Carmichael's Position

Feline Oblivious… or things you won’t see on Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom!

Was letting our 11 year old Balinese cat “Pudge” out to enjoy some of the sun we have here in Denver today, when I looked out in the yard and saw this little guy lounging in the newly mown lawn…

Pudge had not yet seen yon interloper chill’n in her territory (a function of her not being able to see over the patio enclosure).  So I connected Pudge to her 30 foot leash… yes we leash this cat, since she is known to explore the entire state of Colorado if left to her own volition!  I then opened the patio gate fully expecting an immediate recognition of the prey in the yard and then the powerful predatory explosion of speed and dexterity from Pudge… I got neither…

Pudge, proceeded to meander, might have been a mosey, out into the grass immediately turning away from the fun to be had with new play toy, focusing instead on performing her best bovine impersonation and chowing down on some new grass.

The “Play Toy” realizing his potential lot in life, and looking for all the world like he had been given a mulligan… was much more in tuned with his situation.

Alas he did what good prey does in the presence of nimble, explosive, grass eating furry pillows… he froze!

Pudge continued with her salad!

So here’s the grand picture:

Shortly after Pudge finished her salad, the sun was beginning to warm up this small sasquatch to the point she decided to proceed toward her favorite shade of the nearby pine.  Yes that same shade the “Play Toy” is enjoying.  Ok this ought to get good now!  I’ve got the camera ready!

Now this next shot may look like Pudge has a bead on the rabbit… nope she’s focused on the pine tree’s shade.

It is not until she crosses the shade’s threshold that the rabbit has had enough and bolts!  “Exit Stage Right!”

Pudge was completely surprised by the rabbit!  Not a clue it was there!  When  “Bugs” bolted, Pudge reacted… only a lot late!  I missed the shot because it happened so quickly but here is the immediate aftermath.

Ahhhh…  The lessons of opportunities lost due to lack of situational awareness.  Better luck next time Pudge… 

516 Months Old!

Yep just passed one of those non-milestone birthdays, This past Saturday we celebrated my 43rd year of being on this marble, so we did what I have often done on my birthday… we headed to Vegas Baby!

Ginger and I met up with a couple of great friends while out there to help us celebrate.  Tim and Maria joined us from Bucks County PA and Bob and Karyn from here in Denver met up with us for a great dinner at Hugo’s Basement! 

I love Vegas, I think the opportunity to get away to the adult Disneyland should be enjoyed by all, there is plenty to do there for everyone Shopping, Gambling, Lounging by the pool, Eating in world class restaurants, seeing great shows, it's all there, and we partook…

We booked our stay in the Wynn, I had heard great things about the resort and wanted to try it out, (Tim and Maria booked there too) but when we arrived Ginger and I learned that we were not actually in the Wynn, but rather we were in the sister hotel “The Encore” where it turned out we were booked in a suite!

SAWEET!

Here’s what our view looked like (I didn’t bring the “Big” camera so please forgive me on the image quality of these today…)

Very nice indeed…  I won’t go into all the nitty gritty details after all “What happens in Vegas… etc…” But I have begun to recognize that I am getting older and that my tolerance for 22 year old juveniles is waning… when they drink they seem to bypass entertaining and leap directly to obnoxious, good thing me and my friends were never like that! ;-)

Places we ate: 

• Emeril’s in the MGM!  5 Stars…! Mmmmmm Yah Babe! 3 words “Banana Creme Pie!
• In & Out Burger!  A must have for we transplanted Californians! Double Double withdrawals are horrendous!
• And a special thanks to Karyn and Bob for introducing us to Hugo’s Basement, located in the 4 Queens in Downtown… yep THAT 4 Queens! in THAT Downtown! Trust me!!! It is like walking though a “Classiness Portal” going from the casino floor with flip-flop clad Ricco Soave's in their “wife-beater t-shits” to the Rat Pack Gin Club ambiance of Hugo’s Basement! To Die for food and service!  The Escargot was superb, my NY steak was perfect and according to Ginger the Chilean Sea Bass was the best she has had in ages!  Thanks again Bob and Karyn, for great food with great company!!!!

