Military Office Director Louis Caldera Resigns: Thrown under the Obama Bus… or Out the Air Force One Door
Posted By Vicki McClure Davidson on May 8, 2009
By Vicki McClure Davidson * Frugal Café Blog Zone
THIS is it??? The $328,000 NYC Air Force One flyover photo: where are the rest of the photos, Mr. President?
Military Office Director Louis Caldera has turned in his resignation. Who saw this one coming?
Mr. President, we’re still waiting for the REST of those expensive flyover photographs… $328,835 of taxpayers’ money for just that one picture isn’t gonna cut it. And, it looks a little blurry to me… I think we’ve been conned and we want our money back. Pronto.
Others think there is a problem concerning this photo, too. Some interesting observations, theories, and comments are posting on Althouse:
But look at the picture. Why would people going to all this trouble and expense to get a photograph that looked so awful?
From the New York Times:
The director of the White House Military Office submitted his resignation on Friday, less than two weeks after he authorized an Air Force One flyover of the Statue of Liberty that terrified thousands of people in New York City.
Louis Caldera, who served as the secretary of the Army in the Clinton administration, apologized for the “distraction” that approving the flyover caused. He said in a brief letter to President Obama on Friday that it “has made it impossible for me to effectively lead the White House Military Office.”
On April 27, a plane that usually serves as Air Force One was flying low over the New York City skyline, trailed closely by two fighter jets. It was a photo opportunity – authorized by several government officials, including Mr. Caldera – that infuriated Mr. Obama.
Last week, Mr. Obama ordered a deputy chief of staff, Jim Messina, to review the incident. And on Friday afternoon, a seven-page review of the matter was released, along with the photograph.
Mr. Messina, in his memorandum to the president, said that “structural and organizational ambiguities” in the White House Military Office led to a series of miscommunications and senior aides to the president were not advised of the flyover that had been in the planning stages since March.
“The breakdown was the lack of public notification,” the memorandum states, adding that Mr. Caldera believed others had been notified about the flight.
“If he had been aware that the flight would cause so much trouble or any embarrassment to the president or to the White House,” the report said, “he never would have allowed it to go forward.”
Additional flyover stuff:
Michelle Malkin: Mission accomplished: Friday dump does the trick and Late Friday personnel dump: Scare Force One staffer “resigns”
New York Local News, WCBSTV.com: ALL THAT FOR THIS! Flyover Photo Released; White House Releases Photo from Frightening Flyover in Lower Manhattan; Official Resigns Over Embarrassing Incident
Jeffrey Jena, Big Hollywood: Air Force One, Flaps Up!
Unequal Time: Single NYC flyover photo made public; WH Military Office Chief resigns; FOIA still in process
Frugal Café Blog Zone: Enough of the Nonsense & Secrecy, Mr. President: Journalist Michelle Malkin Files ‘Freedom of Information Act’ Requests for Public Records on NYC Flyover
Law Day: Who Was In Air Force One???
fiery dog: Obamas Join Mile-High Club
P.U.M.A.: White House Releases Pictures of Air Force One Buzzing NYC…
Conservative Thoughts and Profundity: 100 Days of Reckless Photo-Op Hubris
Radio Vice Online: Air Force One in Manhattan – Carbon pollution winner? Update: How much did this cost?
From The Pen: Finger in Scare Force One Photos Prompts Obama Middle Finger
Fire Andrea Mitchell!: An Obama Administration “Photo Op” scares the sh*t out of New Yorkers, brings back the nightmares of 9/11! – Update 5/5/09 – photos of this now “classified by the White House”? BRILLIANT!
Northern Thoughts And Reflections: The Man Without A Clue; President freaks out city for photo op
Jim Blazsik: Terror in New York – Obama will not release photo op pictures
Steven Crowder, Big Hollywood: Lonewolf Diaries: Time to Body Check Obama
Althouse: The Air Force 1 flight over NYC can’t possibly have been made for the purpose of taking that photograph.
The Lonely Conservative: Was this worth all the fuss?
Another Rovian Conspiracy: The Stupid. It Hurts!
Political Crave: Obama: Taking The Responsibility To Give Blame
About the author
Note the red tail of the escorting military fighter plane. It is the red tail of the revived Tuskeegee airmen, the all black unit from WW2. The Tuskeegee airmen were obama’s guests at his innauguration. see phots at new york Post.