Barack Obama faces 30 death threats a day, stretching US Secret Service

[kpete]

Source: Telegraph UK

Barack Obama faces 30 death threats a day, stretching US Secret Service

US President Barack Obama is the target of more than 30 potential death threats a day and is being protected by an increasingly over-stretched and under-resourced Secret Service, according to a new book.

Since Mr Obama took office, the rate of threats against the president has increased 400 per cent from the 3,000 a year or so under President George W. Bush, according to Ronald Kessler, author of In the President's Secret Service.

Some threats to Mr Obama, whose Secret Service codename is Renegade, have been publicised, including an alleged plot by white supremacists in Tennessee late last year to rob a gun store, shoot 88 black people, decapitate another 14 and then assassinate the first black president in American history.

Most however, are kept under wraps because the Secret Service fears that revealing details of them would only increase the number of copycat attempts. Although most threats are not credible, each one has to be investigated meticulously.

Read more: http://m.telegraph.co.uk/article/5967942/

[valerief]

1. Gee, Mr. Cheney has been busy, hasn't he? nt

[Stumbler]

38. In fact, didn't Cheney's SS protection just get renewed?

I believe I just heard it on Hartmann or Malloy last week. One would think that for a man whose taxes-owed in 2008 exceeded his vice-presidential salary, he might be able to afford his own "secret service protection...."

[Lasher]

48. The SS is authorized to protect former Vice Presidents six months after their term ends.

The Secretary of Homeland Security can extend the protection time, or the President can do so by Executive Order. So unless Janet Napolitano or Barack Obama intervened, neither Cheney nor his family have SS protection anymore. That is, unless Junior did something before he left office to extend Cheney's protection period.

[Blasphemer]

57. The President extended his Secret Service protection

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/10/obama-extends-cheneys-sec_n_229698.html?show_comment_id=27010457

[Lasher]

61. 4 days before he left office, GWB signed an order to give his twins extended SS protection

Clinton did the same for Chelsea.

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/03/30/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry4904706.shtml?CMP=OTC-RSSFeed&source=RSS&attr=PoliticalHotsheet_4904706

I noticed in the news Sarah Palin still has a security detail, but I don't know if it's the SS or a private one hired by her. From what we have seen she loves to be extravagant, but with other peoples' money. She would normally no longer be entitled to SS protection but I wonder if it's been extended for her. I have so far been unable to find anything to confirm this suspicion.

Edit: Thanks for the scoop about Cheney's SS protection.

[yourout]

2. There are some sick fuckers out there in Republicanland.

The Secret Service will have their hands full.

[MadMaddie]

3. If you are not a believer now...you should be

Glen Beck, O'Leilly, Rush, Coulter and now the lobbyists (shipping in protesters to disrupt townhalls) these people and organizations are trying to find the next Timothy McVeigh.

Don't be fooled.....mark my word there is going to be violence in this country like we haven't seen in 30-40 years....the difference from then to now....we will fight back!

[DBoon]

23. the 20th century has seen this sort of politics before...

The wealthy financing the disaffected to attack the left

[Jonni]

28. I'm a believer, but...

When the next federal building gets blown up, we won't have a chance to fight back. The government will declare martial law. You have to assume that the folks stirring up the hatred know that the "revolution" can't possibly win, no matter how many cousins Timothy McVeigh might have. So martial law must be their true goal. And there's your coup - which we will accept without a fight.

[Aristus]

30. Ooh! The nasty, scary gubmint's gonna declare martial law!

You people have been saying that for years, and it hasn't happened yet. Get a life...

[murielm99]

33. Hey, at least he didn't call it marshall law.

That's what most of those types say when the cast asparagus at Democrats.

[ellie]

65. Yes, along with the

black helicopters. Duck! Here comes one.

[kestrel91316]

69. Martial law is what REPUBLICANS want for the US. Not Democrats.

You're barking up the wrong tree. Tired old Freeper memes don't play very well here.

But I think you knew that. Enjoy your stay.

