Althouse: Michelle and Barack Obama, Hillary and Bill Clinton, and Laura and George W. Bush will all fly together on Air Force One.

December 8, 2013

Michelle and Barack Obama, Hillary and Bill Clinton, and Laura and George W. Bush will all fly together on Air Force One.

To the Nelson Mandela funeral.

(Jimmy Carter too.)

54 comments:

geokstr said...: Bo will follow along later on Air Force 2.; 12/8/13, 6:00 PM
Saint Croix said...: That is exactly where Jimmy Carter belongs, in parenthesis. He is such an afterthought.; 12/8/13, 6:14 PM
rhhardin said...: It's another estrogen rush, for Mandela this time.

Who watches this crap.; 12/8/13, 6:20 PM
Anonymous said...: The next POTUS is Hillary! SO, it is best that she go. After all, she has already been vetted by NYT, NPR, and PBS to be the 45th POTUS. So, we stupid voters have no choice. No choice. We are servants to the Press.

AND, GOP is so stupid because they are anti-women, anti-science, and anti-immigrants, that voters like me have no choice.

Either you are a robot (ie - democrat) or treated like an alient (ie - by GOP).

You/We are screwed.; 12/8/13, 6:35 PM
avwh said...: Might be the longest time Bill & Hillary spend together in one room since they left the White House.; 12/8/13, 6:37 PM
David said...: Do Air Force One pilots get nervous? This is definitely the test of whether they do.; 12/8/13, 6:48 PM
FleetUSA said...: Biden might be interested in whether the flight arrives safely.; 12/8/13, 6:51 PM
rehajm said...: Might be the longest time Bill & Hillary spend together in one room since they left the White House.

Bill's hoping Nina Burleigh's going.; 12/8/13, 7:01 PM
FullMoon said...: Terrorists wet dream, should just send Carter, Biden and maybe Al Gore; 12/8/13, 7:15 PM
somefeller said...: One current President and three former Presidents going to Nelson Mandela's funeral. Jesse Helms would have been appalled. Clearly, this has to do with the cultural influence of Gramsci, Alinsky or some other really bad guy.; 12/8/13, 7:26 PM
Carl Pham said...: That's incredibly irresponsible. The Secret Service must be utterly freaking out.; 12/8/13, 7:44 PM
SteveR said...: Maybe they can conference on how to fix the ACA, I think Hillary would have some real expert input. It would really help her 2016 run to step in and help fix it.; 12/8/13, 7:50 PM
TosaGuy said...: Presidential planepool! Multiple planes are for vacations.; 12/8/13, 7:51 PM
SteveR said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 12/8/13, 7:52 PM
Left Bank of the Charles said...: As an Iowan, I must observe that putting all these U.S. dignitaries on the same plane violates the Sullivan rule.; 12/8/13, 7:56 PM
Robert Cook said...: "That is exactly where Jimmy Carter belongs, in parenthesis. He is such an afterthought."

And a far better man than anyone else who will be on that plane.; 12/8/13, 8:09 PM
Fritz said...: So, do you figure they'll play rummy together on the way, and Barack will cheat by changing the rules to fit his hands?; 12/8/13, 8:11 PM
MadisonMan said...: This seems like a bad idea to me.

Why should the President go? (Well, I know why Obama is going -- it's a nice diversion from ACA stuff).

But in general, this business of sending dignitaries to funerals is kinda dumb, IMO. What a waste of money and time, and for what? It's not like they really knew the guy.; 12/8/13, 8:22 PM
David said...: "Carl Pham said...
That's incredibly irresponsible. The Secret Service must be utterly freaking out."

It's more irresponsible that just the incumbent president going because ?; 12/8/13, 8:29 PM
clint said...: "But in general, this business of sending dignitaries to funerals is kinda dumb, IMO. What a waste of money and time, and for what? It's not like they really knew the guy."

We won't be the only country sending high level representatives.

Ordinarily, heads of state and such only get to talk with agendas and minutes and vast armies of handlers.

The opportunity for them to rub elbows in a less structured setting is invaluable for building relationships.

Or, you know, it would be if we had a President who had an aptitude for making friends. Good thing he's bringing along Bill Clinton and George Bush -- they're actually good at the small talk thing.; 12/8/13, 8:47 PM
Curious George said...: If I were the Bushes, I would count the parachutes.; 12/8/13, 8:49 PM
John henry said...: Is this a good idea to have the prez and two former prezes on the same plane?

