Since Henry Waxman wants to investigate the cost of having President Bush land on the USS Abraham Lincoln, Pejman has a few questions he wants answered. Questions like:
Let’s investigate how much it would have cost if a Clinton Administration staffer got his wish to divert an entire carrier battle group from Australia to Manila Bayin 1996 while President Clinton was in Asia for the Asia Pacific Economic Conference that year, merely so that the President could fly in via helicopter in order to meet and greet the crew. At least President Bush didn’t divert the Lincoln from its course, and the ship returned to port on time and on schedule.
I see Pejman’s point, of course, but I think the Republicans could have nothing better than several weeks of sustained airplay of Henry Waxman and Robert Byrd on television railing about this- I am betting Bush’s approval ratings will go up every time those two open their mouths. Plus, every time the two mention it to complain, the public gets to watch the footage the Democrats don’t want you to see- the President landing on the deck of the Lincoln and being greeting loudly and proudly by the crew. It’s a win-win for the Republicans. How many times are the Democrats going to create a zero-sum game with this President and come up on the losing side- will they ever learn?