[Politicalboi]

49. Will we?

When he is dead will fighting back help? Will we know the truth? I would love to think we would, but killing in the streets ain't gonna get us anywhere. We tax payers own the Pentagon, but we have yet to see other video's of the "plane" hitting the building on 9/11. Why would they tell us the truth about Obama's assassination? Or the Secret Service stand down on JFK. Did anyone question those men? Surely now that we have seen it, somebody has to answer questions. We're still waiting 45 years later. This can still happen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESGB8wa_250


Had the SS been on the car, this may never had happened.

[honkydonkey]

90. It won't take that long

I think we are going to see it too but sooner than 30-40 years. There are too many nutjobs out there for it to take that long. Something horrible will have to happen before republicans finally have to admit that there side holds more crazies and even then they may not give in. I mean, who would have thought they would be able to blame our current economic situation on Obama after 8 years of Bush but they have no problem casting the blame on the other side. That's their biggest problem as a party, they don't know how to say they are wrong and that's why they lost the election.

[Deja Q]

4. President Obama, i am so sorry you are getting even a single threat.

:(

With luck, state and local authorities can help out too.

[Posteritatis]

5. Am I the only one surprised at how *low* that increase is, given the right lately? (nt)

[Turborama]

12. 400% is quite a large increase

30 a day is 900 a month. That's quit a lot, when you consider those are the ones they know about.

"increased 400 per cent from the 3,000 a year or so under President George W."

[Posteritatis]

13. It is, but I expect more of an eleventy bazillion percent sort of thing

The right's much more prone to these violence and revenge fantasies than the left, and I figured they'd be so to a far greater extent than that.

[glitch]

14. I bet they are from the same people threatening daily. Not that it makes them any less a threat.

I would like to see the SS beefed up accordingly and these people dealt with asap.
I am utterly sick to death of them.

[bullwinkle428]

68. I'll agree with you, in the sense that I'm honestly not totally shocked

by the number, given the way LOTS of high-profile individuals have been ginning up the hate, going back to the campaign. Racism & ignorance is an incredibly dangerous mixture, and it's scary to think how many out there may be willing to do something considered beyond the pale by rational human beings.

[berni_mccoy]

6. FreeRepublic, O'Liely and Limbaugh all are responsible.

[Faygo Kid]

9. Yup.

[iamjoy]

7. That's So Sad!

Maybe we shouldn't be too proud of our country.

Of course, I would be interested to know the number of threats there were against President Clinton as well. That may shed some light on whether it's just regular right-wing loonies making death threats or racist right-wing nut jobs.

If the Republicans manage to take back Congress could they cut funding for the Department of Treasury and Secret Service? It really bothers me to hear that the agency charged with protecting our President is "under-resourced."

[Faygo Kid]

8. Just talked about this tonight with my significant other. It can only get worse.

She noted that it must be true; look at the birthers, the Freepers, the endless hate that parades for comment on talk radio.

I thought it was bad for Bill Clinton. We owe a debt of gratitude to the Secret Service; they are living a nightmare right now.

Better let them know when we see it. This congressional recess period is going to see someone hurt or killed. It's brutal out there.

[billyoc]

10. Imagine having to go out and question these cretins?

What a job!

[Posteritatis]

11. It'd be nuts even assuming a lot of them are harmless

Plenty of people who probably get questioned for having an "I don't like (current president's name here)" type poster, like what happened under Bush, but if we're talking a fourfold increase in threats then that certainly suggests a whole lot of genuine crazy. Ugh.

[glitch]

16. Makes me sick to think about it. Talk about cooties. Ugh. nt

[madaboutharry]

15. This makes me so sad.

I really wanted to think that I could be proud of my country. It hurts me that there are so many ignorant and racist Americans.

I believe deeply in the sincerity of President Obama. I have great respect for him on many levels and I think that he truly wants to make this country a better place.

But sadly, people are small minded and change they way one sees things is for some admitting that they were once wrong. I will never understand hate or racism. After watching this nutty woman, Orly Taitz and seeing clips of town halls, I am so worried.

[glitch]

17. You can be proud of some of your country. Same as it ever was. nt

[Odin2005]

18. How long before someone tries a coup like in 1933?

[Faygo Kid]

20. You mean Germany? That was no coup. That was the FReepers (Brownshirts) of their time.

That is what we see now, and will see over the congressional recess.

Brownshirts. FReepers. Dittoheads. Interchangeable useful idiots.