On Saturday Tim, Maria Ginger and I went to the Mirage and watched the Cirque du Soleil tribute to the Beatles, “Love”.  Actually “watched” is the wrong term… more like “experienced”.   Great show!  To put it simply… GO!

 

The rest of the time was spent doing the usual Vegas thing… hanging out by the pool, making the girls walk for MILES in their heels just so we could REALLY understand why people DRINK! (BTW…The Wynn-Encore pools serve up a great Bloody Mary!) And losing money at the Blackjack table and Video Poker Machines, where let me tell you, if a 4 card royal flush paid off… I’d be rich!

Sometimes I’m an Idiot

I used to give my wife (and any other female friends of mine) all sorts of grief every time they would even begin to contemplate “Doing their own hair color”… I would rationally explain that…

“Lemme get this right, first you’re going to go down to Safeway, buy a do-it-yourself hair coloring kit, come home stink up the bathroom as you make the attempt at getting ‘perfect shiny auburn’ hair (just like the chick on the box) only to discover that ‘Baboon Butt Copper’ is not the same color as ‘Silky Auburn’… after your tears have subsided I will NOT be allowed to say ‘I told you so’ and will be fully expected to promptly and completely understand you’re need to now head to the salon to pay $200.00+ dollars to correct your mistake when it would have cost you $75.00 to get it done professionally in the first place.”

Ok… men don’t BS me you’ve all been there (in some form or another).  I vow I will never even be tempted to toss the ol’ “I told you so” line again in similar circumstances.  Why?  Cuz I’m an Idiot…

You all may remember a few posts back about the recent addition to the Casa De Carmichael garage of a beautiful 2005 BMW Z4 Roadster.  Great car by the way… loving it!

Well, it being a “used” car and all it had a few minor (and I stress minor) blemishes.  One in particular kept bothering me… in much the same way as that one out of place hair will drive my wife nuts as she gets ready to go someplace… on the hood of the car was a small gouge (possibly a deep rock chip) that went all the way down to the metal.  The previous owner made an attempt (poor) at patching it.  I felt I could do better – see title of this post if you want to understand the coming plot--- as I have airbrush skills and an airbrush!  Forget that I have never tried a paint repair on a car before, have never shot lacquer through my airbrush and certainly never dealt with thick as snot clear coat.  But I have the INTERNET!

I read up on all the processes required to patch a paint chip and how to deal with metallic finishes, how to properly sand, smooth and prep and area to be refinished.  I even read the cautions about painting areas like “The Hood” and that it is best left to professionals!  -- see post title once again…

Well, hell I couldn’t leave well enough alone, I gave it a shot.  Amazing how rapidly a repair spot grows when you apply 1000 grit wet dry paper to the finish of your BMW.  I’m not scared!  I’m an IDIOT after all!

I get the gouge mostly smoothed out… sanding is actually the easy part of this repair.  I then have to tackle the repainting.  Now most weekend warriors would have just gone to the auto parts store and bought patch paint, and dabbed the paint into the scratch and called it good.  That looks like crap by the way…  not me baby!  I purchased the exact BMW color and clear coat from the BMW guys (Toledo Blue Metallic for those of you interested and still reading) It comes in a small metal tube with a fingernail polish style brush in it.  Not how I plan to apply it… Knowing this stuff is going to have to be thinned to spray it through my airbrush I head to the Auto-store and pick me up some lacquer thinner.  By the way I do use my airbrush in my model building and am familiar with spraying paints… not a big fan of glosses though… very tricky…  But, yep, I’m an Idiot!

Now my gouges that were the size of a couple of mating sesame seeds have been altered to the size of a McNugget and ready for me to try to blend the new Toledo Blue Metallic with the old… Hehehhe… man am I an Idiot!  4 attempts later I actually succeed in getting the color about right, the problem is that getting any kind of smooth transition between old and new is as easy as finding Paris Hilton’s virginity!

1,800 grit wet dry sand paper to the rescue!  Actually it sort of- kinda- in a vague way worked to blend the lines.  Now for the clear coat.  After a brief experiment off the car I rapidly came to the conclusion that no amount of thinning would reduce the clear provided in the fingernail polish style to what I needed to apply through the airbrush… an Idiot has to know his limitations! So back off to the auto parts store to by me a SPRAY can of clear coat!  Now I’m thinking!

