King Erkel’s Great Adventure to Mumbai

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From the Glenn Beck show this morning…

VOICE: “Obviously you and the Pentagon have spoken about the India stories that have been out there. Are you surprised that there are kind of these stories about lots of protection or more planes than usual? Is there something about this trip that’s different than others?”

GIBBS: “No. Whenever you move any president in a foreign country, you’re not, surprisingly, taking certain precautions. This is — the first stop on our trip is at a memorial for victims of a terrorist attack November 26, 2009 at the hotel we’re staying at. So obviously the Secret Service takes the duty of protecting this and any president seriously. They do an amazing job, and they’ll continue to do so.”

PAT: Usual nonanswer. Then he’s pushed a little bit.

VOICE: “Could you specify which trip President Bush ever took which cost $200 million a day?”

GIBBS: “This trip doesn’t cost $200 million a day.”

VOICE: “That’s what was reported all over the world.

GIBBS: “So let me get this straight, Lester.”

Question: “Another questioner asked.”

GIBBS: “So you subscribe to the veracity of everything you read in the press, right?”

VOICE: “No, not everything, but several things.

GIBBS: “But just the things that you previously agreed on that you agree with? We seem to be several slips, several steps down the slippery slope.”

VOICE: “Are you denying $200 million a day.”

GIBBS: “For about the third time, yes.

VOICE: “How much is it?”

GIBBS: “I’m not going to get into how much it costs to protect the president. But the same report, Lester, which you don’t believe me I can understand you.”

VOICE: “I’d like to believe you. I enjoy you very much.

VOICE: “Should we leave you guys alone?”

GIBBS: “With a slurpy and a twisty straw. I think the same report said there were 34 warships. The Pentagon said that’s not true.”

VOICE: “Oh.”

VOICE: “But nobody’s denying the 200 million except you.

GIBBS: “All right. We now have seem to have come almost full circle on a circular argument, haven’t we?”

PAT: That’s bizarre. But that’s what he does. He interrogates the interrogator.

STU: But all the other reporters were laughing at the guy. And who was that reporter?

PAT: That was Les Consulting. (ed. Kinsolving) World Net Daily.

STU: That’s interesting. The idea — it was reported all over the place the 200 million was thrown around all yesterday.

GLENN: Still being reported by Drudge.

STU: It doesn’t seem plausible to me because back of the envelope map means it would cost more than the entire Afghanistan war, I think. The entire Afghanistan war doesn’t cost $200 million a day. So I don’t know what the truth is behind that. But I don’t know why it’s being reported, but it is a bizarre story. I don’t know why he wouldn’t say how much it costs.

GLENN: It’s coming from India. Now, here’s the thing. On security, the White House will never say how much security costs for the president.

PAT: But they do say how much these trips cost. We hear about their vacation costs. We hear about these expenses.

GLENN: The most expensive trip we can find for a president, not including the security, the most expensive trip, not including security, was Bill Clinton and it was $43 million.

PAT: Where did he go?

GLENN: Africa, I believe. And that was the most. And remember it was in the news. I don’t know if you remember that very famous trip to Africa. If I say Africa and Clinton trip, it doesn’t ring a bell with any of you guys?

STU: This one where the plane was running on the —

GLENN: No.

STU: That’s a different one?

GLENN: Yeah. But he went over and he was in Africa. And there were a lot of people that joined him and everything else. I don’t remember what the trip was for or anything. I do remember it was very expensive. It was $43 million. And that was the most expensive trip that we could find yesterday.

PAT: Such an easy solution to this. Just tell us what it costs.

GLENN: You don’t necessarily want to tell everybody what the security costs —

PAT: You don’t have to. Just what is this trip costing.

STU: Again, I’m totally fine in receding any information that protects the president, but what information would we gather for how much it costs.

GLENN: I don’t think you would be able — because I thought about this this morning. You wouldn’t be able to necessarily divine what they were doing with the money if you had a lump sum. But most likely, they probably don’t get into that, because once they open that door, then you’re like, whoa, what is that. Well, okay. Let’s just explain this. And then you’ve opened the door.

STU: That’s fine.

GLENN: I don’t want to know about the president’s security. Nobody needs to know about the president’s security. There’s no need to. There’s no need to know.

STU: That’s fine. I’m fine with that.

