Protecting Obama

The extraordinary surge of confidence and goodwill generated by the Obama victory in Iowa has brought hope to many American hearts that our sorely divided country may at last have a chance to be united again.

That same condition is also increasing fears that, with all this expectation embodied in a single man, he might fall victim to an assassin's bullet. America does not have a very distinguished record regarding the protection of its more inspirational public figures, beginning with the death of Abraham Lincoln at the hands of an an actor in Ford's Theatre. In the course of a single decade in the twentieth century, Jack Kennedy was shot in a Dallas motorcade; Martin Luther King was killed on a Memphis hotel balcony; and Bobby Kennedy was gunned down in the ballroom of the Ambassador Hotel. No wonder Colin Powell decided not to run for president in the 2000 election. Some estimates gave him a 20 percent probability of being picked off at the podium.

After the recent murder of Benazir Bhutto, we realize once again that nothing excites the forces of hate and fear more than the prospect of decency and reconciliation. And if Obama wins the New Hampshire primary, as now looks likely, the incidence of violence on the campaign trial will increase exponentially. The recent chilling encounter in New Hampshire between Bill O'Reilly and an Obama aide was a forecast of how easily mad dog media men can stimulate mad dog hit men. In this case, O'Reilly played both roles. Because he believed Obama's aide to be standing in front of his camera, the O'Reilly Factor Factotum, his face distorted with rage, showered abuse on the 6'8" aide and physically shoved him out of his way.

On that occasion, the Secret Service moved in quickly to cart the offensive O'Reilly away from the scene of confrontation. But what safeguards do the government have in place to prevent some ravenous red state acolyte from deciding there is no place in American politics for a man with African blood? Is our Secret Service any better equipped for such contingencies than Musharriff's secret police? And what will be the official government position should such an attempt succeed? The Musharraf rationale? That the victim assassinated himself by appearing in public?

Security details around Obama must be greatly increased in the coming weeks and months, and he must be very careful about where he chooses to speak, and under what circumstances. The assassination of a man who is finally beginning to suggest a way out of the American brutalism of the last seven years would cause uproars and riots in this country greater than any ever known. And which of us would not be ready to join them?

Comments

[Rule Of Law]

"After the recent murder of Benazir Bhutto, we realize once again that nothing excites the forces of hate and fear more than the prospect of decency and reconciliation."

Bhutto was a thug-ette, a female version of her father with imperial family ambitions, no more, no less. To equate her with Obama or even the lying Hillary, is hyperbolic nonsense.

Beyond that, I agree with Desidertata; that anyone who sufficiently threatens the Corporate Elites will be neutralized, one way or another. That is why it is time for us to stop putting our hopes and fears into any one person and begin the hard work of taking the country back ourselves, for ourselves.

[MRb1000]

I will say this if someone tried to harm Barack there would be hell to pay in the USA!! Believe me a lot of people would be in flamed!!!!! The US would shut down the internet. It would be a crazy protest. I hope and pray our country will not stoop that low. Give the man the protection he needs!!!!!!!!!!!

[Desiderata]

Every single candidate, whether Republican or Democrat, risk their lives in crowds everyday. There will always been nuts to watch out for, the mob and their powerful sons and daughters that have put on business attire and taken control of the banks, BigPharma, the Health Industries, Wall Street and the United States of America.

Any realistic threat to their interests will not be tolerated. There are too many "Oswalds" in their arsenal to pick from.

[timm0]

You're getting carried away here. With the possible recent exception of ronnie raygun and hinkley (which is a fascinating event on many levels in its own right), the prevailing powers (those who have a lot to lose) will only go to the lengths of an assassination if the "new sheriff" is a threat to their power/wealth. Those folks have already been successful at getting Obama to vote for NAFTA-Peru. They've got their hooks into him, though I very much doubt he knows that.

Is there a danger from some racist psychopath? Sure. But the assassinations of MLK, JFK, and RFK weren't racially motivated as much as they were acts to control power and wealth against people who were considered true threats. These same folks have arranged for the assassinations of leaders in countries where power and wealth are at any risk. So long as Obama insists he's going to capitulate - I mean, "reach across the aisle" - to consider their demands, he's in no danger.

If/When he decides (wakes up to the fact) that he'll accomplish nothing by negotiating with people who neither acknowledge nor follow any rules of engagement, he'll have to decide to fight for his policies. At that point, he'll become a problem potentially worth the risk of the extreme measures that you are worrying about.

[maidyalook]

After reading hate and vulgarity on Huff-po about Hillary, I would say she needs protecting more than Obama. The nasty things said about her are so over the top that if it was reversed and people were calling Obama the N word, it would still be wrong and dangerous. Calling her a whore, a bitch, a killer because of her Iraq vote is just as dangerous for her, because it just takes one nut who's been worked into a frenzy , to do the unthinkable. I would hope that some kind of civility would become instilled in Obamas fans. You may not like her, but she deserves as much respect as any other candidate.

[Neaguy]

Oh, I thought this diary was going to be about how the media ignores Obama's hypocrisy and his stealing of John Edwards talking points.


At least the Boston Globe covered the idea theft today.

Each day as you hear Obama speak he is sounding more and more like Edwards.

[LeftRight]

As regards your comparison between Musharriff's secret police and the secret service, I feel that this is an unfair comparison. The secret service has been selfless in their protection of presidents for over a century. And for the last 40 years they have also been selflessly protecting presidential candidates. There is enough circumstantial evidence to indicate that Musharriff told his secret police that he didn't care about Ms. Bhutto, or even perhaps that he told them that she was going to be assassinated. Either way, the US Secret Service is an organization filled with fine men and women who take their jobs, and their oaths very seriously, and would never, ever purposefully allow that to happen!

[Hud53]

As soon as he won the Iowa primary the same thought entered my mind. It seems that whenever a truly charismatic, progressive person is put into a position of power, some ultra-right nut can't tolerate it and either knocks him off or tries to. For the sake of our country this must not be permitted to happen again. Too much is at stake. Please protect him!

[Butterstick]

I'm sorry, but is unfair, inappropriate and far from dignified to imply that an assassin would be a Republican ("ravenous red state acolyte").

That said, the general danger you mention is real, as evidenced by his early-on Secret Service protection, and certainly they can't be too careful.

[usna73]

You are correct. The Service is very well trained and more of them can easily be assigned to the task, considering that they provide details to many( state dept and ambassadorial) individuals for whom it is largely unnecessary. Keep speaking up and let your Congressional reps know you feel this way.