[Odin2005]

22. No, I'm talking about the "Business Plot" against FDR.

[Divine Discontent]

34. some would say why coup, when they already succeeded in the larger coup, if you will

when they essentially took over power in the 60's. (I might be off on the time, but I feel like that's about when the corporate-whores and industrial military complex toppled control of our govt in certain aspects)

[anonymous171]

39. Unless single payer is magically passed into law, I doubt it.

They wield extraordinary influence in our government right now. It would be too inconvenient for them to stage and fund a coup when they can just buy any politician they want.

[SeriousEbony]

19. Any ideas what drove the 8.2 per day under bush?

Since we all know for a fact it is the republican blogs and AM radio causing the 90/day
under Obama, where can the guilt lie for the bush threats?

[gaspee]

40. You're not funny

[SeriousEbony]

43. Try reading through the comments in this thread

You will see that it is the RW folks causing this. Or are you just being obtuse?

[devilgrrl]

41. O RLY?

[SeriousEbony]

44. Yes, I left out O'Riley

He has plenty of mention elsewhere in this thread tho.

[Quantess]

51. 8.2 per day is not that many, considering the vitriol and loathing Bush generated

Bush was despised so intensely by liberals, I did not think it would be possible for the hatred for the next president to be surpassed. I'm not sure the level of loathing is any igher for Obama than it was for Bush, but RWers tend to be more unhinged and erratic than liberals, hence, they give out more death threats.

BTW, I can't believe you're still here.

[Posteritatis]

59. The left is less about violent revenge fantasies, though

The spike makes sense in that context. The intensity of the loathing for Obama being vastly higher doesn't surprise me at all, given the mindset on the right.

[ellie]

66. What drove it?

His illegal wars. His giveaways to his friends, the corporations. His gutting of environmental laws. His tax cuts to the wealthy.

[SeriousEbony]

70. Thank you for a polite and reasoned response

DU could do with more erudite members such as yourself.

[MADem]

21. They ought to bring a few of the retirees back on board to do the

legwork for some of these cases. I think some of the retirees would enjoy getting back into the saddle if they had an easier and less physically demanding workload, and there'd be no need to train them. They could do the follow up on some of the ones that look like the "mom's basement" crowd. They could do it on a part-time basis, too. That's what I'd consider if I were running that outfit. Stupid to overwork the existing crew, and it would give them time to train up additional assets as well.

[Doctor_J]

24. If one of these wackos gets through, we will watch the funeral then go back to

watching America's Got Talent.

We've had lots of time to take on hate radio, and the rest, and nothing's been done about them. Don't forget Limpballs is on AFN every day calling the president a terrorist, racist, America-hater, soldier-hater, etc. It's probably a matter of time until a Limbecile breaches the security. Too bad the American public is in too much of a fast-food/reality TV trance to care.

[applegrove]

25. To the SS: You are doing a great job. Take care of our guy.

[JanusAscending]

26. Ya know.............

If I were President Obama, I would tell the grand ole US of A to take this job and shove it!!! at the end of his 4 yrs. I don't know how he keeps a level head in that filthy cesspool we call the capitol!! We should be thanking God for him, and helping every way we can, and what do we do?? Piss and moan like little babies when we all don't get what we expected of him, when we expected it, like yesterday???? Then we proceed to pour fuel on the many fires that are being set by the opposition, against him!!! BOO FUCKIN'HOO!!! This crap isn't worth dying for, at least not anymore. :rant:

[glinda]

27. Well said. I really am crying out for some of these people to be arrested, tried and imprisoned.

I worry every day for our President. Every single frickin day.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

29. How many did "the other one" get? Could NOT have been less...

i would never believe it...and cheney too. HATED the world over.

[undeterred]

31. Maybe they need to get to the root of it:

The right wing media feeds these jerks, they should be held accountable for it.

