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I saw this postcard in last Sunday's PostSecrets, and it struck a chord. Yes, somewhere high on my list of habitual
worries is the fear that Obama will be assassinated even before he
takes office.
I'm certainly not alone. Hillary Clinton raised the spectre of assassination in May when she seemed to suggest that she was staying in the Democratic primary race in case Obama, like Bobby Kennedy, was assassinated before the election.
"For
many black supporters, there is a lot of anxiety that he will be
killed, and it is on people's minds," Melissa Harris-Lacewell, a
Princeton University professor of political science and contemporary
black culture, told the Washington Times. "You can't make a prediction like this — like he has 'a 50 percent
chance of getting shot.' But the greater his visibility and the greater
his access to people, there is a danger," she said.
The New York Times reported "a hushed worry on the minds of many supporters of Senator Barack Obama, echoing in conversations from state to state, rally to rally: Will he be safe?" The Times quoted Obama supporters who were considering not attending rallies or
voting for their candidate because they "feared that winning would put
him in danger."
And when Obama celebrated his victory in Grant Park, Chicago, it was from behind bulletproof glass 12 ft. high and 3 inches thick. Michelle Obama, running mate Joe Biden
and his wife Jill were under instructions not to stray from the
line-of-fire protection zone outlined by lasers.
So is Obama actually at greater risk for assassination? Or do we just perceive him
to be because we're still grappling with the unforgettable lesson of
1968, that our most promising leaders -- especially racial pioneers --
are destined to be martyrs?
Obama himself has consistently downplayed the security risk. “I made a decision to get into this race.
I think anybody who decides to run for president recognizes that there
are some risks involved, just like there are risks in anything,” Obama
was quoted in The New York Times. On the campaign trail he typically told concerned supporters,“I’ve got the best protection in the world. So stop worrying.”
Obama also depredated comparisons with President
John F. Kennedy and Senator Robert F. Kennedy which increased when
Caroline Kennedy and Sen. Ted Kennedy joined him on the campaign trail.
“I’m
pretty familiar with the history,” Mr. Obama said. “Obviously, it was
an incredible national trauma, but neither Bobby Kennedy nor Martin
Luther King had Secret Service protection.”
Indeed, the assassination of Senator Kennedy in 1968 prompted Congress to authorize protection of major presidential and vice presidential candidates. (Source: New York Times)
I take some small comfort in the fact that Obama's Secret Service team
has been personally as well as professionally committed to Obama's
safety. The New York Times reported that although initially reluctant to accept Secret Service
protection, "Obama had grown fond of the agents who surround him,
inviting them to watch the Super Bowl at his home in Chicago and
playing basketball with them on the days he awaits the results of an
election."
The actions taken by the Secret Service suggests that in this political climate, there's no such thing as too careful. Among
the more recent news from the agency:
- The Secret Service investigated more than 500 death threats against Obama over the 22-month campaign. (Source: Daily Telegraph)
- The
Secret Service believed that Republican nominees John McCain's and
Sarah Palin's incendiary rhetoric at public rallies in September and
October contributed to the sharp and disturbing increase in threats to
Obama during the same time period, according to Newsweek.com. - A team of specialist investigators from the FBI has been assigned to work alongside the Secret Service to monitor America’s 487 known white supremacist groups.
- Senior advisers want Obama to wear a lightweight bullet-proof vest during
public appearances – a proposal he has so far resisted, but which
Secret Service chiefs are expected to insist upon. (Source: U.K Daily Express).
Be good. And if you can't be good, be careful.
