"No positive spin is possible. Admit mistake."

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - "No positive spin is possible. Admit mistake."

Posted: 8/1/2009 3:23:31 AM EDT

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/08/01/2009-08-01_official_emails_show_air_force_one_flyover_manhattan_was_stupid_but_they_did_it_.html

Government officials knew the Air Force One flyover of the Statue of Liberty would scare the bejabbers out of New Yorkers, but went ahead with it anyway and quickly realized their bigtime blunder.

A barrage of e-mails between officials right after the flight made public Friday showed a flurry of second guessing, finger-pointing, attempts at damage control - even comparisons between them and The Three Stooges.

"We ... need to construct some sort of timeline on when folks became aware of it if that is possible," one Air Force official wrote, responding to the public fright.

"I agree we .. . need to accomplish damage control, but we aren't the POC (point of contact)," the response reads. "Nor do I want to become a belly button for NORAD to push on this one."

A top Pentagon spokeswoman: "Nothing like having everyone point the finger at someone else so we ALL look like a big bunch of buffoons ... can you say Moe, Larry & Curly!??!?!"

The e-mails were released in response to Freedom of Information Act requests by CNN and other news organizations.

Officials said the flyover three months ago was to create an iconic shot of Air Force One to be given to passengers on the President's plane.

The documents also show the regimented system the Pentagon uses to monitor and respond to breaking news stories.

A U.S. Northern Command document wrote this assessment: "Last 4 hours: Story reported quickly. ... Local reporting very critical, highlighting 'scare' factor. Local populace very critical of event, due to 9-11 sensitivities."

It concludes: "No positive spin is possible. Admit mistake."

[email protected]

Posted: 8/1/2009 3:26:59 AM EDT

[#1]

That's nice. "Well we would LIKE to lie our way out of this, but haven't come up with a convincing lie."

Posted: 8/1/2009 3:37:16 AM EDT

[#2]

Have they said who was even on the plane yet?

Posted: 8/1/2009 3:40:29 AM EDT

[#3]

"No positive spin is possible. Admit mistake."

And I thought this thread was going to be about Obama's election to Office.

Posted: 8/1/2009 3:42:35 AM EDT

[#4]

Quoted:
Have they said who was even on the plane yet?

A manifest was released, but reported to be heavily redacted.

I suspect top contributors were on board.

Posted: 8/1/2009 3:44:21 AM EDT

[#5]

Quoted:

Quoted:

Have they said who was even on the plane yet?

A manifest was released, but reported to be heavily redacted.

I suspect top contributors were on board.

I never thought of that. I assumed since it was a photo op it was just the crew.

Posted: 8/1/2009 3:49:33 AM EDT

[#6]

is there a site to track all the blunders this POS is associated with?
is there a site that can handle that much info?

Posted: 8/1/2009 4:26:37 AM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:
That's nice. "Well we would LIKE to lie our way out of this, but haven't come up with a convincing lie."

They should have paid Bill Clinton a consulting fee. He could have come up with a doozey.

Posted: 8/1/2009 4:37:52 AM EDT

[#8]

,,, they know damn well in the house who wanted these photos done... responsibility, integrity, honesty goes along way at times.

Posted: 8/1/2009 4:40:18 AM EDT

[#9]

People are fucking stupid. If you're not blind and you saw Air Force One fly over, you SHOULD recognize the plane. This should not have presented any cause for alarm among those who are neither blind nor stupid.

But I've met a lot of New York City dwellers. It seems to me that most of them ARE blind, stupid, or both, to some degree.

CJ

Posted: 8/1/2009 4:44:22 AM EDT

[#10]

OBAMA

"No positive spin is possible. Admit mistake."

This would make a good bumper sticker...

Quoted:

"No positive spin is possible. Admit mistake."

And I thought this thread was going to be about Obama's election to Office.

Posted: 8/1/2009 6:29:20 AM EDT

[#11]

Clear case of Obama's fault. Possibly not an impeachable offense.

Posted: 8/1/2009 6:32:46 AM EDT

[#12]

Quoted:
Have they said who was even on the plane yet?

They have provided the crew manifest but not the passenger maifest that I requested when this happened. I've pointed this out to the FOIA office, but I just got the guy's voicemail. The released docuemnts did saythat a "hospitality package" would be given to guests on the aircraft.

Posted: 8/1/2009 6:51:57 AM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:
That's nice. "Well we would LIKE to lie our way out of this, but haven't come up with a convincing lie."

Remember, most transparent and accountable administration evaa........

Posted: 8/1/2009 6:53:54 AM EDT

[#14]

Quoted:
People are fucking stupid. If you're not blind and you saw Air Force One fly over, you SHOULD recognize the plane. This should not have presented any cause for alarm among those who are neither blind nor stupid.

But I've met a lot of New York City dwellers. It seems to me that most of them ARE blind, stupid, or both, to some degree.

CJ

Hell, they don't look at the insignia, it's the sound and the vision of the plane flying low around Manhattan.

Posted: 8/1/2009 7:01:45 AM EDT

[#15]

When they released that first, and only, photo back in April, my first thought was,

"Wow, that has to be the crappiest chase photo I've ever seen: screwed up white-balance, canopy glare and canopy skirt...all in one photo."

Lousy photography aside, I feel obligated to set the record straight on the dollar cost of the flight. While I can no longer find the per-plane break down, I recall that the dollar costs they listed for the F-16s were about 3x greater than the maximum number I could come up with...even counting support equipment....even when you assume they filled up the F-16s at retail prices from the local Exxon.

The dollar costs they quickly threw out most likely covered not only JP8 and maintenance, but salaries, pension costs for the entire flight crew, prorated equipment costs, etc. Most of these costs were fixed costs that were going to be spent anyway, regardless of whether the aircraft flew that day. While it angered me that they never bothered to fully explain their cost figures, I could fully understand why nobody really wanted to get up at a podium and get drawn into this storm of criticism.

Ok, dollar issues aside, that photo still sucked. Even the newly released photos suck. I feel really sorry for the photog. Is this just one of those things you omit from your resume?

Posted: 8/1/2009 7:08:28 AM EDT

[#16]

Quoted:

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2009/08/01/2009-08-01_official_emails_show_air_force_one_flyover_manhattan_was_stupid_but_they_did_it_.html

It concludes: "No positive spin is possible. Admit mistake."

What a bunch of amateurs. Just blame Bush. Works every time.

Posted: 8/1/2009 7:19:32 AM EDT

[#17]

Quoted:
People are fucking stupid. If you're not blind and you saw Air Force One fly over, you SHOULD recognize the plane. This should not have presented any cause for alarm among those who are neither blind nor stupid.

But I've met a lot of New York City dwellers. It seems to me that most of them ARE blind, stupid, or both, to some degree.

CJ

I know my eyes are not that good anymore, I can barely read the freeway signs before my exit.

and to see a plane flash between tall buildings about 1 mile away,

hell you must be superman with spidy vision and a bionic eye.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - "No positive spin is possible. Admit mistake."

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