Inside the world of Obama's secret-service bodyguards

[kskiska]

Protecting the US president has presented the secret service with the greatest challenge in its history. But who wants to kill him? And how likely are they to succeed?

(snip)

In the 13 months that Barack Obama has been the occupant of the Oval Office he has been the subject of an extraordinary outpouring of emotion from the American electorate. At the start it was largely adulatory, though more recently the adoration has been drowned out by a cacophony of criticism from tea party activists, birthers, global-warming deniers and viewers of Fox News. At the same time, largely hidden from view, there has been a layer of antagonism towards Obama that lies well beyond the boundaries of reasonable political debate.

That has been a fact of life for Obama and his family since long before they took the keys to the White House. On 2 May 2007, fully 18 months before election day, he was assigned a secret service detail – much earlier than any other presidential candidate in American history. The precise reasons for the move have never been disclosed, but there was certainly a mood in the air sufficiently palpable to disconcert Michelle Obama. A senior US official in the State Department has told the Guardian that before he decided to run for the presidency, Obama had actively to win Michelle over to the idea by assuaging her fears about the potential of an attack on him, her and/or their two daughters.

Michelle would have been aware of the backstory here: that Colin Powell had declined to run for the 1996 Republican nomination partly because his wife Alma feared his assassination at the hands of white supremacists. Over the course of the long presidential race, Michelle spoke openly about her anxieties and how she had determined to overcome them, telling 60 Minutes that she had decided to fling herself into the race because "I am tired of being afraid".

According to John Heilemann and Mark Halperin's new account of the 2008 election, Game Change, she eventually felt relaxed enough to crack sardonic jokes about the subject. "I've already gone out and increased our life insurance on ," she quipped. "You just can't be too careful!" But as the Southern Poverty Law Center survey shows, the issue of safety and the 44th president remains anything but a laughing matter. "Virtually every domestic terrorist event we have identified since June 2008 – when it became obvious that Obama was going to win – has been directly related to him," says the author of the report, Mark Potok.

more…
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/mar/08/obama-secret-service-bodyguards

[FrenchieCat]

1. there has been a layer of antagonism towards Obama that lies well beyond the boundaries

of reasonable political debate.

Hell, that happens here all of the time; this ridiculous intensity that folks have against this one man, simply because he didn't move the earth in the way some directed it.

It's frightening....but if he can deal with it, than I'm good.

[Fumesucker]

4. I haven't seen a single instance of anyone on DU even obliquely advocating violence..

Against Obama..

And the great majority of complaints are about the *direction* that Obama's administration seems to be moving in many areas, only a handful of delusional people think everything could have been fixed by now.

What I find disturbing here on DU is the nearly worshipful attitude some posters have to Obama, it's very similar to the attitude that much of the extreme right had toward bushie for most of his term.

[midnight]

2. I do remember watching an interview about the risk involved in her husbands

run for the presidency. Both she and her husband did a good job explaining these new demands, and they were aware of them. I sure do wish them peace and happiness in the White House.

[Cha]

3. I can't thank the SS and everyone involved

in keeping them all safe!

[Oldtimeralso]

5. K&R and off to the greatest

I have had the opportunity to work with the Secret Service twice in the past, for several days each time. It was a real eye-opening experience each time.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. Fascinating!

K&R

[MissMarple]

7. Thank you Agent Mike! We appreciate you taking care of our president.

Truth to tell. MM

[rpannier]

8. They've done a good job and it is incredibly difficult

Sadly, there are people here at DU who spend their time disparaging the work they do. Sometimes insinuating that the Secret Service is trying to get him killed

[Mopar151]

9. My Aunt and Uncle's house

Was inside the security perimiter for the Unity, NH event during the campaign. They had nothing but good things to say about the Secret Service - they were thorough, polite, and professional. They are pretty staunch Republicans, but their only dismay at the whole event was 1 screaming nutcase protestor.

[66 dmhlt]

10. Especially since SPCL documents 244% increase in Hate Groups

The number of extremist groups in the United States exploded in 2009 as militias and other groups steeped in wild, antigovernment conspiracy theories exploited populist anger across the country and infiltrated the mainstream, according to a report issued today by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

The SPLC documented a 244 percent increase in the number of active Patriot groups in 2009. (snip) The report, "Rage on the Right," is the cover story in the Spring 2010 issue of the SPLC's quarterly investigative journal Intelligence Report.

Source:
http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/news/splc-report-number-of-patriot-groups-militias-surges-by-244-in-past-year