Odd Feelings

[myrgthful]

Since last night I have felt possessed of the most odd -- no, creepy! -- feeling that, perhaps, President-Elect Obama will be assassinated at some point. Perhaps some of it has to do with the general perception of him as a "Black Kennedy", or the curious mix of Kennedy and MLK, Jr. (and their preceding assassinations), which he may represent to

Comments

[jademg]

oh! You are not alone in having these thoughts. I am very worried - and he has those two young girls! You can bet security will be tighter around him than any other president in history. I think I read something about them already busting open a (really poorly planned) assasination attempt should he get elected. There are still a lot of extreme people in our country with some very old prejudices. I do worry about the possibility.

[myrgthful]

Yeah, I heard something about some Skinheads getting their operation crushed, before they even got close to doing anything. But I do worry about something more substantial.

On the plus-side, the terrorist organizations seem to like Obama... as much as they can tolerate any Infidel President, that is. So any such assassination attempt will be less likely to come from their quarter, right? (I consider it more tragic if it is an American who is the assassin)

[jademg]

Oh yea, the rest of the world seems to love that the American's voted Obama in. I think if anything happens it would come from within our own country - which yes, I would agree with you that it would be more tragic.

[bernmarx]

The Presidential "curse" has been that every President elected in a year ending in 0 has died in office (although they weren't all assassinated). (More info)

[myrgthful]

Thank you! Much better.

So... if the curse has been defeated in the last two situations (Reagan and Bush, Jr.), then does that mean the curse is broken? OR, that it's just overdue? (That is... if we ought to give any superstitious credence this issue at all)

[bernmarx]

I'm sure the curse was just a coincidence, although Bush does have another 70+ days to get through....

[myrgthful]

I was thinking the same thing about Bush's remaining time... ;-)

And, that's some coincidence. I don't necessarily lay my faith in simple superstition... but I do wonder at patterns that can last for a century or more.

There have been "attempts" on every President since Nixon, supposedly, however. No US President is safe. But then again, that is the nature of power. And of politics. You are always going to upset someone. The Admiral commanding a carrier battle group has a personal bodyguard as well, since there are so many thousands of Sailors and Marines under his command, and any one of them might decide he or she has a beef with "the Old man" over some issue.

I'm sure that the agents of the USSS are already assessing what will be needed to protect Obama in the coming years. They even have at their disposal man-portable anti-aircraft rockets and other tools, if need be, for various eventualities. However, they also know that it is so much harder to defend against any Assassin who does not consider it a priority to escape/survive

[un_crayon_rouge]

I've heard other people worry about the same thing. Not with the "every-fourth-president"-angle (which is *really* creepy), but generally, being as Obama is a person who inspires the most irrational love (I am slightly embarassed by those people who seem to think he *is* the next Messiah or something) but also the most irrational hate. There are nutballs out there that hold fast to the belief that Obama is somehow connected to Bin Laden and had a key role in staging 9/11, and other equally frightening theories. Plus, there's this whole "Obama, man of the people" image he has going, which would make him a much easier target.

[myrgthful]

Even if I disagree with some of his politics, there is no way I could wish something like this upon him. It would be a serious blow to our nation -- and to myself -- if such a thing were to happen

[the_pangolin]

I still regret not writing my thesis on the parallels between the cult of Obama and the messianic fervor of the Second Temple period. *sigh*

[myrgthful]

In this new era of "change", is it really too late...? ;-)

[jenderelly]

The theory I learned in high school was called "Tecumseh's Curse". He was a Native American chief and when his tribe was forced from their land he cursed the United States that every president elected in the year ending with "0" would die in office. If you look back in the records, every president elected in a year ending with 0 really did die, but not always from assassination. Anyway, Reagan was the first one to survive his term, let alone the assassination attempt, so he said he broke the curse. Probably true since Bush is still alive. Read more here

I do not believe you're the first person to worry about the safety of Obama. Especially considering he gave his acceptance speech behind bullet proof glass.

[jenderelly]

Ok, after reading that article he may not have been cursing the US for being forced from his land, but you get the idea :)