Having visited the internet I specifically remember reading that it is important to blend clear coats to panel lines if possible.   Hmmm… I can go to the quarter panel and the nose but up the hood toward the windshield is not going to be easy.  Eh… I’ll give it a shot! 

The clear went on pretty easily actually and sure enough livened up the paint finish!  But damn, blending that with the rest of the car’s clear was… well… impossible! 

After letting it set for a couple of days I knew I had to find a way to blend the lines between old and new finishes.  And was smart enough to know that any of my fine grains of wet-dry paper were out of the question.   Rubbing compound!  That ought to do it! 

Refer to Post Title…

So… after consulting the INTERNET again I found a local highly respected auto body shop that could repaint my hood and quarter panels guaranteeing a color match and finish match for the life of the car.  All for just under a grand!

I got the car back today… It looks beautiful!  Lesson learned… Actually I’m thinking of taking it out tonight to the local Safeway to get some do-it-yourself blond hair coloring!

After my Idiocy (left)                                                After the Pro (Right)

And now all is better in the Casa De Carmichael Garage…

Sometimes… Sheesh!

Sunday on the Creek

Needed me a breather from being life’s dart board.  So I talked a couple of buddies into helping me break in my birthday present… that they (Clay, Scooter and Trevor) all went in on. 

My new fly rod!

Unfortunately Clay had to play domesticated man beast today and could not join us for our sojourn into the fine offerings of the Great Rocky Mountains.  (Next time for sure Clay!)

The unencumbered 3 we, headed to the local creeks (would be “streams” back east and “rivers” in Texas… we grow ‘em big here in Colorado when the snow begins to melt!) to test our early season luck at pulling a few trout from the rushing waters.

Tough fishing it was today, the creeks were running pretty fast as the temperatures climbed into the mid 70’s in the Mountains (even though Trevor’s Suburban’s thermometer read only 69… we all think it was broken) melting high country snows in very short order.  So the goal was to try to find as calm a water as possible.  Definitely not easy today!

We tooled around looking along the flows for patches of calm amongst the torrents… and found a few. 

On our first stop, we rigged up my new rod with my newly acquired reel and fly line, and decided based on the conditions at hand we’d go “nymph” fishing…

“Hell’s Bells! are them’s in season?!!!  Who knew!”

I was quickly educated by Trevor, our veteran guide, that a “nymph” is a specific type of fly designed to sink below the surface of the water instead of float on top like a “Dry Fly".  “Ya see, John a nymph is a “Stage” in a young bugs life.”

“Many humans too,”  I replied!

Anyway, we rigged up and I tried my luck again at fly fishing trying to look proper all the while trying not to whip my fly to a supersonic departure! I succeeded for the most part.

Once again I found myself not fully trusting this whole “Fly Fishing” thing, I grew up using this stuff called BAIT on a open bale casting rod.   Salt water and lake fishing were my forte’.  So I still find this whole fooling a fish to think a bunch of yarn, thread, beads and feathers lashed to a REALLY SMALL hook that looked to be stolen from mom’s sewing kit, is pretty much done with special effects on those “Outdoors” shows on TV.  Color me suspicious still, even though I proved to myself last year that these Trout will indeed bite a bunch of creatively named feathered hooks floating on the surface.  Now I have to sink the feathers!  And trust that the damned fish can actually see, under water, in a stream moving as fast as the traffic on the nearby road, a hook that I damn near needed an electron microscope to strap to the end of my line!

Yeah… this’ll work!

After a dozen or so flicks of the wrist and trying to keep my rod tip high, in full preparation for the strike I really thought would never happen… the miracle happened!  A trout grabbed the nymph and headed off… rapidly!  I tried to set the hook be alas this small fish out maneuvered me and spit… although I cannot picture a trout hauking a loogie… but that’s what he did, he SPIT! said microscopic showgirl feathered hook right back at me!  And promptly headed off to tell all his other fish buddies what a dumb idea it is to bite a feather’d and beaded hook from John’s mom’s sewing kit!  My fishing friends were doomed! 

