Secret Service tags Obama 'Renegade'

[jefferson_dem]

Nothing major, just a fun story. We could a bit of that (---> "fun" :bounce: ) around here nowadays.

Secret Service tags Obama 'Renegade'

WASHINGTON, June 17 (UPI) -- U.S. Secret Service agents have tagged Sen. Barack Obama with the code name "Renegade."
Obama, an Illinois Democrat and seeker of his party's 2008 presidential nomination, received the name in the time-honored tradition of giving "secret" code names to protected high-level dignitaries.

Obama's presidential rival, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., retains the code name "Evergreen" -- given to her when her husband, and former president, Bill Clinton became a protectee and was named "Eagle."

Sen. John F. Kerry of Massachusetts was named "Minuteman" after winning the 2004 Democratic nomination, while former vice president Al Gore started out as "Sawhorse" but became "Sundance," though the reason for the change was unclear, The Washington Post reported Sunday.

President George Bush, a protectee dating back to when his father was president, is "Tumbler" while former president Jimmy Carter is "Deacon." The president's father, former president George H.W. Bush, is "Timberwolf" and Ronald Reagan was "Rawhide."

The code names are chosen for the Secret Service by military officials, the Post reported.

http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Quirks/2007/06/17/secret_service_tags_obama_renegade/8812/

[illinoisprogressive]

1. cool name

[Bombtrack]

2. now he prowls the badlands, an outlaw hunting outlaws, a bounty hunter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVlJMQcapTs

[jefferson_dem]

4. Or...this one?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVS3zgTHOsw

[Captain Hilts]

3. What's the purpose of a Code Name if everyone knows it? nt

[Hippo_Tron]

9. Perhaps it's just a shorthand of some sort for communication between the Secret Service

[beaconess]

14. According to the story, the names are no longer done for secrecy

Originally, code names were intended to protect operational security when the phone and radio transmissions were not secure. Today, the lines are very secure and the codes are no longer necessary, but the Secret Service still uses them for convenience and, apparently, out of tradition.

I think they're kind of cool.

[Posteritatis]

11. The *real* one's probably "Electoral Unit Six" or something like that. (nt)

[Fridays Child]

5. The chimp is Tumbler? Gee, I wonder why.

He undoubtedly falls down drunk or from seizures far more often than we're told. In fact, I'll wager that the only reason we've ever been told of these incidents is because they left his face and/or hands bruised or scraped. I honestly think that the man has epilepsy. It would explain so much.

[DemBones DemBones]

7. Probably because he always had a tumbler full of booze back when

his old man was the prez, since they gave him the code name back then.

But he does take a lot of tumbles now so it fits both meanings well.

[Posteritatis]

12. "Kegbane" was taken. (nt)

[AtomicKitten]

6. I hear McCain has abandoned the moniker "Maverick"

A cool name but probably not able to be fumigated in time for the election.

[election_2004]

8. Shoudn't ALL of these code names be, sort of, like, secret....???

Just sayin'.

[Hippo_Tron]

10. Interesting, I always thought whoever was President got the name "Eagle"

There's some good references to Secret Service codenames in the West Wing.

[beaconess]

15. Each president gets a different name

And the entire first family and second family all have names starting with the same initial.

Examples:

JFK - Lancer
Jackie Kennedy - Lace
Caroline Kennedy - Lark
JFK, Jr. - Lyric

LBJ - Volunteer
Lady Bird - Victoria

Richard Nixon - Searchlight
Pat Nixon - Starlight

Gerald Ford - Passkey
Betty Ford - Pinafore

Jimmy Carter - Deacon
Rosalyn Carter - Dancer
Amy Carter - Dynamo

Ronald Reagan - Rawhide
Nancy Reagan - Rainbow

V.P. George Bush - Sheepskin
Barbara Bush - Snowbank
George W. Bush - Snowstorm (hmmm)

President George H.W. Bush - Timberwolf
Barbara Bush - Tranquility
George W. Bush - Tumbler

Bill Clinton - Eagle
Hillary Clinton - Evergreen
Chelsea Clinton - Energy

Al Gore - Sundance (previously Sawhorse)
Tipper Gore - Skylark

[Hippo_Tron]

16. What was Dan Quayle's name, potato?

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

13. I bet Stephen Colbert's code name is "Balls"

although it would be "Eunuch" if * had his way after the WH Correspondents Dinner.