http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=153949Barack Obama's brief visit to New York City this week will be remembered for bumbles that would make Chevy Chase proud.
The 44th president of the United States made a stop in the Big Apple on his way back to the White House from an earlier visit to Buffalo. He was a speaker at a high-priced Democratic fundraiser at the St. Regis Hotel.
As is customary, a press contingent awaited Air Force One at JFK airport. There the glitches began.
Normally, members of the press apply for access two days in advance.
For some unexplained reason, the White House Media Affairs Office never confirmed credentials, leaving many reporters to call Washington to ascertain the status of their requests.
The last-minute snafu had an impact.
As Air Force One touched down at JFK, the president of the United States was greeted by only three members of the press, two freelance photographers and WorldNetDaily.
A less than impressed commander-in-chief decided to ignore the assembled media and a new mother with a small baby waiting to be "kissed." Obama stared at the group, hooked a hard right turn and then sprinted solo into Marine One.
The baby, too, was unimpressed. He was given a bottle of milk.
Then en route to Manhattan, members of the Obama advance team were questioned about whether Obama would meet Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New York Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. Both were concerned about federal aid cuts recently announced by the Department of Homeland Security.
Obama team members shrugged their shoulders proclaiming they "knew nothing" about any Bloomberg-Kelly meeting.
Moments later, after landing in mid-town, the Obama motorcade arrived at police headquarters, where Obama visited anti-terrorist command headquarters.
He came to "thank and commend" the NYPD for its fast action in responding to the botched Times Square car bombing.
While the NYPD had video cameras to record the Obama visit, no microphones were immediately available.
That sent folks scrambling to correct the problem, and the result was that no mike was close enough to hear Obama, so the event became a photo-op only.
Then it took some two hours for distribution of a brief transcript of Obama's remarks including a meeting with Bloomberg and Kelly.
From there, Obama went to the St. Regis, where for $25,000 attendees got a photo with the president.
On the outbound trip, there was even less drama. By the time Obama returned to Air Force One, only a freelance photographer for the AP remained on the high-rise platform.
"I'm not even here to photograph Obama. I just needed to be here in case he fell and broke his leg," he confessed.
Topic: Fumbles featured in president's New York visit (Read 809 times)