That plane that got too close to the White House- Page 3

[KelRel]

Posted: 5/12/05 at 8:24am

Etolie, I agree with you whole heartedly. I think that it can be a very good thing to be a little too cautious. 9/11 reports and alerts were downplayed and ignored until the planes crashed into the towers. I for one am glad that people are paying more attention to "chatter" and keeping an eye out for stuff. I was kind of freaked out for a few minutes when I heard about the evacuation because I had just got done reading about the thousands of fake id badges that had been confiscated. And they just arrested the guy who gave some of the hijackers id badges and such. We can never go back to where we were before 9/11 and that is very sad. I am staying out of the politics and theories on this one. I just am glad that the government is keeping a closer eye on things.

[Bluemoon]

Posted: 5/12/05 at 9:04am

As someone who lives and works in the D.C. area, I am never upset when someone or some agency "overreacts" to a perceieved security threat. Yes, there have been many small planes that have inadvertantly cross into the no-fly zone. But they responded to radio inquiries and turned around. This plane did not. At some point you have to scramble the jets and investigate. The big story around here today is the fact that more buildings were not evacuated when they should have been.

Politically motivated or not (and I think NOT), we'll stick to overreacting, thank you.

[KelRel]

Posted: 5/12/05 at 9:08am

Bluemoon, I have lots of family up in that area, next time I'm up there wanna meet for drinks or something?

[Bluemoon]

Posted: 5/12/05 at 9:11am

Absolutely, Kel! Just be ready to evacuate the bar in an emergency.

[KelRel]

Posted: 5/12/05 at 9:12am

But of course. With so many family members up there and just being in the area so often I think it makes alot more sense to us to have the area evacuated. Something about being that close to the head of our government, which is kind of a HUGE target that keeps you on your toes lol

[smartpenguin78]

Posted: 5/12/05 at 9:51am

I live in New York City.
I understand being cautious, as well.
Interestingly I still disagree both with the assumption that the Cessna flying in was a politcial event, and with the responses given against it. I guess I'm just a strange person.

[KelRel]

Posted: 5/12/05 at 9:53am

No you're not penguin. I think that it was taken care of as it should have been, the plane didn't respond to the radio inquires so they went into investigate and they got important officials to safety. Good job to all involved.

[smartpenguin78]

Posted: 5/12/05 at 9:57am

That part I totally agree with, but somehow I got into that long discussion with Plum last night anyway.
Oh well, thanks Kel Rel. Hope Kentucky is fun. I'm from Georgia and lived out in nowhere North Carolina before moving here so I totally understand the sentiment in your signature!

[KelRel]

Posted: 5/12/05 at 10:00am

Where in NC? I have family in Raliegh-Durham

[smartpenguin78]

Posted: 5/12/05 at 10:11am

I lived in Boone, up in the moutains.

[KelRel]

Posted: 5/12/05 at 10:13am

Ok no clue where that is lol. We always went to the beach. I spent almost every summer from age 3-13 on the beaches of NC. Mainly Emerald Island

[BT]

Posted: 5/12/05 at 10:16am

Blue - I have to agree with you. I live on the Hill and pass the Capitol every morning on my way to work. On 9/11 I walked home from work via Cap Hill. I would much rather they exercised an abundance of caution (though you may have to remind me of that when I curse them for closing streets for car inspections). I think, however, that the media are incredibly annoying in their repetition of the story, though it is nice to have a break from the 'runaway bride', even if only for a moment.

[Bluemoon]

Posted: 5/12/05 at 10:30am

BT - Totally with you on both points. I think the fact that news crews were already in the Capitol and had live coverage - both audio and visual - leads them to repeat the footage again and again. Then, too reporters love to tell the thrilling tale of how a story personally affected them.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/12/05 at 10:34am

I don't believe that the Cessna flying was the political act.

The exploitation of the Cessna flying in was the political act.

And that was precisely Tom Ridge's point when he said "For that?"

[KelRel]

Posted: 5/12/05 at 10:44am

Ok that makes more sense PJ, but I still think that it was just business as usual. People were evacuated, it was investiagted, found safe and everyone was let back into their offices. They were just being cautious. And the continuing coverage. That is not political, that is just our idiotic media services grabbing any attention they can get and dragging the drama out as long as possible.

[Plum]

Posted: 5/12/05 at 10:51am

Actually, PalJoey, you might be interested in knowing that the "threat level" that applies to the White House is separate from the one made up by the Department of Homeland Security and predates it by far. The fact that those government buildings went up to "red alert" for about 8 minutes has nothing to do with the national threat levels you consider to be politically motivated.

And coming from a country where it isn't uncommon for backpacks to blow up in your face, I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't mind a little caution.

[KelRel]

Posted: 5/12/05 at 10:52am

Plum, where are you from?

[Plum]

Posted: 5/12/05 at 10:54am

Israel, where the Prime Minister is in a continual contest with Bush to see who can be the biggest asshat.

[KelRel]

Posted: 5/12/05 at 10:56am

LMAO..I'm sorry but asshat just cracked me up. On a more serious note, it is terrible what is going on over there. I am sorry that you had to deal with that.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 5/12/05 at 11:09am

Plum -- I understand where you're coming from. I have many relatives there.

[Bluemoon]

Posted: 5/12/05 at 11:12am

Plum - Two weeks ago I was on the DC metro when an unattended backpack was found near the door. Everyone on our subways are very aware of spotting unattended bags. After passengers made inquiries around the car, the conductor was alerted. At the next stop the metro police were waiting for us. The train was evacuated, the dogs sniffed, bag confiscated. All reboarded the train and there was not one grumble or complaint; we were just relieved. It comes, unfortunately with the territory. Makes you (us) realize what it must be like to live in Tel Aviv.