Obama hiding behind his children to keep trip details quiet
When it comes to playing politics, every First Family’s children should be off limits. So, it’s not a complete surprise that Judicial Watch is seeing some heat over a recent effort. “A conservative watchdog group’s probe into the taxpayer costs of Malia Obama’s spring break trip to Mexico in March is under fire for crossing into an area traditionally considered off-limits: first kids.”
However, a quick review of the facts suggest some sunlight is warranted.
Malia Obama was accompanied by 25 U.S. Secret Service Agents when she traveled to Mexico for her March 2012 Spring Break vacation. But it wasn’t just Malia and her security detail, as many as 12 of her friends traveled to Mexico along with her. The trip was also undertaken shortly after the Texas Department of Public Safety issued a statement advising students on Spring Break “to avoid Mexico.”
When press reports of the details of the trip surfaced, they were quickly removed from the Internet, presumably at the request of the White House.
The number of friends and the warning suggest security concerns would have been heightened, potentially driving up trip costs significantly In addition, the warning suggests this is a trip your average American child wouldn’t, or shouldn’t have taken, Consequently, there’s more than a hint of entitlement about it. First Families deserve privacy but not the treatment Europe reserves for royalty.
Finally, with news flowing back and forth across the border so freely and Hispanic voters seen as critical in November’s election, it’s also worth asking the question if it wasn’t Obama, not Judicial Watch playing politics with one of his children.
Even the press has been forced to acknowledge the politics behind Obama’s recent decision regarding the home of California labor leader Cesar Chavez. “President Barack Obama is designating the California home of labor leader Cesar Chavez as a national monument, a move likely to shore up support from Hispanic and progressive voters just five weeks before the election.”
As unfortunate as it is to ponder, Obama very well may have unnecessarily expended tax payer dollars, while putting his daughter in a high risk situation requiring additional security, while fully aware of the politics in play as regards Hispanic voters. Releasing the requested information, as opposed to hiding behind his daughters, may go a long way to alleviating any genuine concerns about the trip some taxpayers and Judicial Watch may be having.
Demeaning them for daring to ask questions around a topic involving one of the Obama children is not an answer, it’s a means of stone-walling.
Malia should be off limits.
Her taxpayer funded trip should not.