Coincidence?...or is Harper following Karl Rove's script?

[glarius]

Not only is Prime Minister (I can't bear to call him that) Harper visiting the troops in Afghanistan, but he seems to be following a script by Karl Rove....Here's a couple of snippets from an account by the CBC.

<snip>
Prime Minister Stephen Harper reaffirmed his government's commitment to Canadian troops serving in Afghanistan on Monday, telling hundreds of soldiers there that Canada won't "cut and run" as long as he's in charge.....
(Hmmm, now where have we heard that "cut and run" phrase before?)

<snip>
Prime Minister Stephen Harper took a turn at the controls of the Hercules....
(This can be seen in the Photo Gallery. Remember Bush "taking a turn at the controls" when he landed on the aircraft carrier to announce mission accomplished?)

What's next....will he be saying "newcewlar"?

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/03/13/harper_afghanistan060313.html

[laundry_queen]

1. I think there's been a little more to those

Bush/Harper meetings than a 'meet and greet'.
Dollars to doughnuts he's following the same script.
Will Canadians fall for it??
Why is the opposition so silent on this?

[daleo]

2. It certainly seem that way

The "Support the troops" theme is definitely being picked up.

And I thought the "turn at the controls" was not only an obvious Bush-like photo-op, but also illegal. Can anyone just grab the controls of a plane and "fly" it? And what makes it worse is that this was a government owned plane, a military aircraft. The opposition should be asking questions about this aspect of the trip, even if it is minor and peripheral. It's the kind of thing that people can relate to.

[JohnyCanuck]

4. The Herc would probably have been on autopilot anyway.

All large transport aircraft are flown by the autopilot after takeoff until about to land (some of the latest passenger jets can even fly on autopilot right down to the touchdown on the runway without the pilots having to take back control). After takeoff the pilots do not generally use the primary flight controls to steer and direct the plane like the pilot of a small single engine training aircraft like the ones you see at your local airport.

In the large multi-engine passenger or transport type aircraft (military or civilian), after the takeoff the pilots usually allow the autopilot to fly the airplane and their job is to monitor the instruments for any signs of trouble, keep in touch with air traffic control on the ground, and ensure the autopilot gets the plane to the various scheduled waypoints along the flightpath that have been programmed into the system, usually prior to takeoff.

Harper was sitting in the right seat which is the co-pilot's seat. The captain or pilot in command usually occupies the left seat in the cockpit. You can be pretty darn sure that there was another pilot in the left seat monitoring the flight and monitoring Harper to make sure he didn't accidentally bump the wrong buttons or push the wrong lever. Harper might have sat in the co-pilot's seat and even put his hands on the control column for a photo-op, but if they were at cruise he probably didn't take physical control of the aircraft away from the autopilot. And if by some chance they were not on autopilot, the left-seat pilot probably would have his hands on the controls as well.

As you indicated, it's just more of the same style of Rovian PR propaganda bullshit that gave us the AWOL Deserter in Chief "landing" a fighter jet on an aircraft carrier.

[daleo]

5. So, it was like dad letting a two year old "drive the car"

With one of those little plastic steering wheels in the kiddy seat.

"Look at me, I'm a big boy now."

[HuffleClaw]

3. i don't think he's impressing anyone

everyone i've talked to found it laughable. and the similarities to bush pr stunts was not lost on many folks either.