Many companies forbid key people from flying on the same flight.

Stouffer almost went out of business 30 years ago when a plane crashed with their 5-10 top execs on board.

Beyond that, the dynamics might be kind of interesting.

And will Huma be along to keep Hilary company?

John Henry; 12/8/13, 9:01 PM
Chef Mojo said...: And a far better man than anyone else who will be on that plane.

Oh, please, Cookie. Jimmie, after all, attempted to attack Iran in order to free the hostages. That, to you, is insufficient provocation. By your standards, Carter should be on your list of Presidential War Criminals. The fact that he failed utterly should not make a difference. His intention was to attack the Iranians and kill them, even though the Iranians hadn't actually attacked our homeland.

Shame on you, Cookie. Inconsistency. Tch, tch...; 12/8/13, 9:06 PM
Chef Mojo said...: In terms of protocol, there's absolutely no reason why the current or former presidents should be going to this funeral. Nelson Mandela was not a head of state when he died.

And I guaran-damn-tee-ya that if the Queen of England died tomorrow, Obama wouldn't be going to her funeral, even though she is a head of state.

Regardless of either, it's a waste of time and money to send the president overseas for something like this. He's already posted pictures of himself in tribute to Mandela. He should just go to the South African Embassy, and sign the condolence book, and pose somberly outside afterwords while TOTUS gets set up back at the White House for some Meaningful Words of Comfort for us all.; 12/8/13, 9:14 PM
bleh said...: I suspect the Bushes and the Clintons are getting along well and the Obamas are sitting in their own section surrounded by suckup aides.; 12/8/13, 9:22 PM
Xmas said...: Awwwwwwwwwwkward...; 12/8/13, 9:48 PM
gadfly said...: Who made this decision to put the families of four US Presidents into a single group exposed to the growing murder and violence that has become the norm in the New Black Apartheid that is the so-called democratic state of South Africa?

The stable gold-backed rand and the growing First World economy of the 1960's which was benefiting blacks more than Afrikaners is gone. The ANC and the Cosatu union run everything and their elites are accumulating the wealth. The ANC police are murdering with impunity - unemployment is above 25% and street riots average three per day. How many Marines are accompanying this U.S contingent?

The irony of it all is that we are honoring the life of the very man who created this catastrophe.; 12/8/13, 9:50 PM
rcocean said...: Judas Priest Jimmy stay home, let the young folks have their time in the sun.

Good grief.; 12/8/13, 9:57 PM
rcocean said...: "So, do you figure they'll play rummy together on the way, and Barack will cheat by changing the rules to fit his hands?"

Its only way to win against Bill. Remember, you can't cheat an honest man.; 12/8/13, 9:59 PM
Sam L. said...: Bill gonna outshine Barry. Outshine: is this raaaaaacist?; 12/8/13, 10:06 PM
Tom said...: I really don't have an issue with this. Mandela wasn't a perfect man, but he lead people to freedom. I think this is a good way to honor the man and his legacy. If George H W Bush was in better health, you know he'd go too.

Another point - I'm not a fan of this president. But sometimes the president is actually Head of State. This is a good example. For events like this, party is irrelevant.; 12/8/13, 10:07 PM
Carnifex said...: The more presidents and ex-presidents who get out of the country the better...I just wish they'd stay out.

I can't even begin to express the first thought that hit me, but I'm sure a lot of you could deduce it. I'm not proud of the thought, but I did have it.; 12/8/13, 10:19 PM
Robert Cook said...: Chef Mojo,

I shouldn't need to but obviously must point out that Carter was not attacking Iran or trying to engage them in war. He oversaw a planned rescue operation that went SNAFU.; 12/8/13, 10:40 PM
tarheelmri said...: Sounds like the beginning of a joke "Bill Clinton, George Bush and Barack Obama were all flying on air force one ..."; 12/9/13, 12:10 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: I like it. Maybe the others will subtly steer Obama in a better direction.; 12/9/13, 12:39 AM
MayBee said...: Imagine how hard it is going to be for other funeral goers with *that* American Secret Service detail. Traffic alone will be a nightmare.; 12/9/13, 1:05 AM
Paul said...: "And a far better man than anyone else who will be on that plane."

