President Bush is in town, arriving at McConnell Air Force Base at 11:28 a.m. It was good of him to make his first stop the Boeing Co. modification facility, where he thanked workers for doing such a good job on Air Force One.
Our editorial today argues that the Boys & Girls Club complex on East 21st Street, the main reason for the president’s visit, is deserving of the national attention. When the $8 million club fully opens July 9, it will join the Opportunity Project nearby — the sunny $3 million early childhood learning center funded by Barry and Paula Downing and open a year now. Next will come a new $10.4 million public elementary and middle school and adjacent clinic to open in August 2008, the first such school building project in the neighborhood since 1971.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
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35 Comments
I thought the main reason for Bush’s visit was to raise money for Roberts — the Boys and Girls Club visit was an add on to justify the stop? When the Pres does campaigning for some one — does that campaign have to reimburse the gov’t for the expense of the president being there.
If they do:It takes Roberts campaign off the hook to reimburse the gov’t for Bush’s visit?
He’s on his way to Texas for another vacation — hope he wears his seat belt ….
So Bush deplaned with his water boy, Robbie. (I can just hear Bush whispering in his ear “Robbie, I sure wish I knew how to quit you!”)
Thank goodness Bush spent 15 minutes for the photo op, now with the bill for the trip paid by the taxpayers he can go to the real point of his trip, raising money.
I wonder if when GW took his jacket off to shake hands (was he wearing a watch), did he hand them to Roberts, his personal valet when he comes to town?
Perhaps he wanted to do both?
But of course, leave it to the hardcore political left to turn a positive experience of recognition into one of political rancor.
Rancor is what the Liberal Left Democrats are good at after all.
Walk on by……..
Republican, I look at another thread and here you are with “rancor” again. Was that on your word-of-the-day calendar today?
Rancor: Bitter, long-lasting resentment; deep-seated ill will.
Heh, yup.
Like Bush and his people give one honest damn about poor kids.
Fill the black bag up with money, folks. Stop off at oil man Murfin’s horse ranch and fill ‘er up, boys.
Lots of horses and plenty of horse’s asses too apparently.
How appropriate, the fund raiser was hosted by an oil man for an oil man!
I detect jealousy amongst the Lib crowd. Crying in their beer because they don’t that second “big screen” in their house. :D
650 grand collected in 45 minutes.
It’s Roberts’ payoff for stonewalling the Intelligence Committee results for 4 years and protecting Bush from the damning information about how the decision to go to war was made.
Roberts should have remembered what happened to Jim Ryun when he reached out to
Worst.President.Ever.
I wouldn’t want Bush around my kids. Not at all. Not even to read “My Pet Goat” to them.
What bothers me most is that there are some black parents out there that are so fuggin DUMB as to let their children pose with Bush in a picture! That is the moral equal to little Jewish kids posing with Hitler! I mean here is a man and a Republican that wants to do nothing more than destroy these kids and their ambitions and their connumity. And they stand there and pose with him like idiots! Much as I cannot stand 50 Cents, he was right about one thing- “George Bush doesn’t care about black people”. In fact, he hates them.
kev: It is posts like your last one that make it difficult to take anything you write seriously. What a load of manure.
Did you notice how thin the line was to see the president along the street? Hmm.
Was rancor was the word of the day in Rush’s Oxy world today?
Republicans will always find someone else to pay for their trips – that is what they do best.
I find it interesting that Russ Meyer of Cessna is the real person behind the success of the Boys and Girls Club but yet it is Pat Roberts that gets the $650,000. What a country!
You can’t ever SEE Bush . . . Tinted windows behind giant black SUV’s.
President Coward isn’t going to ride in an open car . . . Who do you think he is, a Kennedy?
Hehehehe . . .
Does anyone know the total number of protesters lined up to see Bush? I also noticed the sparse crowd (if you can even call it a crowd) that showed up to see Bush.
Even in Albania there were more people to see Bush, but then again, we don’t know if they were told that a clown was in town to perform. I didn’t notice but did Bush leave his watch on when he was shaking hands? ha,ha
There were about 50 protesters when I left at 10:30 and that wasn’t counting the Phelps family. Apparently the number went up to about 100 closer to when he showed up. One of my co-workers who lived in the neighborhood went to see Bush but was forced away. The police stormed a liquor store and forced all the customers away. I wonder if that happens in White neighborhoods.