PAT: But if they just released the cost of the trip, security’s rolled into that, we don’t know how much is this and how much is that, just tell us what it costs. You dispel everything if you tell us it costs $50 million, then okay.

GLENN: I think the problem with that is every American would go out of their mind with the price of security. You know what I’m paying for security for me.

STU: It’s very high. It’s very expensive.

GLENN: It’s extraordinarily expensive.

STU: Multiply that by how many times for the president in a foreign country.

GLENN: Taking mailboxes off the streets and replacing them.

PAT: India where they had a massive terrorist strike that killed 119 people.

STU: In the same hotel.

GLENN: So I think people would have a coronary if they understood how much money — well, what they would say is the president doesn’t need to go all the time. He doesn’t need to go everywhere.

STU: Right. That’s a fair argument. But I don’t know anyone who would care about the cost — it’s one thing I’m not going to complain about cost.

GLENN: But I think people would say stop going so many places, because nobody is going to say, hey, cut back on security. They’d say he doesn’t go places all the time. Period. The one thing I love they say the president went over here for this fundraiser or whatever. Well, yeah, okay, so that wasn’t paid for by the taxpayers, but the security was. And the security for the president is expensive. Wildly expensive.

STU: But he does have a role going overseas.

GLENN: Of course he does. Of course he does.

STU: And fund raisers.

GLENN: I don’t need to know the cost of his security. I don’t need to know it. I would like to know how much this trip is costing.

PAT: So would I.

GLENN: I would like to know in the end how many warships were there. I’d like to know exactly what we did and the reason why I want to know, and I want to know in advance: Did this president — and somebody in the media needs to ask this. Did this president have his schedule or his itinerary changed? Did he allow the Secret Service to change his itinerary from the last two trips? You don’t have to tell me the itinerary. You don’t have to say anything. I would like that answered. Did this president allow the Secret Service to change up the itinerary? Is he staying at exactly the same hotel? Is he meeting with the same people in the same ball rooms? Is he taking the same routes, is it the same itinerary while he’s there.

STU: Because isn’t typical protocol to change that all the time.

GLENN: Of course. Of course it is. So has it been changed? Has the Secret Service said, “Mr. President, it’s good.”

STU: Because if the Secret Service signs off on it I’m fine with it from a Secret Service perspective. Assuming they sign off on it.

GLENN: Assuming they sign off on it willingly.

STU: Right. Yes.

GLENN: Look, here, the Secret Service can stop the president from going someplace.

STU: But they never do.

GLENN: They never do. Because it would be a fire storm. The only way they’re ever going to do it — they’re not going to do it on a hunch. They’re not going to do it because the hair on their back is standing up or neck is standing up they’re saying this isn’t good, they’re not going to do that. They will stop the president if they have a direct threat and they say, Mr. President, you’re not going in there we have a direct threat, period.

PAT: If they tell him that he’s not going to go.

GLENN: Right. So this is what I would like to know. There’s something wrong with this trip. And now he’s taking his children. If your security is so valuable, if another country is going crazy with their own security team and you have to close down entire beaches, you have to put people — there were stories in the Indian Times yesterday that people are going out of business because of this trip because they’re closing down whole roads and everything. This is a big time in India. People won’t be able to go to these stores and everything. How am I going to survive. You don’t take your family and your children.

STU: I’m very willing to entertain the idea that I’m just a wuss on this, but when you look at the footage of the Taj Mahal the hotel they’re staying at, all I can think about is watching the footage of those attacks last time. This is a dangerous, dangerous area. And I don’t want to risk the president’s life for really anything, especially a trip that doesn’t seem to have too much purpose to it.

GLENN: Yeah. So he’s going over there, and the other question that they won’t answer is: Are there 3,000 people traveling with the president? Is he truly traveling with 3,000 people? The trip happens tomorrow.

PAT: They did say virtually the entire staff is going. How many is that? Staff, family members. Might bring along some friends.

STU: I don’t know.

PAT: Because they won’t tell us anything, they leave it all up to the speculation and reports from India that have circulated all over the world.

GLENN: Here’s the problem. When a free press lets you down, you start to believe $2 billion.

PAT: Yes.

GLENN: Because you can’t trust the press anymore.

PAT: And you certainly can’t trust the White House Press Secretary.

GLENN: No, of course not.

PAT: Because he lies through his teeth every day.