After many more failed attempts at catching any other trout from that spot we decided to move on to a different patch of stream, actually a different creek altogether, we moved from Bear Creek to Clear Creek where we had had luck in the fall.  Again initial attempts proved fruitless (fishless too for that matter).  But at our second stop along the new creek I was no longer to be shut out!  I managed to catch!  ON A “Nymph” mind you!  This MONSTER! 

Yeah… I know!  I used to use stuff this size for BAIT!  But it did serve to prove that one can indeed catch… ehemm… a fish on feathers and sewing seconds!

This was our combined total for the day!  ONE!  No shutout! Despite the fast flowing waters! 

Actually I am looking forward to trying my luck at this great outdoors pastime more in the coming months.  It really is fun, and the scenery really cannot be beat!  Especially at 8,000 feet in the Rocky Mountains!

Here are the obligatory photos from the day… I hope you enjoy them, even though I know they cannot convey the true beauty of this country.  If you haven’t been to our Rockies… you really ought to.  Maybe you too can drown a few feathers!

Remember to KEEP THAT ROD TIP UP! (Scooter left, Trevor right…)

and the panoramic… (Full size is here – Link)

And finally the proper style illustrated by Trevor… tongue firmly ensconced with teeth!

All larger images can be found here at my Smugmug gallery

Hypocrisy Revealed

In a brilliant piece by Victor Davis Hanson…

President Palin’s First 100 Days
A near disaster.
By Victor Davis Hanson

WASHINGTON (AP) — The first 100 days of the Palin presidency, according to a consensus of media commentators, have proven a near disaster. Perhaps it was Palin’s scant two years’ experience in a major government position that has eroded her gravitas, or maybe it was her flirty reliance on looks and informal chit-chat. In any case, the press has had a field day, and it is hard to see how President Palin can ever recover from the Quayle/potatoe syndrome. Here is a roundup of this week’s pundit mockery.

LET THEM EAT MOOSE
“Ted Stevens may have gotten off,” wrote Bob Herbert in the New York Times, “but he taught our Sarah something first — like using $100-a-pound beef for her state dinners. And what’s this $50 mil for her inauguration gala? Since when do you fly in your favorite pizza-maker from across the country on our dime? Or send the presidential 747 for a spin over the Big Apple for a third-of-a-million-dollar joyride? Does Palin think she’s still in Alaska and has to have everything flown in from the South 48 by jumbo jet?”

WASILLA CHIC
Also in the Times, Gail Collins weighed in on the already-tired yokelism of the new commander in chief. “What we’re getting is Wasilla chic. That’s what we’re getting. She arrives in the Oval Office, and first thing sends back Blair’s gift of the Churchill bust as if it’s a once-worn Penney’s outfit. Then she gives the Brits some unwatchable DVDs as a booby prize — as if she idled the old Yukon and ran into Target’s sale aisle. Did Sarah send Bristol into Wal-Mart back in Anchorage for that ‘engraved’ iPod for the queen? And what’s this don’t-bow-to-the-queen stuff, but curtsy for a Saudi sheik? Maybe that explains why she brags to Stephanopoulos about her ‘Muslim faith.’ So far, the best things going for her are Todd’s biceps.”

More here… [LINK] … Much more!

Seriously one wouldn’t be able to hear oneself fart over the cacophony of rants and admonishments coming from the Usual Suspects (CNN-MSNBC-NYT-CBS-ABC-NBC-LATimes-NPR-The View-Stewart’s show-Olbermann) if this were indeed the case.  Hard to dispute…

In Order to Keep Me and My Integrity on Speaking Terms

I have to acknowledge this…

President Obama Reverses Course on Releasing More Detainee Abuse Photographs

May 13, 2009 12:45 PM

President Obama met with White House counsel Greg Craig and other members of the White House counsel team last week and told them that he had second thoughts about the decision to hand over photographs of detainee abuse to the ACLU, per a judge's order, and had changed his mind.