” find it interesting that Russ Meyer of Cessna is the real person behind the success of the Boys and Girls Club but yet it is Pat Roberts that gets the $650,000. What a country!”
I would rather my kids spend a day with Russ Meyer than Bush or Roberts any day!
“kev: It is posts like your last one that make it difficult to take anything you write seriously. What a load of manure”
Exactly how? The Republicans have been anti Black since Nixon turned them that way! Why do you think they are hostile to things like affirmative action and college grants for poor students? Every program that has helped the poor- a large number of which are black people- the Republicans have fought tooth and nail. While they might now wear white sheets, they are just as bad and far more dangerous then those who do. Why do you think all the south is now solidly Republican? Because they are seen as the most anti black party.
Doug–
Quite a few of us heard about the protests but chose not to participate.
Bush was smart in choosing the Boys and Girls’ Club as his venue–not honest of course, but smart.
You couldn’t protest Bush without seeming to protest the Club.
A lot of us in the anti-war community didn’t want to protest Bush when he was actually doing something good for once.
We also knew we couldn’t get anywhere close to President Coward what with the cages for protestors etc.
The ironic thing was that President Coward gave no time to local media, so one station (channel 24) was forced to leading with the PROTESTS, hehehe.
The protestors were more than happy to talk on camera.
Sweet.
1/4 visit spent on pr, 3/4 for business, what was his true reason for being here, except paying a debt to his water boy?
kev:
You are so right.
Imagine ^650,000 fundraiser for the boys and girls club. Imagine that money being dispersed to the people that live in the area.
How could anyone give to Roberts or Bush after the pain and destruction they have caused.
One things for sure. It is sobering, arrogant, and hypocritical for all of those people who lined funds for Roberts yesterday…how many of them do you think have kids serving in IRAQ?
If the fund raiser had been for the kids, and not for a Kansas shoe in politician, no one could say anything except good things about the visit. Instead it was all about the greedy, not the needy!
I protested and we did a fine job disginguishing between a@#hole and the b&G club.
we had over 200 protestors NOT counting the phelps group who I did not see until I watched the news.
DID You know that his little trip yesterday cost us tax payers 53,000 dollars an hour ???
Bet the side trip to the center was just to justify the trip expenses. Also, I bet those wealthy Republicans are saving their receipts to deduct as a business expense, so the lions share of the donations and the govt. cost will be shouldered by the stupid little people that support this president (along with the rest of us) and vote Republican.
The Democrits are getting desperate now. They’re running out of material. All looks like yesterday’s bilge. :D
Walk on by……………………..
I think it is the party of Grand Ole Perverts who are the desperate ones now
more and mroe are waking up to the truth
I’m certainly no fan of GW Bush, but I don’t begrudge the administration the cost of travel.
No matter how bad the President is (and this one is pretty damn bad), the Office of the Presidency cannot be risked. The President needs to travel, and his security team and staff need to go with him. The costs just need to be paid.
If it were travel for the singular intention of campaign raising on the govt. dime, many would take issue with that. I think he just wanted some cover so did a little dog and pony at they youth center.
Phantom,
I know there was some work being done on “Air Force 1″ while he was here. There were reports of heightened security at subcontractors that provide components for some of the planes’ systems.
How much maintenance could have been done on Air Force 1 for the short time GWB was here in Wichita? As I recall from news coverage, the total time he was in town was quite minimal. He was too busy getting down to his beloved ranch in Crawford, Texas.
I just wish he would stay in Crawford Texas and keep his big mouth shut. But that would leave us with Dick Cheney (and we all know Cheney pulls Bush’s mouth strings). So either way the country is screwed for a little while longer.
Fedup,
They can change entire engines out in far less time than Bush was on the ground here. Most of the systems are modular (some aren’t, of course), and are designed for rapid swap-out. AF1 is a military mod of a commercial airliner, and 747’s are designed to be repaired and put back in service as fast as possible. They don’t make money sitting in hangars…