Was The Pope Kept Waiting Because President Obama Was Late To Meet Him?

The Atlantic: Why the Pope's Plane Was Put Into a Holding Pattern

As the pope stalkers of the world watched his flight path on the Alitalia website, suddenly… the plane started making donuts. Several loops over North Carolina later, the pope is back on his way to D.C.

A source on the ground at Joint Base Andrews said several government officials told him the reason the plane started circling was that Obama and Biden were running late to the greeting ceremony.

A White House spokesman disputed this account. He pointed out that the president did not actually arrive late. The Pope deplaned at 4 p.m., precisely as scheduled, and the president was on hand to greet him.

WNU Editor: The President was late. But what I find interesting about this story is that the western press has always been critical of Russian President Putin being late ... even keeping the Pope waiting once .... Why is Vladimir Putin always late? (The Guardian). Talk of a double standard?