The president "believes their release would endanger our troops," a White House official says, adding that the president "believes that the national security implications of such a release have not been fully presented to the court."

At the end of that meeting, the president directed Craig to object to the immediate release of the photos on those grounds. In an Oval Office meeting with Iraq Commander General Ray Odierno, the president told him of his decision to argue against the release  of the photographs. 

I had written in a previous post that for Obama to allow the release of these photos without a fight merely served to illustrate this man’s shortsightedness when it comes to allowing catalystic fodder to be introduced to the public for no other gain then to shove oats down the dead horse “Make Bush-Cheney look bad” meme.  Completely disregarding the dangers this would induce for our troops, and yes civilians abroad in Muslim heavy countries.

It appears now that President Obama may have grown up a notch here.  Mind you, I do not believe he, using his own questionable philosophical cheesecloth, came to this decision by processing the effects of releasing these images to their logical and devastating conclusion on his own.  Rather, I think a number of well informed (scar-ridden, have worn the uniform of this country) military and intelligence intellectual types (yes we do have some of them) had a private conclave with his holiness where they were able to illustrate the damage that could be caused by these images being released to the anti-American ACLU and subsequently to every New York Times Reporter enemy America has in this world.

Probably illustrated with a not-so-subtle reference to… How would you like it if some of your past images made it to the light of day?  Wink… Wink…

So, as much as I do not give credit to Obama thinking this one through for himself… I do give him credit for listening to those who are in the know.  Maybe he’s learning that the world is far more complex when you no longer have the opportunity to vote “Present".

Date Night

Last night my bride and I did something we haven’t done in eons!  We went on a date.  What’s cool about this one is that it wasn’t one of those planned “Date Nights” so many of we 40 somethings have to coordinate months in advance.

Ginger and I both have extremely busy schedules, she especially as she pursues her Masters degree in nursing while still working full-time as an Oncology Nurse.

Well, last night thanks to my racquetball partner cancelling due to a bum shoulder, we found ourselves with no plans.  We began with the usual “What do you want to do for dinner?”  oh “I dunno, what do you want?”

Rather than let that continue, I simply said “Hey lets go to the Mex place down on the corner of Ken Caryl and Simms, we’ve never been there and looks nice from the outside.”

So we did… we jumped in the roadster (73 degrees here last night doncha know) and sped off.  The mex place was a nice family style place with the standard south of the border flair.  Good food without presumption.

At the conclusion of dinner we processed through the usual next questions of “Ok now what?”  we discussed some of the usual haunts… swing by Barnes and Noble? Best Buy? Safeway?  Nah… Hey, whatya think about going to see a movie? 

“You mean like in a theater? with popcorn and all?”

“Yep.”

“Hell, why not? We haven’t been to a movie in… uh… hmmm… when was the last movie we saw in the theater?… Saving Private Ryan?  Armageddon? Star Wars?  Wow… been awhile!”

So with that decision made, my bride and I headed to the nearby multiplex paid our $9.50 each… Wow!  been awhile since I’ve been to a movie… was $7.50 my last time… told ya!  We arrived at 7:20pm for a 7:20pm showing of the new Star Trek movie.

I know what y’all are thinking… nope!  Wasn’t a problem.  Gin and I walked in to a large theater,and had our pick of seating!  There were probably only 50 people in a theater that could accommodate a few hundred.  Ginger didn’t even have to wait in line for her $12.00 popcorn and soda.  It was great!  The advantages of living in a Denver Suburb instead of NYC or LA.

We sat there like a couple on their 15th date, comfortable with each other as buddies, and well past that awkward stage of oooh does she like me?  I go to movies to be entertained, I’m not a critic and don’t really analyze movies for that purpose, so if you’re looking for an assessment of the movie… I simply say GO! It was great fun! 

We returned home at a decent hour (school night after all) and migrated back to our usual operations… catching up on school for her, reading news for me, then relaxing in front of the idiot box to watch my three favorite idiots on “Top Gear.” 

Resigned to slumber after that, fully satisfied with the evening shared with my date, rare as that has been.

If you get the chance, I recommend it, it doesn’t have to be planned, just take advantage of the opportunity  if it presents itself.

