Obama To Greet Pope Francis Upon Arrival In Washington

[Purveyor]

Source: Associated Press

Sep 9, 3:26 PM ED

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will lead the welcoming committee for Pope Francis when he arrives in Washington for a historic visit later this month.

The White House says the Obamas will make the rare trip to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, just outside Washington, on Sept. 22 to formally welcome Francis on his first U.S. visit. While Obama travels to the military base on a regular basis for his out-of-town trips, such as Wednesday's to Michigan, he hardly ever goes there to welcome a visiting dignitary.

An exception came last year when Obama met French President Francois Hollande at Andrews. The two then immediately flew to Charlottesville, Virginia, for a visit.

When Pope Benedict XVI visited in 2008, then-President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, greeted him at Andrews.

Read more: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_POPE_FRANCIS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-09-09-15-26-27

[Laf.La.Dem.]

1. WOW - A Muslim greets the Pope!!

[longship]

2. The first thing I'd do is read and explain the First Amendment.

Then, I'd tell Pope Francis to go fuck himself, like all the other theocrats.

[randome]

4. This is the essence of diplomacy and politics.

You will never find someone who agrees with you on 100% of the issues. But finding someone who agrees on many of the issues that are important to you -you don't throw that person away.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]A ton of bricks, a ton of feathers, it's still gonna hurt.[/center][/font][hr]

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. "... the Obamas will make the rare trip to Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland...."

Rare? They only go there every time they have to fly somewhere that involves more than a helicopter.

Also, for the benefit of anyone working at AP who reads this, it hasn't been Andrews AFB in a long time.

Joint Base Andrews

Joint Base Andrews is a United States military facility located in Prince George's County, Maryland. The facility is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force 11th Wing, Air Force District of Washington (AFDW). In 2009, Andrews Air Force Base and Naval Air Facility Washington were merged to form Joint Base Andrews.

[Thor_MN]

5. The very next sentence explains...

"While Obama travels to the military base on a regular basis for his out-of-town trips, such as Wednesday's to Michigan, he hardly ever goes there to welcome a visiting dignitary. "

It's possible the writer has Air Force ties and prefers the old name. You knew what was being talked about, so it didn't create too much confusion. If I fly into DC, it's either Dulles or National Airports, never the other name for National. Haven't gotten lost yet...

[MBS]

7. I also avoid using the other name for National

And taxi drivers always know what I mean.
I also avert my eyes from that hideous statue at the entrance to the terminals.
Having had to endure him as governor as well as president, then the overblown undeserved praise for the damage he did to my home state and my country. .well, enough is enough.

I've heard that the air traffic controllers continue to use its real name ("National" with no extra words).

[mahatmakanejeeves]

9. I listen to air traffic control on my scanner occasionally.

It's always called National.

And why not? That's its name.

ETA: I finally broke down and got a tablet. You can use the various scanner apps to listen in as well.

[MBS]

11. Excellent, glad to have this confirmed.

Given what RR did to them in 1979, they have special reason to stick to the real name, too.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

10. Sorry; FTR.

Failure to read, on my part.

Usually AP is squeaky clean on keeping up to date on nomenclature. Not as much as Wikipedia editors, but no one is as exacting as those guys.

[bemildred]

6. A gesture of respect from the President of the United States. nt

[MBS]

8. YES.

Very glad they're doing this.