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Can life with BHO get any weirder? No doubt…
By Ali Elizabeth | November 20, 2008
I have had a fascinating, horrifying, exhilarating two weeks. I flew into Chicago’s O’Hare airport on the morning after the election feeling like I was in the Twilight Zone.
All around me were festive Obama celebrants, high fiving each other, sporting all manner of pins, hats and shirts, and sending congrats via our bevy of techno toys.
The major rags that are still hanging on despite circulation losses that mimic other realms of our national fiscal distresses waxed worshipful: The Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun Times as well as the NY Times had gone far beyond “Second-Coming-type-above-the-fold” placement on the front page. The POTUS-elect was the front page. From a historical viewpoint, I can understand this.
I checked my email at an airport kiosk, and already alarm was pouring in from my soldier kids and military family. Believe me, they get it when someone is in their corner, and they know that the man who made history and shattered a barrier that needed to be to be shattered, isn’t.
I spoke with a soldier on his way back to Afghanistan, and his dismay was palpable. I went on to Los Angeles for a speaker’s conference where I was working, came home to sing and speak to a group of Wounded Warriors on Veteran’s day, and managed to take a very small, admittedly anecdotal survey of soldiers from three branches who had either served at or were familiar with the mission of “XYZ,” the restricted access/Navy SEALS/Delta/Rangers/Iraqi Special Forces base where I worked for 16 months.
“Tell me, knowing what you now know, or more importantly what you don’t know, would you allow our president-elect onto XYZ?”
I got answers that ranged from “I don’t know about that,” personal Armyspeak for “I don’t EVEN want to go there,” to a detailed list of requirements as to “who was making the request, who the escort would be, what the scope of access would be,” and then, a faint ”perhaps,” to two resounding “Oh, He_ _ no!!”
Now I know that snopes published an article dated 26 October that says BHO would have no problem getting the necessary clearance to be POTUS, according to three security background experts. I am just saying that guys in Iraq whose lives were on the line so that my life wasn’t on the line don’t agree with the experts. My money is on them.
And now, for the coup de grace in the Weirdness Department: I actually feel sorry for Ted Kennedy. The guy who swam away from Mary Jo now has to have for a boss a guy whose friend wrote a book dedicated to Sirhan Sirhan, Ted’s brother’s murderer. And Caroline, who helped pick Joe Biden for VP, faces the same discomfort, except that the murder victim was her uncle. In addition, Mr. Ayers recently said that he wants prisons abolished, which would put Sirhan back on the streets. Now that is weird.
No doubt we are in for harder times than I feel most folks are prepared for on a number of fronts. However, the thought that came my way this morning while journaling, and seemed providentially comforting was this: “the best times are coming in a hard package.” OK, then. Time to get wholly strong enough to unwrap the package completely and share its contents with anyone who is famished. If it is indeed providential, there’ll be plenty to go around.
Topics: Ballad for Baghdad, the Book | 1 Comment »
December 12th, 2008 at 12:30 am
Ali: Great reflection on the immediate post-election hype. The ironies exceed expression. The ironic morass of Clinton appointees makes one wonder what Obama is hiding that forced him to concede so much ground to the former first family and their cronies. Oh, and since I am getting a higher clearance right now, I asked the interviewing agent what he thought about Obama’s chances of getting a clearance before his election. He just chuckled and cleverly avoided the question.