Do conservatives and the GOP want a President Obama assassination? Do the GOP and Republicans want Obama’s expensive vacations to result in assassination? It would seem so.
It goes without saying that the President of the United States is a high-profile target for violent anti-American individuals and terrorists throughout the world. So it’s not a surprise that when the President travels he will always need heavy security accompanying him – and that security will cost money.
But each time that President Obama or his family has gone somewhere, conservative bloggers have always reacted with outrage. The most recent outrage occurred after the Washington Post published an article estimating the cost of his upcoming trip to Africa at between $60 to $100 million.
The documents the Post obtained didn’t detail the costs, but, as the paper said, the estimate was “based on the costs of similar African trips in recent years.” So it’s just standard policy. The article really includes no interesting information: President Obama has lots of security when he travels, just like President Bush, President Clinton, and all others who came before him.
But that didn’t stop outraged hungry conservative bloggers and talk show hosts from trying to make something out of nothing.
* ?Mark Levin attacked Obama for going on an expensive trip when there is a sequester.
* ?Breitbart wrote, “You may not be able to tour the White House because of the spending increase slowdown from sequestration, but the Obama family can tour Africa for the small sum of $60 or $100 million.”
* ?Doug Powers, Gateway Pundit, and Weasel Zippers all got into the act.
Even the straight news media breathlessly related the story without the same hyperbole. USA Today, Huffington Post, MSN, The Hill, CBS, and NBC’s Today Show all repeated the story.
The Washington Post, in their newsroom video coverage, also raised the sequester in passing. But the sequester is a non-sequitor when it comes to presidential security. Does anyone think the president’s security staff should be the first thing that should be cut? Of course the White House tours should be cut before a lot of other things. Is a?President Obama assassination preferable to White House tours??White House tours (and Blue Angels, a fleet that doesn’t engage in combat and just flies in shows) are unimportant functions of government that don’t impact anyone in a material way.
Attacking Obama for going on trips with security has been a hobby of some conservative bloggers long before the sequester occurred.
Breitbart particularly has made coverage of Obama and his daughters’ vacation plans a priority.
On March 25, 2013, Breitbart’s Matthew Boyle reported Sasha and Malia were on a Spring Break trip in Atlantis. Breitbart’s Mike Flynn responded to that story by writing, “OBAMA PRIORITIZES FAMILY SPRING BREAK OVER WHITE HOUSE TOURS.” (Yes, the headline on the article was formatted in all caps.)
As Flynn said, “The Secret Service detail necessary to protect the First Daughters on their spring break could likely have been used to keep the White House open to the rest of America’s school children.”
Yes, just leave the President’s children unprotected, and everything is all right!
Even a congressional representative got into the act! Steve King went on Breitbart radio saying it Obama was sending “the wrong image” to have his daughters go on vacations with security.
For their’ March 2012 Spring Break, Breitbart’s Dan Riehl reported on how the girls were visiting Mexico and how the story was “scrubbed” (!) by more responsible outlets after the White House told the media not to write about the location of the first daughters. Judicial Watch’s Tom Fitton, a Breitbart contributor, posted a press release of sorts about how Judicial Watch was suing the administration over not releasing the cost of the trip.
In March, Breitbart also did their customary reporting on Obama’s daughters going on vacation and other news outlets subsequently “scrubbing” the news.
It’s worth noting that even if the cost of the trip hits the top range of the estimate, it will be nowhere near the most expensive trip in history. That title belongs to Obama’s 2010 trip to India. The never-skeptical Glenn Beck reported that the trip cost a whopping $2 billion.
To be fair, he added, “I don’t know.”
Some people say that it is up to $2 billion for 10 days. Is that true? I don’t know!
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Do we still ? do even know if he’s travelling with 3,000 people? Do we know if that’s true?
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No one knows any of the details of this trip, the real cost of the trip.
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So, I don’t know what the cost is.
He probably should have done some research then, before he made such an outrageous claim, as that claim was easily discredited days before Beck took to the air.
There really shouldn’t be any controversy at all. There’s nothing new or interesting here.
Presidents have gone on trips throughout history, and they should go on trips for diplomatic purposes. It helps America. They–and their family–are also entitled to go on vacation every so often. They are private people with private interests, too, just like people doing all kinds of other jobs go on vacations. President Obama is doing the same thing every other president has done and getting attacked for it.
And yes, the President’s trips should be expensive, because the President requires much more security than anyone else in the country. The NRA put out an ad earlier this year saying: Obama’s daughters have security at their school… do yours? (Deep breath.) President Obama’s daughters are at much more of a threat for politically motivated violence than anyone else’s! Do you think terrorists would want to kidnap the children of Joe “the Plumber” Sixpack, of Wasilla, AK? Do you think they would get the same amount of media attention? Not only do Republicans hope for a?President Obama assassination but they may also want to see a first daughters’ kidnapping?
It’s a silly question, and it’s a silly cause for controversy.