Threats against President Obama strain the Secret Service
Written by Michael Vass
A recent report leaked to the Boston Globe just caught my attention and seriously disturbed me. The report is about the Secret Service, and questions whether the Agency can continue to protect the President and other high-ranking officials, while at the same time investigating financial criminals.
The key point that stood out in this report? That threats against president Obama are straining the Agency. Ronald Kessler, who recently wrote a book about the Secret Service, noted that threats against President Obama are 400 percent higher than against President Bush. It’s a troubling purported fact.
I should also mention that the Secret Service issued a stament
“In the longest and most expensive campaign in history, the Secret Service has proven it can maintain its dual mission of both protecting individuals and conducting criminal investigations,” the spokesman said. “The Secret Service had asset forfeitures totaling $140 million and investigated the largest data breach in history. There were also zero arrests at the largest inauguration ever.”
Still the fact that, as expected, prejudiced and biased nutjobs are planning and/or attempting to kill President Obama is disturbing. It’s a reality that has been apparent since the Secret Service started watching his back during the 2007 campaign. A reality few have wanted to discuss.
I realize that part of what I just said was a leap. There is no way of knowing if all or even some of the wakos threatening the President are racists. They could just as easily be dellusionally opposed to his policies. But I believe that 99% of the people that disagree in part or whole with the policies of the President are not violent. And to date there has been no act of violence among people of that mindset to change my opinion. But there have been arrests of pathetic radical racists.
I realize that America has yet to resolve the issues of race that are just under the surface of our society. The fact that our wars in the Middle East involve people of color only add to this problem. But our President is just that. As President there is no color or religion or anything else. To assign such attributes is to miss the point.
I am an outspoken opponent of many (ok, just about all) of the policies of the Obama Administration. I am very passionate and vocal in my dissent on these issues and their ramifications. But even with that, there is no question that I would do whatever it would take to protect the President of the United States. Something that I believe every American should agree with.
Our nation is great because we do not settle differences with violence. We are great because we do not change political policies with guns. We are great because we embrace the Freedoms this nation was built upon. And the President is the living embodiment of these great things.
I have no doubt that all of my readers agree with my view on this. I have no doubt that not one of my readers would seek out violence nor choose that as a means of debate. But there is always the chance that those few challenged people that have these twisted beliefs might read this. And I hope that if they do read this they are compelled not to enact violence for any cause or belief they might hold. It is not to the benefit of the nation, or any part therein, to use violence.
There are always those few mentally deranged individuals that threaten a President. But to see that the number of threats has increased so much means that either psychosis is spreading or long seated issues of race are coming to a head. I can only hope that such issues can be resolved with words and calm minds. For the sake of us all.
