Back in August, I wrote a blog about the need to protect the nation’s first black president. I was dumbfounded at the lax security at the health care reform debates that were becoming increasingly volatile. I talked about a health care reform protest in Phoenix where 12 people were carrying guns (including one military-style rifle), and Barack Hussein Obama, the president of the United States of America, was speaking.
People who were against even discussions about health care reform were using every opportunity to harass, bully and intimidate “supporters” and those seeking more information by traipsing around with guns. Supposedly these gun rights advocates were permitted to create these “unsafe” spaces because of their constitutional right to bear arms. The fact that folks with guns were able to get that close to the president was alarming. I was repulsed by the depraved indifference that law enforcement took with the president’s life by allowing these bullies to march around with rifles in proximity to the nation’s first black commander in chief.
Now, here we go again with a couple “crashing” the president’s state dinner and being so callous about it that they posted photos on their Facebook page. The blogosphere was abuzz with people saying that much ado was being made of nothing and questioning why this incident was at the top of the news cycle.
Really? Well, I think some heads should roll — including Tareq and Michaele Salahi — the wannabe socialites and reality TV stars who crashed the party. They got close enough to the president to shake hands with him, meaning that they could have caused him harm. Whether you like it or not, Obama is the president and should be protected as such.
Folks went crazy, including me, when Muntadhar al-Zaidi, an Iraqi journalist threw shoes at President Bush in 2008. I could not believe that he was able to get that close to Bush and found it to be not only a breach of decorum, but also a breach of security. Al-Zaidi was subsequently jailed … and that happened in Iraq.
Allowing this kind of behavior to happen at the White House, in Washington, D.C., and to — as of press time — not do anything about it, is unacceptable. The president’s social secretary Desiree Rogers should be fired. Her response to the incident was that none of her people were at the door when the Salahis arrived. Really? Since that is a basic requirement for that position — ensuring that only invited people are admitted to the premises and making sure that a staff member is present at all times so that knuckleheads like the Salahis or assassins don’t just traipse into a party and kill our president — she should be fired.
For those of you who think I’m being dramatic, this is a president who had to have secret service protection earlier than any other presidential candidate in the history of the United States due to racially motivated death threats against him. Is it too far of a stretch to think that someone might actually hurt him, if given the opportunity — like at, let’s say, a state dinner?
Whomever was in charge of security at the door, secret service or not, should be fired. It is their job to protect the president of the United States from assaults. Not only did the Salahis make it into the event, but they also stayed and posed for pictures with everyone, giving them opportunity to do whatever to whomever, not just the president.
The life of the president is not being guarded properly. It pains me to think that we don’t care about him in the way that we care about others because of the color of his skin. I hope that isn’t the case, but with these completely avoidable breaches in security and willingness to allow people to get so close to the only presidential candidate to receive the level of threats to his life that he has is unconscionable.
Yes, it is a big deal that the Salahis crashed the state dinner. It is a big deal that once again we have an incident that could have ended quite differently and tragically at that. A strong message needs to be sent that we do value the life of this president and that his safety will be guarded in the same manner as those who have come before him. I’ll never forget seeing James Brady sprawled out on the sidewalk and former President Reagan being pushed into a car after his assassination attempt. Each time I see the assassination of President Kennedy, I get sick to my stomach because it is horrible. I don’t want any president, regardless of party affiliation, to suffer that fate.
Not properly protecting the life of the president should be a punishable offense and firing those responsible for the breach should be standard practice. As for the Salahis, they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law to dissuade others from pulling the same, senseless stunt, which hopefully will keep me from having to ask again: Will someone please protect the nation’s first black president?
Nsenga K. Burton, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of Communication and Media Studies at Goucher College and writes the blog Tune N (http://nsengaburton.wordpress.com), which examines popular culture through the lens of race, class, gender and sexuality.
This article appears in Dec 8-14, 2009.
