Happy Flight Suit Day

In honor of the fifth anniversary of the "Mission Accomplished" carrier landing, I'll be playing dress-up and blogging in full beekeeper gear today.

Greg Mitchell remembers how taken the media was with the whole thing.

Chris Matthews on MSNBC called Bush a "hero" and boomed, "He won the war. He was an effective commander. Everybody recognizes that, I believe, except a few critics." He added: "Women like a guy who's president. Check it out. The women like this war. I think we like having a hero as our president. It's simple." PBS' Gwen Ifill said Bush was "part Tom Cruise, part Ronald Reagan." On NBC, Brian Williams gushed, "The pictures were beautiful. It was quite something to see the first-ever American president on a -- on a carrier landing."

Media Matters also looks back at the cheerleaders.

And before you think everyone was insane at the time, here's an excerpt from Sen. Byrd's speech on the event. The media blasted him for it:

The prowess and professionalism of America's military forces do not need to be embellished by the gaudy excesses of a political campaign. War is not theater, and victory is not a campaign slogan. I join with the President and all Americans in expressing heartfelt thanks and gratitude to our men and women in uniform for their service to our country, and for the sacrifices that they have made on our behalf. But on this point I differ with the President: I believe that our military forces deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, and not used as stage props to embellish a presidential speech.

Casualties at the time of Mission Accomplished: 139

Confirmed U.S. combat deaths to date: 4,059 (according to AP)

Bush's disapproval rating today: 71 percent (according to Gallup)

AP file photo: President Bush poses with sailors and pilots aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln off the California coast after landing in a small jet Thursday, May 1, 2003.