Earth Day is upon us, and what better way to celebrate than by tying up street and air traffic?
“Not to mention delaying thousands of passengers trying to get home from the volcano delays.” More unintended consequences.
NYC Aviation has the details,
On a day when many Americans will be reflecting upon how they can reduce their impact on the environment, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden will board separate jets in Washington on Earth Day morning to fly 250 miles up the east coast to New York, where they will land at separate airports to attend separate events within a few miles of each other.
The parallel visits of Air Force One (a 747/VC-25 aircraft) and Air Force Two (a 757/C-32A aircraft) will delay dozens, if not hundreds of commercial flights at Kennedy and LaGuardia and other nearby airports as no-fly zones are implemented. Jets will be forced to circle and burn more fuel as they wait for the VIPs to come and go. Their security contingents consisting of dozens of cars, SUVs and helicopters will burn even more. Throw in thousands of commuters’ cars and delivery trucks sitting idle in traffic as law enforcement closes large swaths of the city and you have yourself a very Earth-unfriendly day.
Disclaimer: This is a non-partisan post which I would be writing no matter who were in office. I’ve been known to complain when ANY president makes frivolous trips to New York, simply because it disrupts so many people and it is extraordinarily expensive. For both men to visit on the same day, especially a day of supposed environmental friendliness, is extraordinarily thoughtless, to put it mildly.
Thursday’s dual jaunt seems especially egregious considering the frivolous nature of Biden’s visit, in particular: He’ll be yukking it up with Whoopi and Barbara as a guest on The View. Not sure what he’ll be talking about, but you can be certain that whatever he has to say could be done just as effectively using a video camera and satellite hookup from the White House.
Meanwhile, Obama will be making a speech about new banking and finance regulations, a worthy subject, to be sure. Federal Hall on Wall Street, the site of George Washington’s first inauguration which stares directly at the doors of the New York Stock Exchange, would be the ideal location for this speech, but Obama will deliver it from…an art and engineering school? Any symbolism of delivering the speech in NYC is lost. He may as well save everyone the effort and talk to the nation from the Oval Office.
Welcome, O – to city you want to ruin
When he brings his war against Wall Street here tomorrow, Barack Obama isn’t coming to praise Gotham. He’s coming to bury us.
We’re not dead yet, but no thanks to him and his policies. His assaults on New York ought to be counted in the NYPD crime stats. They’re doing more damage than a year’s worth of stickups, and still the hits keep coming.
Under his initial plan, cops and the feds already would be locking down the Foley Square courthouse area to give the precious Khalid Sheik Mohammed his constitutional rights. Nary a New Yorker wants the 9/11 trial here, but Attorney General Eric Holder insists the city “is not off the table.”
Go read the rest.
I have a better idea. How about from the unemployment office?
See what I did there?
This is pure excellence. You need a “share” widget; but, don’t worry. I’ll put it on FB anyway. Thanks for the smile, along with a clenched jaw this morning.