[and-justice-for-all]

32. white supremacists...I never would've guessed that in a katrillion par secs. nt

:sarcasm:

[sasquatch]

35. Where's William Tecumseh Sherman when we need him?

:shrug:

[MilesColtrane]

47. I'll be the first to dig him up, if he starts in Ohio.

(edited to disable links to hate sites)

Ku Klux Klan - Ohio History Central - A product of the Ohio ... - 10:32pm
During the late 1860s, some Southern veterans of the defeated Confederacy created the Ku Klux Klan. This organization's original goal was to deny African ...
www.ohiohistorycentral.og/entry.php?rec=913 - Cached - Similar -

KKK - Ku Klux Klan - Knights of the Ku Klux Klan - Brotherood of ...
HELP SUPPORT THE KU KLUX KLAN. Patches: $5.00 each. Flags: $7.00 each. Mail Donations to: BOK P.O. Box 2395. Marion, Ohio 43301 ...
ww.knightskkk.com/ - Cached - Similar -

Stormfront - BOK KKK Ohio State Meeting
Nov 11, 2007 ... Reload this Page BOK KKK Ohio State Meeting ... THIS IS A MANDATORY MEETING FOR BOK MEMBERS IN OHIO Members outside of these states are also ...
ww.stormfront.og/forum/calenar.php?do...e... - Cached - Similar -

Ku Klux Klan -- Extremism in America
Mystic Knights of the Ku Klux Klan - An Ohio-based Klan group that claims to be active in eight states, mostly in the Midwest, although it lost much of its ...
www.adl.og/.../kkk/active_grup_2006.asp?...kkk - Cached - Similar -

The KKK in Athens county, Ohio
On this webpage you are going to read about the presence of the KKK organization in Athens county, Ohio in the 1920's. I stumbled upon this topic while ...
www.ohgen.et/ohathens/kkk__in_athens_county.htm - Cached - Similar -

Ohio troopers disciplined for KKK photo prank - USATODAY.com
A highway patrolman who was photographed in a handmade Ku Klux Klan costume while on duty the day before the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday has been ...
www.usatoday.om/.../2008-04-13-ohiotroopers-kkk_N.htm - Cached - Similar -

Ohio Troopers Canned for KKK Prank - ABC News
May 6, 2008 ... But the two officers from the Ohio State Highway Patrol involved in a camera- phone photo shoot in which one posed with a crude KKK-costume ...
abcnews.go.cm/US/Story?id=4794894&page=1 - Similar -

Dayton, Ohio union officials defend KKK member
The leadership of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1385 in Dayton, Ohio has come to the defense of a union member fired for distributing white ...
www.wsws.og/articles/1999/ar1999/day-m23.shtml - Cached - Similar -

Ku Klux Klan (KKK); shelby county ohio historical society
The KKK, a group of white secret societies, traces its roots back to Pulaski, Tennessee, circa 1865, when a group of Confederate Army veterans organized to ...
www.shelbycountyhistory.og/schs/.../kukluxklan.htm - Cached - Similar -

Jewish communities on the Ohio River: a history - Google Books Result
by Amy Hill Shevitz - 2007 - History - 266 pages
In the early 1920s in the Ohio River Valley, a particularly menacing development was the emergence of the Ku Klux Klan as a major social and political force ...
books.google.com/books?isbn=813124301... -

[sasquatch]

63. Most of those people are Southern transients

[PatrynXX]

36. I was always surprised Bush didn't get nailed after stealing the election in 2000

But then again it's not in the Democrats nature to hate that bad to kill. Repukes and radical right on the other hand. They love their guns.

[quakerboy]

37. Kinda makes me want to punch an idiot

and me the nonviolent one. Between this and the disrupt the townhalls thing, the more primal part of me wants to brawl. See if they've really got anything to back the words they vomit.

[The Wizard]

55. Solution

to town hall hooligans:
Bring water pistols filled with warm water. When they start to disrupt the meetings squirt them and have another person yell out that it's AIDS infected urine.

[JDPriestly]

42. Good Heavens. Who are these crazies?

3000 death threats against George W. Bush? That's hard to believe. And 30 a day against Obama. Just incredible. Why? Is it just racism?

[Triana]

45. Racism is alive and well, I see. n/t

[lonestarnot]

46. Just so they leave the meticulously investigated in the budget, I'm not

overly concerned.

[orleans]

50. if all of these threats are "investigated meticulously"

i hope they are prosecuted meticulously as well.

