Cindy McCain approves.

Didn't you guys know it's more SWIFT to use a plane, or a helicopter as a governor?

Quite fuelish, if you ask me.

If nobody gets my joke on the 2nd reply I am going to be pissed.

Derexan: If nobody gets my joke on the 2nd reply I am going to be pissed.

The Deval's in the details.

The best thing is that he's a Democrat.

How ironic.

Funk Brothers: The best thing is that he's a Democrat.

How ironic.

Apparently you've never heard of Jane Swift.

Both parties have done such a thing.

Funk Brothers: The best thing is that he's a Democrat.

How ironic.

stupid is non-partisan

Derexan: Apparently you've never heard of Jane Swift.

Both parties have done such a thing.

Bucky Katt: stupid is non-partisan

Wow the Obama cheerleader thing isn't wearing off in non-Obama threads. You guys must be having a hangover.

Three planes for 165 miles? Considering the whole bullshiat of "taking off" and "landing" and clearance and all that shiat... wouldn't it be faster to just drive?

Who does he think he is? Al Gore?

165 miles is three hours' drive. Six hours round trip. That shoots the whole day. If a GOVERNOR'S time isn't worth saving, then he's doing it wrong. Maybe he could have trimmed the staff to fit in the two state planes, but drive instead? You people are thinking like the WalMart greeters you clearly are, not valubale execs.

Like it or not children, there's a reason they make lots of money and run whole states. You can argue that they're overpaid, but not that their time isn't valuable.

Not unless you're a moran.

Dubai Vol: 165 miles is three hours' drive. Six hours round trip. That shoots the whole day. If a GOVERNOR'S time isn't worth saving, then he's doing it wrong. Maybe he could have trimmed the staff to fit in the two state planes, but drive instead? You people are thinking like the WalMart greeters you clearly are, not valubale execs.

Like it or not children, there's a reason they make lots of money and run whole states. You can argue that they're overpaid, but not that their time isn't valuable.

Not unless you're a moran.

I bet you kiss alot of ass at your job, don't ya?

As much fun as it would be to jump on the OMG IRONY train, I have to ask if anybody here has any idea of Kentucky geography. Basically, Pikeville is in the middle of the Appalachians, while Frankfort is a well-developed city. It's a pretty drive, but I'd rather he try to be productive, rather than blow a whole day's travel.

The issue is not flying. Anyone who wants their governor to become some kind of road-monkey to save money is misguided. The issue is why this took three planes. They need to pare this down to just one plane and make any of the lesser flunkies drive (give them a motel and per diem meals) - and it would still save money.

Actually, the other issue is why this governor thinks he needs so many people around him. I've been to events that the governor in my state flies to. They fit whoever in the plane and that's enough. It would be a 10-hour round trip anyhow, so if he didn't fly we'd all be making fun of him for that.

Approves and will sell offsets to sanctify these shenanigans

Dubai Vol: If a GOVERNOR'S time isn't worth saving, then he's doing it wrong.

Because a Governor never, ever wastes any time commuting in a car, driven by someone else, while he has access to cel phones, laptops, aides etc? Because a governor spends every hour of every day pouring over documents, concentrating intensely on every word, every participle, every gerund...

Are you for farking real?

It's OK. Those guys in Kentucky get real a'feared when they go to the big city. They need their posse otherwise they just break down and cry.

rosebud_the_sled: It's OK. Those guys in Kentucky get real a'feared when they go to the big city. They need their posse otherwise they just break down and cry.

Pikeville is not a big city. Louisville? Definately. Lexington? Sure. Pikeville? Hell no.

Hopefully the (misplaced IMHO) outage over this will result in the Eastern Kentucky Parkway being upgraded to first world standards. I did a single round trip Lexington to Pikeville and will be hard pressed to do it again.

Funk Brothers: Derexan: Apparently you've never heard of Jane Swift.

Both parties have done such a thing.

Bucky Katt: stupid is non-partisan

Wow the Obama cheerleader thing isn't wearing off in non-Obama threads. You guys must be having a hangover.

so you're a troll. woop-ti-doo

ADubs86: rosebud_the_sled: It's OK. Those guys in Kentucky get real a'feared when they go to the big city. They need their posse otherwise they just break down and cry.

Pikeville is not a big city. Louisville? Definately. Lexington? Sure. Pikeville? Hell no.

Lexington isn't a city, it's a hellhole.

/Go Cards!

CaptMacMillian: ADubs86: rosebud_the_sled: It's OK. Those guys in Kentucky get real a'feared when they go to the big city. They need their posse otherwise they just break down and cry.

Pikeville is not a big city. Louisville? Definately. Lexington? Sure. Pikeville? Hell no.

Lexington isn't a city, it's a hellhole.

/Go Cards!

Shhh! We all know that, but be quiet, Drew might hear you.

Should do like Jersey. Get an armada of state troopers, some to escort the limo and some to drive ahead blocking intersections and making traffic pull to the side, while riding the king's horses over the peasants requesting citizens move over so the king governor can move about freely.

show of hands... who is surprised?

Dubai Vol: 165 miles is three hours' drive. Six hours round trip. That shoots the whole day. If a GOVERNOR'S time isn't worth saving, then he's doing it wrong.

