Friday, January 11, 2008
Protecting Barack Obama's grandma
Barack Obama has been using his grandmother in his political campaign (claiming that his descent from her gives him experience useful in formulating foreign policy), imposing upon her a fame that I suppose she did not seek for herself. This has made Sarah Onyango Obama the most famous Kenyan alive among Americans, and brought her to the attention of everybody in the world who would want leverage over the President of the United States. So, who is going to protect her?
"The price on her head would be quite high from a kidnapping perspective," says Joseph Lasorsa, a 20-year veteran of the Secret Service who worked on Ronald Reagan's protective detail.
So how would granny be protected?
Don't look to the Secret Service, which has assigned agents to the younger Obama at his request. "There has never been an instance where a grandmother has been covered by the Secret Service," says Secret Service spokeswoman Kim Bruce. Nor has the agency ever protected anyone who has lived outside the United States. Bruce pointed Radar to the federal statute governing Secret Service protection, which makes it clear that the agency is only authorized to protect candidates, presidents, former presidents, and their spouses and children.
Here is my question: Did Senator Obama just decide that jeopardizing his grandmother's security for political advantage was worth the risk, or did he miss the issue? If the latter, what sort of foreign policy credential is that?
Labels: Obama
8 Comments:
By 
, at
Sat Jan 12, 12:50:00 AM:
Dad gummit im not voting for some shamless scoundrel who exploits his own grandma for political gain
By 
jj mollo, at
Sat Jan 12, 02:14:00 AM:
Don't you think the bad guys would have found her anyway?
By Gordon Smith, at
Sat Jan 12, 07:48:00 AM:
Unfortunately, there are no Republicans in the race who have a grandmother, so it's impossible to say what sort of double standard Republicans would apply.
What if Grandma told her grandson that she wanted to get involved?
You're trying to paint Obama as someone who wants his grandma to get kidnapped or killed? Soon enough you'll be calling him a Muslim, too.
By , at
Sat Jan 12, 10:39:00 AM:
No, he's painting Obama as someone who uses his grandmother for political gain, which may expose her to physical danger, either through cold calculation or willful ignorance.
The question was, which is worse?
By , at
Sat Jan 12, 12:14:00 PM:
"Soon enough you'll be calling him a Muslim, too."
Actually, according to Islamic law the children of male Muslims are automatically born Muslim themselves; a technicality I've not heard mentioned. (probably because almost no one here knows that) But if he gets elected, you can bet that someone overseas will point out that the US has actually chosen an apostate Muslim as president. That will do wonders for our Middle East relations...
Heh. He should choose Lieberman as his VP running mate.
By TigerHawk, at
Sat Jan 12, 12:33:00 PM:
jj mollo - To me, all such things are an odds game. Yes, it is theoretically public knowledge that Obama has a grandmother in Africa somewhere. But I think most bad guys in the world are not that smart and probably do not read deeply into biographies in English and such. But when you make her a campaign issue by turning her into some sort of credential, then every reporter in the world is going to hunt her down, post her picture, and write a story about her (as is happening). It seems to me that he has, through his choice, significantly raised the odds of turning his grandma into a target.
Dawnfire -- interesting observation. Al Qaeda's war, after all, is first and foremost against Muslim apostates. That is surely how they will regard Obama.
By , at
Sun Jan 13, 06:30:00 PM:
When they threaten to behead the old lady on video if some demand isn't met, what then? I know, Hugo Chavez will offer to mediate.
By Brian H, at
Mon Jan 14, 06:19:00 PM:
Chavez' mediation would be pointless. AQ et al take the view that it's easier to apologize than ask permission. And then don't bother apologizing.
Keep on choppin'!
