Monday, February 23, 2009

Nancy Pelosi in Afghanistan


Saturday was a busy day here. Nancy Pelosi and other US Representatives traveled to Afghanistan to speak with Afghan President Karzai (in Kabul), then flew here to be briefed by our two-star general, my boss. It was kind of a fluke that I knew they were here. On my way back from lunch, entering our secured area, I noticed two buses driving past that usually carry dignitaries. A list of names was on the side of each bus, and I saw the name Rep. Pelosi as one of the names.

I asked around, and people in the know said she was on her way in, flying on a C-130 (slumming it?). Long story short, I work in the area where our command is, so any dignitaries passing through usually come here for their briefings. Although her politics are not my cup of tea, I still have respect for her position as an elected official, as do I for our President, B.O. Besides, there were enough people making comments about her that quite frankly, surprised me. But I digress! If you ever want to ask me what they said, you can ask, and I will share their musings. If you are with the military, I will graciously and respectfully decline to answer!

Anyway, it was a quick visit, maybe two hours. She, the other Representatives, and staff, made their way into the JOC (Joint Operations Center), then made their way into the briefing room. I stood in the hallway and heard someone say, "She'll be a minute, she's 'powdering her nose'". So there I stood, waiting anxiously, thinking since we are both from CA, she would extend a hand, maybe ask me a few questions or, say hi. But no! She walked by, smiled, briefly glanced at me, then continued to the briefing room. I guess her smile meant she knew I was a fellow Californian. Shucks!

I left, went back to my office, Oops! I mean foxhole (with weapon and helmet). And they ended up being briefed for an hour or so. I left my foxhole, M-9 in hand (making sure there was no enemy in sight), and was on my way back to the room when I noticed the buses were still there. As luck would have it (if you want to call it that), they were just coming out to get on their transportation back to the flight line, then back to the C-130 low-riding Hercules. I'm assuming they were headed back to the US, after swapping out planes, and.... that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Teachers: Have a discussion - who is Nancy Pelosi? Who are the House of Representatives and how do they compare to the US Senate? Is Pelosi a Republican or Democrat? What do both parties believe in as their political doctrine? Why did they meet with Afghan President Karzai? Check out the aircraft through the supplied link, compare all the different aircraft and their capabilities.

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for your gracious, and definately funny, sense of humor!!!

    ReplyDelete

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