Traffic: It's unanimous, president's visit leaves L.A. boiling

Traffic: It's unanimous, president's visit leaves L.A. boiling - latimes.com

Marine helicopter carrying White House staff lands near Air Force One at LAX on Tuesday. President Obama attended a fundraiser Monday in Hancock Park. (Mark Boster, Los Angeles Times /August 16, 2010)

"No matter their politics, Los Angeles residents found themselves united. 'It was a beautiful thing,' said Brentwood resident Myles Berkowitz, commiserating with his neighbors on Montana Avenue. 'Young, old, black, white — everyone was pissed off.'"

If *I* had a job that included a chopper flown by the best USMC helicopter pilots in the country, with a couple of spares full of Secret Service agents armed to the teeth, and the FAA closing down the local airspace so MY chopper is the only one around, why would I ever want to ride a damn car? Even a cool car like the President's limo (I heard it referred to as both "Cadillac One" and "The Beast") and a motorcade of Secret Agent SUVs simply can't compete with the sheer badassery of flying around in the best maintained helicopter in the world.

You just know there isn't a rusty bolt in that thing.

I would actually have them keep a set without any distinct markings beyond the tail number and maybe "United States of America" in subdued lettering on both sides of the boom, then use them to move around at will for "spot" inspections. What's the point of reaching out to the country to see how things are if there is so much advance notice that it gives people time to sweep trash under the rug?

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