chopper copter marine oneWhen you see it for the first time, watching the president take off from, or land on, the South Lawn of the White House in Marine One is a definite thrill. Hundreds of visitors line up to see the huge Sikorsky pick up and deliver Barack Obama.

By the second or third time you see it, the experience is a lot more like watching paint dry, then watching paint dry while stuff gets blown into your eyes and your press lanyard whips around behind you and chokes you.

Why, then, is there a teeming cadre of TV cameras and reporters at almost every one of these non-events?

I spent a night stalking the president and his chopper long after most other White House correspondents had long since retired to the brandy snifter ... when it hit me.

It's not as though we get to fire questions at the president, or that he would even hear them as he strode past us, 50 yards away, toward the Oval Office. You would think a single pool camera could satisfy any need for fresh B-roll, or the odd head-bump/faceplant. All of the networks share pool footage.

But then, a few months ago, my Sherlock Holmesian powers of observation led me to finally notice the big red fire truck that was parked in front of the First Playground. It suddenly dawned on me: Are we all here in case it crashes?

It's never happened (or has it?), but it seems like the only newsworthy event that could come out of this mundane bit of presidential routine.

Having said all of that, I recently shot a late-night Marine One landing at which there were hardly any reporters, and where the president walked right past us. (And yep, it's totally dark, but you can hear the dialogue pretty clearly.) Here's what happened:

Yeah, I froze, but in my defense, I was trying not to trip over the CBS guy's wires. Still, it's a badass helicopter, no? It even has a toilet on it, although it's hard to imagine someone dropping a Marine One deuce. I doubt you're allowed to light a match in there.

On the bright side, the president did survive my horrible jinxing of the landing. The continued wasting of news crews' time is a small price to pay for the safety of the leader of the free world.

Tommy Christopher is Asylum's White House correspondent.