Nancy Pelosi, Leader of the People's Party

Nancy Pelosi, Leader of the People's Party

The Speaker of the House started to get use of a military aircraft after 9/11, and I can't argue with the reasons: the Speaker is pretty high in the line of succession if a catastrophic attack wiped out a big chunk of our executive branch. But what started out as a reasonable thing has gotten more and more out of control. First Pelosi was upset that the plane that had been used by the previous Speaker (who lived much closer to DC) had to stop and refuel--so she wanted a plane that could fly nonstop. Okay, I can somewhat go along with that. Landing and taking off are the high risk parts of any flight, and it does slow them down. But this meant that the Air Force was flying Pelosi and staff crosscountry in a 200 seat military 737. Talk about a carbon footprint!

But it gets more outrageous--and if a Republican Speaker of the House behaved like this, it would be on the evening news broadcasts every night for weeks. From the March 11, 2009 New York Post:

WASHINGTON - House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has gone from frequent flier to jet-aircraft connoisseur, with aides berating military officials to get the best planes, e-mails revealed yesterday.

Pelosi, who clashed with the military to get nonstop service when she flies home to California with police protection on government planes, revealed a particular fondness for Gulfstream's sleek G-5 - a plane glamorized in Hollywood films and rap videos.
"It is my understanding there are no G-5s available for the House during the Memorial Day recess. This is totally unacceptable . . . The speaker will want to know where the planes are," a Pelosi aide wrote in an angry e-mail to the military.

Now, I understand Pelosi's preference on this. I am probably the only conservative blogger who has actually traveled in a G-5, owned by the company I worked for at the time. (I would guess that many liberal bloggers own their own, or have friends that do.) It is far nicer than a 737. But perhaps she needs to understand that there are sacrifices required in government service--and having to live with what is effectively your own private 737 is one of those sacrifices.