President Obama has been touring all over the midwest these past few weeks, giving speeches to crowds of fans, anxious to hear what’s next on his agenda.  One could be forgiven for believing that these are less about pushing the president’s current agenda, and more about launching the reelection campaign, however this is a charge that the administration adamantly denies.

But there is a very simple reason that this is viewed as more of a campaign effort.  Boasting bulletproof windows, five inch thick doors, and it’s own oxygen supply, the President has made the rounds for these speeches in a multi-million dollar bus, dubbed “The Beast” by it’s critics.  There’s been no shortage of opinions from people and pundits on this bus and how having the President tour around the midwest in a caravan of cars and seated on a tour bus sends the message that he is on the campaign trail and using taxpayer dollars to do it.

It appears however, that this might not be the case.  According to some sources he hasn’t really been riding these buses much at all.  They say, he’s been flying them.

Apparently President Obama only rode the buses for a couple of miles at a time, spending the rest of the time flying from community to community in Air Force One. What’s more, the buses were flown from stop to stop as well. It’s normal practice for the President’s entire motorcade to be loaded up on cargo planes and flown from destination to destination. The buses were just a new part of that motorcade.

But why wouldn’t the presidential limousine have sufficed? Or one of the other armored vehicles that routinely travel with the President? Apparently because the President wanted the imagery of a bus. And buses are what he got.

So good news America! If these reports are true, then not only do you get the pleasure of having a $1.1 million dollar bus carting the President around to “enlist” voters to fight for his reelection, but you get to marvel at the hypocrisy of an administration hell bent on destroying industries with carbon footprints too large for comfort, while they themselves are flying entire caravans of SUVs and buses in giant 747s flanked by fighter jets.

All so the president can travel a couple of miles per stop with the image that he’s on the ground with the people when in reality, he couldn’t be more detached from them, their problems, or this continually declining economy.  You couldn’t ask for a better metaphor.

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