Security Around Obama Alarms Some VIP Donors

I grabbed this from The Washington Post this morning...

Here is the link and a breakdown of the article.

www.washingtonpost.com...

The snippit..
Downtown Washington resembled a militarized zone last week for the inauguration of President Barack Obama, but some major contributors who had direct contact with Obama said they were surprised to find what they viewed as porous security surrounding the president-elect and vice president-elect.

Three contributors who raised $300,000 or more for the inauguration said they were never asked to show identification to retrieve dozens of tickets, including VIP passes that allowed them and their guests to meet privately with Obama. One of the three said ticket checks were so lax that no one noticed when, after a breakfast for contributors, a friend whose name hadn't been submitted for a background check tagged along into a VIP room to take pictures with Vice President-elect Joseph Biden.

And a half-dozen said that after a screening to sit in a ticketed area near Obama for his swearing-in, they mingled with public crowds but were never again checked for firearms or explosives.

"I was surprised," said online retail executive Alfred Lin, who attended most of the events for major donors in the days leading up to the swearing-in. "It was less strict than going through airport security."

I have a couple of questions..

1) The mass media made it sound like the was so much extra security that a fly couldn't land without alerting someone. Why are the people who wee there saying different??

2)All of the extra money they claim they needed for the apparently non-existent extra security. Where did all of that money go??

3) Was some entity inside or outside the government trying to whack him, hence the break down in security?? That would have been the start of martial law, according to the doom and gloomers on most sites like this.

4)Lastly, why is this a story now, well after the fact? It seems to be more of a non story now that nothing happened during the inauguration.

This just struck me strange and I thought I'd see what you all thought about it.

Seeya!

[edit on 30-1-2009 by wolf241e]

I have been worried about President Obama's security since the primaries. There was the incident in Texas where the secret service discontinued weapons screening at a large event--in Texas!!! The secret service's nick name for Obama is "Renegade". It makes me wonder if the secret service as a whole is less than loyal to the new president. I hope this is all just conjecture.

The apparently loose security for the VIPs was probably done at Obama's request. You gotta keep those heavy hitters happy you know. Especially, at such a "Historic Event". I'm sure he wanted to remain approachable for the event. Plus, I don't really think the magnitude of his new job has really hit home yet. Just at look at the stink he created about giving up his Blackberry. Once he settles in, I'm sure things will change. The Secret Service are sworn to protect him at all costs.

Originally posted by jibeho
The apparently loose security for the VIPs was probably done at Obama's request. You gotta keep those heavy hitters happy you know. Especially, at such a "Historic Event". I'm sure he wanted to remain approachable for the event. Plus, I don't really think the magnitude of his new job has really hit home yet. Just at look at the stink he created about giving up his Blackberry. Once he settles in, I'm sure things will change. The Secret Service are sworn to protect him at all costs.

You bring up the most obvious point in a great way.

Yeah, I missed that one...Keep the big $$$ donors happy. I can't believe that I didn't put that Blackberry thing together with that as well.

Your mind is sharper than mine today, that's for sure!!