I hear many vehicles are quite comfortable and, in fact, if not driving, much business can be conducted within. I'm sure governors have to do things like read, or perhaps make phone calls... you know, things like that.

But I'm sure you, since you know so much about what it takes to be a governor, can tell us that there's no possible way anything could be done in a car or limo or SUV or bus, or whatever other means of transportation this man could have taken. Indeed, that would be beneath him. Right?

Central Tendency: Anyone who wants their governor to become some kind of road-monkey to save money is misguided. The issue is why this took three planes. They need to pare this down to just one plane and make any of the lesser flunkies drive (give them a motel and per diem meals) - and it would still save money.

Then again, that's probably the better way to look at it. Though I would like to say that flights aren't always necessary, unless your presence is needed at multiple locations in a short time, or if you're in a larger state and are going very rural. Three hours is about how long it would take me to drive from my home to the state capital city... I'd say a governor could drive to about half of the state in that time.

To locations in about half of the state, that is... not half of the state, because that would make us Rhode Island or something, driving on half the roads in the state in 3 hours.

Blagojevich approves.

/Democrat
//fark Blago
///Pat Quinn for the win!!!

Well, he did what he said he wanted to do.

1. State workers are saving GASOLINE while traveling, i.e., driving in their cars to & from work. By taking the bus, carpooling, etc. Very green, ecological, etc.

2. He was using JET FUEL, not gasoline, which was not covered in the memo, and which didn't need to be saved while traveling. Ergo, he wasn't being hypocritical.

Duh. Don't you people understand anything?

165 miles is three hours' drive. Six hours round trip. That shoots the whole day.

...but, instead, he took three planes, which meant his whole entourage had to get together, drive out to the airport, screw around for a half hour getting on the planes, fly the half-hour or so to the location, screw around for a half hour getting to the place he had to be, have the hour or so meeting, then repeat the process on the way back.

Meaning he may have saved as much as two whole hours. Yeah, that made a big difference to his work day, I bet.

And does anyone want to bet there were also four or five vans full of advance people already on the site when he got there?

puffy999: I hear many vehicles are quite comfortable and, in fact, if not driving, much business can be conducted within.

He should take a train. High speed trains are rolling offices these days.

/Waiting for Kentucky to get into the 21st century.

This is what riding the train in Germany looks like. They even have wireless hotspots.

So, is this like when the President signs something into law and uses a bazillion pens to write his name? Maybe he was going to give the planes to the people who supported and rallied him to go to such a town hall meeting.

Or maybe it's just retarded and Kentucky and that's all the explanation that's needed.

cirby: ...screw around for a half hour getting on the planes, fly the half-hour or so to the location, screw around for a half hour getting to the place he had to be, have the hour or so meeting, then repeat the process on the way back...

So it's clear that you have never done this. There is no wait-time at the airport. You park your car right next to a hangar and the pilot is waiting for you. In less than 5 minutes the plane is in the air. On the other end, you sign out the car that is waiting for you (or in the governor's case, the state patrol is waiting to escort you). You are just inventing time lags.

Flying saves time and logistically makes sense. If this governor kept this down to one plane it should not have been an issue.

doschi: Blagojevich approves.

/Democrat
//fark Blago
///Pat Quinn for the win!!!

Rod Blagojevich, proving the George Bush is not the worst executive in the US since 2003.

So it's clear that you have never done this.

Actually, it's clear that I have, and that you're working on Hopeful Standard Time, or "what I saw in a movie last week."

All of that stuff you imagine is for small, organized groups (businessmen, usually), not politicians on a short trip, and certainly not politicians with THREE airplanes to fly in. Every time you add one vehicle in a group, add fifteen to twenty minutes per stop.

I've had to wait for political groups on WAY too many occasions, with wait times of up to four hours past scheduled arrival(while they got their group together). I've seen some groups take ten minutes just working out seating arrangements in the car from the airport... and this was a much smaller group than the one in the story.

puffy999: I hear many vehicles are quite comfortable and, in fact, if not driving, much business can be conducted within. I'm sure governors have to do things like read, or perhaps make phone calls... you know, things like that.

But I'm sure you, since you know so much about what it takes to be a governor, can tell us that there's no possible way anything could be done in a car or limo or SUV or bus, or whatever other means of transportation this man could have taken. Indeed, that would be beneath him. Right?

My guess is that if a governor only needed cell phones and laptops, he wouldn't bother having an office. People that important aren't poring over papers and phone calls. Their time is more valuable because a vast majority is face time.

/that's my guess, but it's a pretty good guess, I think.

But Beshear's administration argued that flying to Pikeville "saved 100 hours of work time, if not more" for the governor and the 15 other officials who flew.

First off there's a fallacy in adding up everyone's time like that. The officials, hopefully, would have done something during their commute. Perhaps not in an SUV (there were 15 of them) but rather charter a bus. With strippers.

Also do these officials really need to go to these places? Just have a teleconference. I'm shocked, shocked that they aren't doing this with the rise in gas prices.

lelio: Also do these officials really need to go to these places? Just have a teleconference. I'm shocked, shocked that they aren't doing this with the rise in gas prices.

If they were Democrats and they went to Pikeville, it was to hand out cash (or election weed).

As a Kentuckian, it disappoints me that our state's Democrats don't have the sense to vote this man to be our governor in favor of the most milquetoast "Democrat" that won't scare the hillbillies.