U.S.S. George H. W. Bush Commissioned

The most famous aircraft landing made by President Bush, however, will always be on the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln, when he said "Mission Accomplished" in terms of Iraq. He was so wrong.

At any rate, the CVN-77, the U.S.S. George H. W. Bush was commissioned today. Besides the current President Bush, first lady Laura Bush and his father, now 84 years old, and other Bush family members met at Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia.

For those wondering what the CVN in CVN-77 stands for, it stands for Carrier Vessel Nuclear. The navy has other such acronyms for other ship types, of course.

The U.S.S. George H. W. Bush displaces 90,000 tons, is over a 1000 feet long and carries nearly 100 aircraft. She is also the last of her kind, the last Nimitz-class carrier. The Nimitz class of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers was first launched in 1972.

Price tag: a huge $6.2 billion.

Tradition is broken with the U.S.S. George H. W. Bush. Ships traditionally aren’t commissioned until they have undergone sea trials; CVN-77 is only 97% complete and the sea trials have been delayed.

It's obvious why this is being done, with the current President Bush to leave office in 10 days. Still this salute to his father, called a war hero by some and a disgraced pilot by others, is hardly enough to undo the multiple problems of our 43rd president.