Hilarious! Jimmah is such a feckless, foolish, preening twit. Yet he has been eclipsed in this regard by the current clueless narcissist in chief.

Then you have a philandering attention whore with his shrewish half-mad wife, who can't even stand each other and live apart.

And finally two utterly decent people who are as out of place on this plane full of sociopaths as can be.

That's three out of four Presidents who simply have no business wielding power of any sort,let alone POTUS.

We are fucked my friends.; 12/9/13, 1:14 AM
fivewheels said...: But sometimes the president is actually Head of State.

Indeed. If only the role hadn't been vacant when Lady Thatcher passed.; 12/9/13, 2:50 AM
Humperdink said...: "And a far better man than anyone else who will be on that plane."

@Robert Cook. I do not disagree that Jimmy Carter was a good and honorable man. Unfortunately, his presidency was marked by flaming incompetence from beginning to end.

The current president possess none of the former qualities and all the latter.; 12/9/13, 4:39 AM
Nena's 99 Luftballons Song said...: Kenny Chesney Tampa 2013 http://youtu.be/7j-OqFKRPks; 12/9/13, 6:00 AM
pm317 said...: Bill gonna outshine Barry

He already did. Watch this Fox interview with Ed Henry.; 12/9/13, 6:50 AM
rhhardin said...: I dont' know who's in line after the speaker of the house, but you'd want all of them through at least Boehner on the plane.; 12/9/13, 7:37 AM
Jamie Bee said...: I hate to quibble, but in reading the blurb you linked to, I think it says that the Obamas and the Bushes will fly together on Air Force One. The Clintons and Jimmy Carter will also attend memorials in South Africa, but the wording suggests that neither the Clintons nor Carter will be flying with the others.; 12/9/13, 7:57 AM
I'm Full of Soup said...: So this plane will carry one crappy ex-president, one who was barely competent, one who would have been a failure but for the booming economy in the 1990's and the current unbelievably incompetent president?; 12/9/13, 8:21 AM
Martha said...: Nope. According to Bloomberg News:

Former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, will join Obama and first lady Michelle Obama on Air Force One, while former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton and Clinton’s daughter, Chelsea Clinton, will travel separately to the event.

Hillary and Bill will not share the same plane after all.; 12/9/13, 8:42 AM
Jaq said...: I blame Jimmy Carter for fecklessness in the face of the Soviet Union while they destroyed self government in Afghanistan, leading to a lot of the troubles in the world we see today.; 12/9/13, 9:01 AM
Paul said...: What people have overlooked for a long time is that Mandela WAS A COMMUNIST.

The ANC, his party, was and is flat communist. Communist and corrupt to the bone.

Yes he helped in apartheid but he then embarrassed communism with the resulting mass deaths and totalitarianism.

As for the ex-prezs and 'the stupid one' being on the same airplane, it is kind of funny that the lame duck is flying the ship.; 12/9/13, 9:51 AM
Andy Freeman said...: > Is this a good idea to have the prez and two former prezes on the same plane?

> Many companies forbid key people from flying on the same flight.

Former presidents are not "key people".; 12/9/13, 10:24 AM
fivewheels said...: If they all were on the same plane, I don't think the danger is that it would be crippling to lose them all, but just that it would be a more inviting target for violence.; 12/9/13, 11:31 AM
Robert Cook said...: "Yes he helped in apartheid but he then embarrassed communism with the resulting mass deaths and totalitarianism."

What does this sentence mean?; 12/9/13, 12:32 PM
Birches said...: If I were the Bushes, I'd rather be on the plane with Bill. Probably a much better time than trying to chit chat with the Obamas and Hill.

I'm guessing this is a money saving move. The secret service detail for the former Presidents can probably be curtailed if they're traveling with the current.; 12/9/13, 3:31 PM
paul said...: Its good they're going in separate planes and Speaker Boehner isn't coming.

I don't think Clinton could contain a Boehner if Laura Bush was on the same plane.; 12/9/13, 8:22 PM
Meade said...: Well said, Tom and Freeman.; 12/9/13, 9:18 PM
Shawn Levasseur said...: "The Secret Service must be utterly freaking out."

Nah, multiple people that they have to provide security for anyway are all in the same place.

The burden will be lighter on the SS for at least a few hours.; 12/10/13, 1:47 PM