The glamorous new Air Force Memorial was dedicated today just a few blocks from my apartment. The ceremony included a great deal of fanfare, and a lot of brass was in attendance. The monkey running our country even showed up to talk about his time flying planes for the military (in Texas). All in all, it was a pretty big deal for three metal pillars.
The roomies and I decided to be a little adventurous and attend the event. After all, it was only a 10 minute walk from home and we all wanted to see the fancy plane fly-bys. We departed with plenty of time to spare, and we didn't get within four blocks of the memorial which was "open to the public."
It wasn't the throngs of people eagerly waiting to see DCs newest memorial, or congested traffic at the site that kept us so far away. No, it was men in fatigues with machine guns barricading a square mile perimeter around the memorial which, again, was "open to the public."
Why all the protection for a memorial which is so solid that its base is said to represent the "strong military foundation on which our country is built?" For one, the monkey was going to get up on stage and peel a banana so they could fawn about it live on Fox News.
Of course there are some crazies out there who want Dick Cheney to be prez even more than Bush, but is so much protection really necessary? Can't they just put him behind some thick glass, or couldn't he just ride by in a putz mobile? I mean, really. Packing the crowd that actually cared about the memorial in the Pentagon parking lot across the freeway just doesn't seem right.
I spoke to a WWII pilot who had come to DC just for the dedication on the bus to the Pentagon later in the day, and he was furious that the presence of the bigwigs at the event spoiled it for everyone else. His sentiment was that he wished "the bastard could've just stayed home and done nothing, like he does every other day."
So tell me, how is a president who was elected with such a vast majority and so well loved by his people for his generous legacy so afraid to be exposed to his masses? It makes me wonder.
Flown by Mark Mislivec at 09:50 PM on October 14, 2006