[Joanne98]

52. The MSM's been encouraging the nutz for ratings.

[Aslanspal]

53. Increase the damn funding!!! I don't care to many wacko's

Those are evil numbers and I can believe it , just see the baptist board, rapture ready, FFF board, FReepers,,etc..etc.

the guy who murdered in DC was a "birther"

Increase the damn funding and now!

are the times like JFK 1962-3 I think they are.

come on people write your congress person ...we need to protect this man and his family.

[girl gone mad]

54. Give him more protection.

I know some of the wackos on the right think all of their problems would be solved if they could get rid of President Obama. God forbid, were any one of them to even attempt an assassination, their troubles would only just be beginning.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

56. I beleive Palin got the ball rolling last year...

Evil b****

[slackmaster]

58. Self-delete

[fascisthunter]

60. which just proves racism in the GOP is alive and well

[RamboLiberal]

62. Scary thing author said on The Daily Show (Monday night)

Was that they are cutting corners & at big events not having everyone passing through a magnometer. Caused by cuts since they were folded in to Homeland Security.

Remember stories from last year in Houston & other places complaints that they weren't putting the crowds through magnometers at Obama rallies? I remember reading those stories & even posting them here.

Jon Stewart was really freaked by that revelation last night.

I saw some lax security & not having had to pass through magnometers back in the 2004 campaign. Seemed sometimes they did and sometimes they didn't. I was very close to John Edwards at a rally when he was VP candidate last weekend before the election & I and people in the crowd with me weren't screened. I remember it bothered me at that time.

[Laurab]

67. I saw that, too. Jon was hoping the publicity would change it.

I ordered the book after watching TDS last night - I hope the author gets this publicized as much as he can and I also hope Obama is taking the proper precautions.

[fascisthunter]

64. psychopaths on the right

and they claim to be Jesus-like... Geez

[RamboLiberal]

71. Secret Service Cuts Endangering Obama?

Source: CBS News

Budget cuts at the Secret Service are so deep and a "culture change" so pervasive that the agency tasked with protecting the president is putting his life is at risk, because agents are cutting so many corners.

The explosive charge comes from Ronald Kessler, author of the new book, "In the President's Secret Service," in which Kessler reveals many previously unknown inside info told to him by agents themselves.

The Secret Service denies Kessler's assertion.

On "The Early Show" Tuesday, Kessler said such routine moves as using metal detectors until everyone attending a presidential or vice presidential event has entered are being curtailed, and someone carrying a weapon could sneak it in.

------

"Some agents were absolutely outraged that the Secret Service has been cutting corners lately, to the point where they'll actually shut down metal detection when an event is about to start and there are stragglers or even, in the case of Joe Biden, when he threw the first pitch at the Orioles game, they'll have no metal detection," Kessler told Smith. "That means that gunmen, terrorists, can bring in weapons, can bring in grenades, and they will not be detected. So, they're really takng a chance with the president's life."

Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/08/04/earlyshow/leisure/books/main5211273.shtml

[thunder rising]

72. Bush implemented the over zealous paranoid search policies. This is rolling back to normal .

[RamboLiberal]

73. Not in the case of the president

Sorry, but Secret Service normal should be everyone is screened before being near the president or VP. I lived through the 60's, I'd rather not see history repeated. And we know there are nutcases out there who cannot stand Obama is president.

from OP article - When George Bush was in the country of Georgia, someone got through with a grenade because metal detection was shut down.

[Cronopio]

80. Not in the case of a black Democratic President. Obama needs more protection, not less. nt

[Lasher]

74. I have a solution.

Obama extended Cheney's SS protection that otherwise would have expired by law. Rescind that order and use the agents to augment those guarding the President. Cheney has at least $100M, he can pay for his own security detail.

[hamsterjill]

87. I like that idea!

n/t

[Rebubula]

75. Meh

Kessler is a sensationalist trying to sell books.

Nothing to see here...

[RamboLiberal]

76. Maybe

But I saw security lapses during the 2004 campaign when attending Kerry/Edwards events. I didn't attend any Obama/Biden so I can't comment on them. But there were MSM reports during the summer of sttendees not having to go through magnometers at some Obama events. Houston I believe was one. I remember posting and commenting on the threads on DU.

[rcrush]

79. Its funny they bring this up during all this Birther shit.

Its like someone is trying to dare the Birthers.

