OMG! John Boehner reads my blog!
Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio), the presumptive Speaker-elect of the House, will not use a private jet as Speaker for trips back and forth to his home district, he said Wednesday.
“Over the last 20 years, I have flown back and forth to my district on commercial aircraft, and I’m going to continue to do that,” Boehner told reporters at a press conference.
OK, probably not. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one giving that advice. Perception matters. Winging across flyover country in a private jet doesn’t endear you with the voters. Of course Boehner is from flyover country himself so maybe he knew that already.
AND! All you Pelosi apologists out there who claimed she had no choice but to fly military… Guess not, huh?
I still think flying the Speaker via commercial airliners is a bad idea.
But there are cheaper seats from .mil than a fully outfitted 757.
I think they all should fly commercial, including the President.
Abraham Lincoln used to answer the door of the White House himself. I wonder what he’d think of the new political class that tries to isolate itself from and elevate itself above the people?
Ah, but how many of these VIPs get to go through the TSA security theater? How many get whisked right through security at Dulles or Reagan because “they’re special”?
Probably all of them. If they had to suffer the same indignities we do the TSA wouldn’t exist.
I think it was in Battle Cry of Freedom that I read Congress was discussing the hiring of a secretary for the President, Buchanan at the time, when one of the parties to the debate asked, “if we hire one, where will it end?”
I moved to Idaho when Cecil Andrus was Governor. During his term he sold the Governor’s Mansion, returned his State Police security detail to patrolling the state, and not only flew commercial but coach. I respected him greatly.