Obama Is Safe
I’ve only heard the faintest murmurs of people talking about the possibility that Obama is in danger because he is poised to become an agent of change. He has the secret service backing him now though and appears completely unconcerned himself. Which is as it should be, because he has plenty of other things to be getting on with thankyouverymuch. I have to say though, I find the idea of him becoming friends with his security detail, inviting them over for the superbowl and playing basketball with them, just awesome. How someone treats those who work for him tells you something about that person[1]. And… renegade? *snarf*
[1] - Ed note: Crap! I was just wondering where I got that quote about telling a lot about a person by how they treat their workers (inferiors was the original quote), so I googled it, and it comes from Harry Potter! I was afraid of that. I’ve read it so many times now (the entire series 3x, twice within the past two years!) that it is permanently in there now.
February 26th, 2008 at 12:12
His secret service name is “Renegade”. That is so awesome.
February 26th, 2008 at 12:19
Interesting: my mother finally explained that the chief reason she’s reluctant to support Obama is that she’s convinced he’s going to be assassinated. I hadn’t heard anyone else voice that specific fear until now.
February 26th, 2008 at 12:50
I’ve heard it too. In fact, I’ve thought it. I think it was all the JFK comparisons the in-laws were making. And I am, yes, actually concerned.
However, as Jen pointed out, it’s awfully paternalistic to not vote for someone because you disagree with them about their safety in what they’re doing.
February 26th, 2008 at 13:12
It is, however, why the Democratic vice-presidential candidate is just as important as the republican vice-presidential candidate…
If Hillary were VP, Obama would have insurance! The conservatives hate her more.
If McCain is elected… well, I suppose Reagan demostrates that they won’t take a president out of office for Alzheimer’s, but I do worry about health there. I keep flashing back to freshman humanities, and my prof telling us that the reason the pope is usually elected in his 80s is that the cardinals know he can’t do that much damage before he dies.
Either way, the VP is much more relevant this time around than in many elections.
Says Jen the cynic.
February 26th, 2008 at 13:29
OK. Web searching on the treat your inferior thing… the concept is, as one would figure, much older than Harry Potter; the most common refs on google for similar statements come from Confucius talking about proper behavior in different social situations, the Japanese imperial code for the military in 1880-1937 (differing dates quoting the “Imperial Receipt”), discussions of Jesus’s teachings on proper treatment of servants (because God doesn’t care about material distinctions).
The main difference for Harry Potter is interesting because it compares how you treat equals to how you treat inferiors, versus how you behave with superiors and inferiors. Modern western individualism coming into play?
(As is often pointed out in the googled discussions, btw - the quote comes from Sirius Black, who treated Kreacher pretty poorly all in all…)
February 26th, 2008 at 22:23
Ted - dude, you read this blog?! Cool! That code name is what the *snarf* was for. Not quite sure what I think about that.
Mike & Tim - this is the first time I have heard of it as a reason not to vote for him. That is pretty nuts. “I like him so much I’m not going to vote for him.” Of course way back when I was thinking of not voting for him because I liked him as my senator, so I’m not sure I’m one to talk.
Jen - I could be wrong, but I don’t think that assassins are worrying enough about the consequences of their actions to take the VP into account.
February 26th, 2008 at 22:27
ob HP - yeah, I love that that line came from Sirius. He paid for it too.
As for the earlier references, I think those are a bit different because they are rules of behavior, whereas the quote, and the way I am trying to use it, is as a gauge of character.