This is what a $300,000.00 Photo Op Looks Like?

The above image is the officially released photo from the Air Force One Photo Op over NYC last week.  Obviously taken from the back seat of the F-16D in formation. 

Ok, I’m going to say my thoughts here…

To me this lends more credibility to the supposition that the other F-16 (even though claimed to be an F-16C not a two seat “D” model) was taking pics of the two plane formation.  Because if this was “THE” Photo to come outta of this… MY GOD!  Send me up next time!  Nice canopy rail, and canopy glare!  What? Did you guys use a Kodak instamatic with a Flash Cube?

There had to be better angles available to include Lady Liberty too!

Oh well… I think it is time for me to move on from this fiasco… no sport in it anymore.  Besides, the scapegoat I mean man responsible for this ill planned mission, just announced his resignation.

A top White House aide resigned Friday for his role in Air Force One's $328,835 photo-op flyover above New York City that sparked panic and flashbacks to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Louis Caldera said the controversy had made it impossible for him to effectively lead the White House Military Office. "Moreover, it has become a distraction in the important work you are doing as president," Caldera said in his resignation letter to President Barack Obama.

…Caldera's office approved the photo-op, which cost $35,000 in fuel alone for the plane and two jet fighter escorts. The Air Force estimated the photo shoot cost taxpayers $328,835.

White House officials said the flight was designed to update the official photo of the plane, known as Air Force One when the president is aboard. The White House released a photo of the blue-and-white plane high above the Statue of Liberty, with New Jersey in the background.

Here’s the discussion topics that will I’m sure be conspiracy theorized to death add nauseam…

Deputy military director George Mulligan said he first told Caldera about the proposed photo shoot on April 20 — a week before it was scheduled to take place. The same aide also said Caldera should notify deputy chief of staff Jim Messina because it was an unusual move.

Caldera told officials he didn't recall the conversation.

Caldera also told officials that he didn't read an e-mail detailing the flyover plans until it was over. Mulligan, Caldera's second-in-command, sent him an e-mail message on April 24 advising him again to tell Messina and Gibbs about the photo shoot.

Caldera said he hadn't seen the e-mail because he has two official accounts. He also said he was suffering from severe muscle aches and had been prescribed pain medication.

Ok… so I’m done with this, other than if some really incredible revelation comes out of this… But I’m sure the conspiracy guys will continue.  Frankly if you’re going to profligate a conspiracy, work on the one where Obama “One World’s” us into a Orwellian state led by Keith Oberman!  That’s always a fun one.

Ain’t Got the Blues in Colorado this Year!

Word just out is that the Blue Angels will not be coming to Colorado this year after all.  The Front Range Airshow scheduled for June 13-14, 2009 has been canceled due to airspace confliction with Denver International Airport.  From Denver’s Channel 7 News

Denver International and Front Range airports have canceled the previously scheduled air show, which included performances by the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels aerobatic flight team and other air show performers.

The air show was to take place this summer at Front Range Airport as part of the facility’s 25th anniversary.

Airport officials said they made the decision to cancel the performance after determining the negative impact on commercial air traffic to and from adjacent Denver International Airport was no longer acceptable.

"It was determined that the resulting flight delays and cancellations would cost DIA’s airlines hundreds of thousands of dollars, and adversely impact tens of thousands of passengers," said Kim Day, the manager at Denver Interntional Airport. "We have looked at a number of alternatives in an effort to find a way to make this happen, but the impact is far too immense at this time."

Always wondered about that.  The Blues usually require a 5 nautical mile radius from show center point, and 15,000 feet above ground level (AGL) and this requirement would certainly interfere with DIA (KDEN) operations.  These clearances are required not only on “The Show Day” but are required for:

1. Thursday from 12:00 to 14:00 (Circle and arrival - 2 hours)
2. Thursday from 15:00 to 16:15 (Practice-1 hour 15 minutes)
3. Friday from 15:00 to 17:00 (Demonstration-2 hours)
4. Saturday from 15:00 to 17:00 (Demonstration-2 hours)
5. Sunday from 15:00 to 17:00 (Demonstration-2 hours)

The Lighter area around Front Range Airport indicates the 5 mile Radius.  This would in effect shut down, at minimum, 3 of Denver International Airport’s Runways to Arriving and Departing traffic. 

