At some point, someone close to Barack Obama has to have the guts to step up and tell him that he is not the reincarnation of Abraham Lincoln. His obsession with “a team of rivals” has now grown into a need to recreate Lincoln’s arrival in Washington by train. Even though he has already moved to Washington, he and Joe Biden intend to (presumably) fly to Philadelphia, then travel back to Washington on a 137 mile long train trip for the inauguration. Damn the public danger this presents, he is going to ride his train.
President-elect Barack Obama’s January 17 train trip from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Washington is intended to make the inauguration the most open and accessible in history.
But it is also presenting the U.S. Secret Service with security problems. Miles and miles and miles of them.
In addition to the well-publicized “whistle stops” in Philadelphia; Wilmington, Delaware; and Baltimore, Maryland, the Presidential Inauguration Committee says the public will have the opportunity to view the train at other locations along its 137-mile route.
But the committee has not indicated where those sites will be, and the Secret Service has yet to release what security restrictions will be in place.
Security experts say the train ride presents traditional threats to the VIPs on board, as well as countless buildings, homes and warehouses along the route. And there are non-traditional vulnerabilities: scores of bridges and tunnels that could be sabotaged.
And, two environmental groups have warned, terrorists could take a page from al Qaeda’s playbook, using existing infrastructure, in this case chemical plants along the route, as an attack method.
An empty, grandiose act by Obama. Personally, I think it is a really, really stupid move and I am quite sure the Secret Service is at their wits end on this one. The risks are enormous. Obviously, I wish he had not won the election, but he did. So I would prefer that the next President not act like an idiot when it comes to his personal safety – and not take risks with the safety of the general public, either.
But maybe is invocation of Lincoln’s train ride to Washington will be historically accurate and he’ll wear a “Scotch Bonnet” when crossing through Baltimore.
I do so agree with you on everything you said.Just think we have a least four years of the EGO thingy.
One might even interpret this as a declaration of a second civil war.
I am absolutely shocked that they are putting both men on the same train! That is the absolutely most insane part of this plan. Unless the idea came from Nancy Pelosi.
Hey, look at the bright side. If they take AmTrak, they may never get there.
We and the Secret Service had better get used to stuff like this. With the Obamessiah’s ego, I have a feeling his attitude with the Secret Service will be “You work for me and I’ll damn well decide where, when, and how I go someplace.” He isn’t likely to let anyone tell him anything. Besides, the liberals like him are the ones that think most security precautions are silly anyway.
Good points, Gaius and don’t forget he is going to have what Lincoln had for lunch on inaugeration day. But having said that, as dems have continually minimized the terror threat here at home, it is nice to see The Big 0 and the Gaffemeister walk the walk. And if they do get blown to the infernal regions of the earth, we will forever hear the lament that He could have saved the world if He had only been allowed to fulfill His destiny. The fantasy would never be punctured. In a perverse sort of way, it would be the ultimate end to His quest for the presidency.
So how was the play, Mrs. Obama?