[RamboLiberal]

85. That crossed my mind since Kessler is a Newsmax reporter

I know though that the timing is probably coincidental with the release of his book.

[bertman]

77. Why are we cutting the Secret Service budget when we're giving TRILLIONS to Wall Street?

This is beginning to sound like a "plausible deniability" action, as in "We just couldn't provide the kind of protection required for THIS President with the amount of money we were given."

Yeah, I know "the Secret Service" said these charges are untrue. WHO is "the Secret Service"?? Doesn't the SS have a person who heads the organization? Why isn't that individual speaking?

I've been reading a lot about the JFK assassination lately. This does not give me confidence that our President is being protected the way he should be protected. Especially with all the racist right-wing nutjobs who think he's not even an American.

[rcrush]

78. You know how they can save money? STOP PROTECTING DICK CHENEY!!!!!

They just INCREASED his security! He likes to shoot people in the face for fun!

Secret Service protection for former Vice President Dick Cheney has been extended.
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/07/22/cheneys-secret-service-protection-extended-2/
Posted: July 22nd, 2009 01:11 PM ET


WASHINGTON (CNN) – Protection for former Vice President Dick Cheney has been extended, Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan confirmed to CNN Tuesday.

Donovan would not say for how long the extension will last. The extension, reportedly requested by Cheney, went through the standard process and was officially authorized by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano July 17, according to DHS spokeswoman Sara Kuban.

The extension was not based on a specific threat against the former vice president, CNN has also learned. Rather, officials believed the move was justified given the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, political debate about the Bush administration's strategies and Cheney's active public schedule, according to a government official with knowledge of the matter.

Ordinarily, former vice presidents only receive Secret Service protection for the first six months after leaving office. DHS told CNN this is the first time a former vice president's security detail has been extended beyond the standard duration.


–CNN's John King, Kevin Bohn, and Martina Stewart contributed to this report.


Not enough money for security? BS
they just passed the biggest defense bill in history
the price of one B2 stealth bomber could provide all the security a president would ever need....

they cost around $1,300,000,000.00 USD.

[Cronopio]

81. Excellent idea! Anyone who has his own assassination squad doesn't need taxpayer-paid protection.

Get fucking Halliburton to pay for it.

[JDPriestly]

82. I'd like to know who increased the protection for Cheney.

Who decides the Secret Service rules and assignments? Isn't it the president himself?

[rcrush]

83. Yeah

It was Obama for some reason.

http://thepoliticalcarnival.blogspot.com/2009/07/obama-extends-cheneys-secret-service.html

[RamboLiberal]

84. Security lapses reported during campaign

http://www.thumperscorner.com/cgi/discus/board-admin.cgi?action=quick&do=print&HTTP_REFERER=36043/34583&postindex=114696

http://mediabloodhound.typepad.com/weblog/2008/02/special-report.html

Original Fort Worth articles are apparently gone though I do remember reading them here at the time.

[No Elephants]

86. Obama needs more protection than any President. Reductions are crap.

[honkydonkey]

88. Did the author of this book give his sources on this number??

I totally believe that there are that many death threats on Obama but did Kessler give his sources? I've got right wingers screaming about the "un-named source" crap and I want to show them proof. I assume he got these numbers directly from the secret service?

[Uncle Joe]

89. What's the point of the Secret Service giving Presidents and Vice-Presidents code-names?

Why not just call him/her by his/her name or title?

It doesn't seem like they protect the secrecy of these code-names, so what's the point?

[honkydonkey]

91. Ditto

I just said the same thing to my husband. It's stupid. Either that or it's a cover. Who knows..

[Posteritatis]

92. Ease of identification in a chaotic situation

They aren't meant to conceal them; they're meant to have an easily-identifiable set of syllables, as short and distinct as possible, that could stand out in a nasty situation like a shootout or a panicked/angry crowd.

Especially if you've got multiple similar names (like surnames, or Obama's kids with similar sounds in theirs) or titles with overlapping terms (like the pres/VP, or all the secretaries/congressfolk), some obvious "this sound equals this person" cue is a good thing. It doesn't even matter much if other people know.

There's definitely another set of code names that we don't know, for security and planning purposes.