The 1961 whale could indeed go out 2000 miles, drop an internally
carried payload of 12000 lbs and have enough fuel to return. This hop
would have to be unescorted by fighters or ECM birds.

This is a mission the navy gave up when they didn't continue
"first-day-of-war" stealth after the demise of the A-12. This kind of
mission now belongs soley to the Air Force.

I think the major change is that our CVG isn't tasked to seek out and
destroy the Soviet fleet.

Actually, Heavy Attack died with the end of the carriers' primary SIOP
mission in the '60s and the retirement of the A-3s. Although the
ostensibly heavy RA-5's retained the capability to drop nukes, the
problems with the linear bomb bay meant that they could only carry much
smaller weapons underwing.
And it was the shift of the carriers' mission from Power Of Projection
Ashore to Sea Control (to use the parlance of the day) in 1971 and CVAs
became CVs that started the gradual deemphasis on range. The 80's saw
the rise of the Hornet and by the early '90s the From The Sea doctrine
was written for it's short legs. Whats ironic is that the carriers have
only Power Of Projection Ashore missions in anger since WWII.

It wouldn't bother me a bit to tank from a land based asset since we
can get these tankers to wherever.

We've been able to-so far. Can we continue to count on that ability? As
the Lieutenant said, carrier has always been touted for its ability to
operate *without* a permission slip, but that simply no longer true.
Also the Air Force can make the credible argument that their TACAIR
could be supported by those same tankers (and other vital support such
as ELINT)from bases that they will need regardless, carry something
bigger than a 2000 lb bomb with first day of war stealth, and perhaps
most importantly, with carriers now obligated to fight from the very
dangerous littorals that force protection no longer favors the navy.