishness and lack of regard for anyone other than his own self:

A Boeing 747 used by the president was escorted over lower Manhattan by an Air Force fighter jet Monday as part of a government photo opportunity and training mission, causing a brief panic among office workers near where hijacked passenger jets crashed into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Workers from several office buildings poured out onto the streets before they learned that the flights were harmless.

John Leitner, a floor trader at the New York Mercantile Exchange Building, said about 1,000 people "went into a total panic" and ran out of the building around 10 a.m. after seeing the planes whiz by their building, near the World Trade Center site.

[...]

Another reader who responded to msnbc.com's request for photos said: "Video? Picture? Who the heck had time for that?!?!?! We were all too busy getting the heck out of the building!

"A coworker, whose desk faces the window, all of a sudden had this huge jumbo jet in his face," wrote Jenny Espinosa. "This poor kid freaked. One woman who works in our building, and is pregnant, had a panic attack and almost collapsed."

How could this possibly have seemed like a good idea to anyone?  Is there not one single grown-up in this entire administration who could have put a little bit of reasoned intelligence into this process?  What if someone had been truly injured in the not-hard-to-predict stampedes?  What if the pregnant lady has complications, ending with harm to the baby?  I suppose Obama would just chalk it up to an involuntary abortion and move on, but I think the family may not appreciate that kind of dismissal.  These are not inconsequential considerations, but they were seemingly not considered at all (the alternative is even worse, don't you think?).

This goes well beyond arrogance and inexperience to dangerous negligence.  Scary thought of the day: if this is how he handles a photo op, how do you think he'll handle a real attack?

There's my two cents.