“Vice President Dick Cheney didn’t suffer for comfort on the cavernous cargo plane that he rode into Iraq and Afghanistan this week,” Nedra Pickler writes for The Associated Press. “The Air Force loaded the plane with the ‘silver bullet,’ a mobile home in the sky strapped down in the middle of the belly. The accommodations included sleeping and working quarters that protected him from the noise and cold of the cargo hold during a more than five-hour flight into Baghdad… The rest of his traveling party was not so lucky. Cheney’s senior staff and junior aides were assigned to a cramped three rows of seats in front of the bullet, while reporters and Secret Service agents had to sit in jump seats along the side with a view of Cheney’s stainless steel exterior walls… Despite the noise and seating conditions on the C-17, Cheney’s staff eventually was able to nod off after days of exhaustive travel. Cheney emerged from his more spacious quarters at one point to pose for a picture standing in front of several rows of his dozing aides.”

Pickler reports, “The vice president is an iPod fan, and keeping it charged is a priority for his staff. Normally that isn’t an issue, even when he’s flying around the world. Air Force II is equipped with outlets in each row of seats. But when Dick Cheney was traveling home overnight Wednesday from his diplomatic mission, most of the outlets went on the fritz. Working passengers began lining up their laptops to share the power from a couple of working outlets — particularly the reporters who urgently needed to prepare their articles to transmit during a quick refueling stop in England. But when Cheney said his iPod needed to be recharged, it took precedent above all else and dominated one precious outlet for several hours. The vice president’s press staff intervened so a reporter could use the outlet for 15 minutes to charge a dead laptop, but then the digital music device was plugged back in. That way, Cheney got his press coverage and his music, too.”

Full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews reader "iceforest" for the heads up.]

[UPDATE: 10:39am EST: fixed "full article" link.]
Newsflash for Nedra: That’s right, honey, you’re not as important as the Vice President of the United States of America. If you want so badly to be the one who gets to ride in the “silver bullet,” quit writing wire stories for AP and go get elected. As for Cheney’s iPod recharge prohibiting mainstream reporters from filing their stories, we say, “Go iPod!” It’s just too bad that Cheney’s iPod couldn’t have somehow stopped the publishing of the majority of Nitpickler’s particularly meaningless pile of words (we do appreciate the iPod stuff, but didn’t like having to wade through the whining about how the U.S. Vice President gets better accommodations aboard planes than do beat reporters).

Note: We believe that politicians are nuts to be politicians nowadays. Thanks to the media and the political climate today, politicians quickly become twisted caricatures that bear no resemblance to human beings. Regardless of your political party, try to remember that they are actual people. The politicians that you “despise” are almost always much nicer and warmer than you’d want to believe and the ones you “love” almost always have many more flaws than you’d ever want to admit.

Advertisements:
• The New iPod with Video. The ultimate music & video experience on the go. From $299. Free shipping.
• Connect iPod to your television set with the iPod AV Cable. Just $19.00.
• The New iMac G5. Built-in camera and remote control. From $1299. Free shipping.
• Apple USB Modem. Easily connect to the Internet using your dial-up service. $49.00.

Related articles:
Baltimore Sun: Vice President Dick Cheney a confirmed Apple iPod user – April 01, 2004