Beacon Street Journal

What were these numbskulls thinking?

That is the question everyone from New York City mayor Bloomberg, to Senator Chuck Schumer, is asking in the wake of the mind-boggling stupidity of the Obama Administration’s photo-op flight over 9/11’s ground zero.

A few things are worthy of note. The same people who displayed such mind-numbing stupidity are of the same bureaucratic ilk that want to run the economy. If you question the poor judgment of the auto executives, should you not also wonder about the qualifications of these federal government bureaucrats to run any enterprise more complicated than a lemonade stand?

Even partisan Democrat Chuck Schumer, an unabashed champion of big government, had to exclaim, “To say that it should not be made public knowing that it might scare people it’s just confounding.” “It’s what gives Washington and government a bad name. It’s sheer stupidity.”

You think?

It gets even better. We now know that the FAA, fully cognizant of the chaos the unannounced event would cause, threatened federal sanctions against the NYPD and the mayors office if they failed to keep the frivolous event secret from a later terrified public. And for what? A photo op? The entire episode has a certain “let them eat cake” quality about it.

Think of the message this event sends in terms of this Administrations priorities. It has no compunction whatsoever in publishing to the world secret CIA memo’s detailing the specific interrogation methods used on terrorists, but it refuses to disclose to post-9/11 New Yorkers the existence of a low altitude flight down the Hudson River.

Though the president claimed ignorance of the episode, the hubris emanating from the event, is in retrospect, remarkably consistent with the solipsism and self-love that characterized Barack Obama as a candidate, and which now seems to have infected the aura of his presidency.

The mindset that justifies the necessity and exorbitant cost of a presidential photo-op is remarkably similar to the unbridled ego of a candidate that saw no shame in rolling out a gaudy, faux presidential seal, replete with the latin inscription of “Yes we can”; that didn’t think twice about erecting Greco-Roman pillars to adorn the dais of his acceptance speech; that removed every American flags from his campaign plane to be replaced with the Obama symbol; and, in the ostentatious stagecraft of the Berlin speech. By surrounding himself with these props, it is clear that Obama, in terms of self-regard, doesn’t view himself merely as President, but as a world historical figure. The flight of Air Force one over the Statue of Liberty fits in with his well documented imperious style.

Obama’s tame reaction was not equal to the outrage the event occasioned. “It was a mistake.” “It will not happen again.” The question is how did it happen in the first place?

Lastly, what do you suppose the reaction of the press would have been had a Republican President pulled such a stunt?

Troubling questions remain, that so far have been met by the mainstream press with a collective yawn. The unnecessary stunt cost taxpayers $325,000. Was this the best use of the taxpayer’s money? Why the compulsive secrecy surrounding the event and the threat of sanctions surrounding disclosure? Could it be that Obama didn’t want this monumental waste of taxpayer money made public? Weren’t these precautions somewhat over the top for a mere photo op? The inexplicable fact that FAA officials knew the flight would create panic only adds to the mystery.