I know everyone’s thumping each other on the back about this but I think it’s just the opposite. What a miserable performance. Yeah, I’m feeling crappy enough to go on a govt/political rant, sorry.
Small Plane Gives D.C. Big Security Test
- Let’s see:
- Plane heads straight for major govt. center.
- President not told until after it was all over, didn’t want to interrupt his bike ride.
- Mayor and city officials of DC not told until after it’s all over, no evacuation for them because they don’t rank
- Pretty much panic all around (Nancy Pelosi yanked out of her shoes by police, apparently not evacuating fast enough)
- It was a CESSNA.
- It took 20 minutes from the first alert to when the first planes were dispatched to intercept. (11:28 to 11:47). It took another twenty minutes (until 12:06) to ‘establish communication.’ Well done, guys, I can get pizza delivered faster than that.
- It was three miles away from the White House before it turned. Anybody care to guess the range of an air-to-ground missile? Yeah.
- I want what some of Tom Ridge is smoking when he says “It was a successful intervention by the Department of Homeland Security, by the Department of Defense.” It was successful because it was a freakin’ cessna that was lost. If it was any of these “trained terrorists” we read about every day they could have / would have done a lot of damage. As it is they still managed to scare the bejeesus out of everyone. A few more “successful” events like this and nobody will even budge when they put the white house on red alert.
Otay, rant over, I’ll get back to teasing Kenny about his hat and posting cat pictures now.