As saddened as I am that the Blues will not be here in Denver this year I have to say I can certainly understand.  I might just have to catch them out at Tailhook this year at Fallon.

Why Won’t Obama Release the Pictures of Air Force One’s NYC Fly-by?

The NY Post is Reporting that the Obama White House has “not technically classified” the photos taken of the VC-25A aircraft circling the Statue of Liberty last week, but has no plans to release them to the public.

The $328,835 snapshots of an Air Force One backup plane buzzing lower Manhattan last week will not be shown to the public, the White House said yesterday.

"We have no plans to release them," an aide to President Obama told The Post, refusing to comment further.

The sole purpose of the secret photo-op, which sent thousands of New Yorkers running for cover, was to take new publicity shots of the presidential jet over the city.

"The photos . . . are classified -- that's ridiculous," Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., said.

The photos have not technically been "classified," a White House aide said, but they are being kept from public view.

New Yorkers said they could not understand how a president who shares intimate snapshots from the White House could justify keeping these secret.

"So we're not gonna see the fruits of this cruel joke?" said Frank Antonelli, 39, one of the Wall Street traders spooked by last week's flyover.

"I'm not surprised. Obama . . . wouldn't further all the bad publicity by putting out those pictures."

Actually, I think I know why. 

Outside of the bad PR experienced as a result of the poorly executed photo op, I suspect there was a deeper “Subject” of the photos than is being acknowledged to the public for fear of even further cries of pandering.

Allow me to explain…  On the day the VC-25A was tooling around NYC, she was not alone.  In close formation was an F-16, two actually, but “dash two” was flying more of a high cover, …or was it?  I suspect that “Dash Two” was also the real photo bird.  Meaning the intent was NOT just to get photos of the VC-25A Presidential bird, bit to actually get the F-16 flying formation on the 747!

FAA Memo outlining the event: [PDF]

You:  So What?

Well normally I wouldn’t attach any significance to this and assume the F-16 flying the wing was indeed “Just the photo plane” however I (and a number of other aviation aficionados) noticed a specific Tail on the F-16 that has historical significance. 

This particular F-16 had a Red Tail (not normal camouflage painting for a tactical fighter) identifying this plane as belonging to the Alabama Air National Guard’s 187th Fighter Wing.

The significance of this is that the “RED TAILS” are representative of the World Famous “Tuskegee Airmen” an all African American fighter wing known for flying P-51 Mustangs in WWII with a Vermillion Tail (AKA the RED TAILS).

 “To bomber crews of the Fifteenth Air Force-who owed them a particular debt-the men of the four squadrons of the 332nd Fighter Group, the 99th, 100th, 301st and the 302nd, were the Red Tail Angels. Flying P-51 Mustangs with tails painted vermillion, they had by the end of the war won for themselves the distinction of not only having damaged or destroyed 400 enemy aircraft, but of never having lost one of the bombers they escorted on missions over Europe-a rare achievement. [more] 

The Alabama National Guard pays reverence to the Tuskegee Airmen by painting the Tail of (at least) one of their F-16s red acknowledging the storied history of these Alabama based African American airmen.

So, as much as I hate to point out what for all appearances seems to be possibly a photo op that may be, possibly, motivated by connecting two racially ground breaking events (first African American Aerial Squadrons and the first African American President), I am led to wonder if this was not the image happy White House’s gratuitous motivation.  The F-16 flying wing on the aircraft used for Air Force One was actually meant to be INCLUDED in the images taken that day.  This was not a photo op just for Air Force One, rather it was a Photo Op for the White House to connect to another Historically great stride in African American successes in our oft racially troubled history.

Paint me suspicious, and yes very skeptical of this particular photo Op.  IMAGE IS EVERYTHING when it comes to staged events like this, so NOTHING is present by coincidence or accident, they know damn well what they were up to, and this was not just a “bad idea” on the part of the Office Of Military Affairs.  In reality it is looking more and more like the OMA was scapegoated.