According to the liberal New York Times (30 April 2009):

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates suggested on Thursday that as many as 100 detainees at the prison at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba would end up housed on American soil.

At a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Mr. Gates said that he has asked for $50 million in a supplemental request to this year’s Pentagon budget in case a new cell block needs to be built quickly for the detainees…

In January President Obama ordered the prison closed, but his administration is still working on what to do with the detainees…

“What do we do with the 50 to 100 — probably in that ballpark — who we cannot release and cannot try?” Mr. Gates said…

During the mythical “first 100 days” I have tried to avoid criticizing the Obama administration. Disagreeing on values and philosophy is fine, but being against just because the President is for is not productive. Yesterday’s photo-op over New York City changes that.

The flyover photo-op of NYC by a 747 being chased by F-16 fighter jets shows just how out of touch the Obama administration is with the struggle against bad people the war on terror. Clearly, they do not understand the pain and trauma the 9-11 attacks caused in the New York metropolitan area (or the two other 9-11 attacks).

A news flash for the President and his administration: 9-11 was a TERRORIST attack. It caused TERROR. People’s lives were scared forever and they are still TERRIFIED.

Being insensitive to conservative Americans – well, that is just politics.

Insensitivity to Catholics – well, that is bigoted politics.

But, being insensitive to people from all backgrounds, from all walks of life, not even thinking that such a fly-over might be a problem – that is beyond insensitive, it shows after 100 days just how out-of-touch the Obama administration is with Americans.

According to the Wall Street Journal:

A low-flying commercial airplane escorted by military jets Monday morning sent workers worried about a repeat of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks fleeing their offices in the New York City area.

At around 10 a.m. EDT, a Boeing 747 was seen flying low over the southern tip of Manhattan and at one point was seen circling the Goldman Sachs Tower in nearby Jersey City, N.J.

The U.S. Defense Department was conducting a "photo op" that involved deploying two F-16 fighter jets escorting the 747 in the vicinity of Lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty, said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates bridges, tunnels and airports in the area, said they had no knowledge of the low-flying plane.

All I can say is: Are you kidding me? What were they thinking? Try informing the public in advance.