The sailors on the carrier really DID request Bush's photo-op

[Cocoa]

edit: I can't believe I have to warn that this is satire, but it seems I do. This is satire.


Here's a first-hand account from one of the sailors. :-)

http://www.lasvegasmercury.com/2004/MERC-Jun-10-Thu-2004/24052231.html

<snip>

My name is Paul Whetsel and I'm a seaman-second class aboard the aircraft carrier USS Lincoln. I work on the flight deck in what we call fire control. It's a dangerous job, but I love it. It was April 28, 2003, and we were three days out of San Diego when word was passed that President Bush would be landing on our ship.

Well, we were plenty excited, let me tell you. But our excitement soon gave way to concern when we heard that the president's advance team hadn't had time to set up a proper photo op. The rumor on the ship was that they were gonna photograph the president--our president, mind you--with no regard for a beautiful, stirring background that might lend itself to campaign contribution brochures. Let me set you straight about something...my president isn't gonna be photographed against a bland apolitical backdrop. Not on my watch, Mister.

Well, me and my buddies decided right then and there to do something about it. You think you know what's inside a guy when you work with him every day over a 10-month deployment. But until you go through hell with a guy, you don't know nothing about him. And until we started plotting, I had no idea my best friend on board, Ensign Steve deMarco, had been a set designer in Hollywood. Now he tells me.

Steve said if he were staging it, he'd put the president on the forward deck, before a half-circle of officers in their working khakis. That way, Steve explained, the president's regal blue suit would really stand out against the drab, tan foreground. Man, I didn't even know you could think of stuff like that. Steve said he'd shoot the president from below, with the carrier's island structure just over Bush's right shoulder. According to Steve, the image was instantly readable symbolism for strength and leadership.

more...

[amber dog democrat]

1. This has to be bogus

How many seaman apprentices are best friends with ensigns?

[democrat in Tallahassee]

2. how did steve know the pres would be wearing "regal blue"

did bush call him to consult on his wardrobe?

[amber dog democrat]

3. yeah, I declare bullshit.

on this one.

[Cocoa]

4. you guys not have your coffee yet?

:-)

[amber dog democrat]

7. OK you got me fair and square.

kudos.

[Jim Sagle]

5. In the upper corner of the article, in small print, is this disclaimer:

"The contents of the Mercury World Report humor section are fictional."

[Raster]

6. thanks cocoa for posting this lovely piece of SATIRE!!!

"Still, we were pretty desperate. On a hunch, I called Karl Rove, the president's chief political strategist. I guess it showed some disrespect for the chain of command, but I had to try. But once I got a hold of Mr. Rove, he wasn't one bit more encouraging.

"We're touched by your support," Rove said, "but this president doesn't go for that kind of showboating. We'll stage a tailhook landing in an S-3B Viking and then the president will strut around the deck in a flight suit, but there won't be any grandstanding. I hope I've made myself clear on that point."