Bush does nothing gracefully. That's the last word anyone should use to describe him. Not that he's the only politician like that.

And Bush probably did this to try to steal Hillary Clinton's moment. Hillary's the one with the set of balls (of course we all knew that ;-)).

As for danger - come off it - one plane a commercial cargo plane has been hit in the entire "post war" period. It landed safely after sustaning damage to a wing, but the fire power was so slight that it was pretty much the best that could have been done. Air Force 1 was in more danger flying through the north-east US air corridor.

As for the troops he talked to - do you seriously think there's any significant number who disagree with his actions? And would they boo him or something in the midst of all their commrades and officers? Come on.

And the press always wants more access. What's new about that?