Fleet Week Los Angeles

For the first time in many, many years there's a front line aircraft carrier docked in the Port of Los Angeles - the USS Abraham Lincoln - and this week it's open for tours as part of Fleet Week Los Angeles.  There are four ships that can be toured, including a cruiser, destroyer and minesweeper, but I'm sure the Lincoln will get most of the attention.  The ship tour schedule can be found in a PDF here.

I'm going to go up there tomorrow morning and tour the Abe, but my reason for going may be different from that of a lot of the other folks that will be there.  It's political, of course.  You see, it was on the forward flight deck of the Lincoln on May 1, 2003 that President Bush gave his famous "Mission Accomplished" speech, the banner hanging from the ship's island and badly misinterpreted by pundits the world over.  The banner never was meant to signify the end of the Iraq War, but to honor the end of the initial combat phase and the contribution of the Lincoln's crew and air wing.  If I can, I'm going to get a photo of myself on that forward flight deck.

That speech came a few hours after Bush flew out to the carrier and made an arrested landing on the rear flight deck. The pictures of him in the Navy flight suit enraged lefties everywhere and quite possibly helped him win the 2004 election:

I'll be taking pictures - lots of pictures.