Posted on 07/28/2014 9:43:54 AM PDT by John Semmens
A woman on the verge of giving birth was blocked from crossing the street to get to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center because the road was blocked in anticipation of President Obama’s motorcade passing by. The woman was told to wait on a bus stop bench while staff from the Medical Center crossed the street to her aid.
Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Hector Morales defended the seemingly unnecessary impediment to the woman’s access to health care as “routine protocol. Look, the President of the United States is the world’s most important person. Whatever he is doing must take precedence over anything being done by any person of lesser importance.”
In this particular instance it seems clear that the pregnant woman could have easily crossed the street prior to the arrival of the motorcade taking President Obama to a local fundraiser. Nonetheless, Morales was adamant that “the possible delay of the President even by a few seconds could have major detriment to this country. Suppose a potential donor to the Democratic Party gets ticked off having to wait and declines to write a check? Surely that would hurt the country more than a mother giving birth on a public bench?”
if you missed any of this week's other semi-news/semi-satire posts you can find them at...
http://azconservative.org/2014/07/25/despicable-anti-clinton-books-should-be-banned/
This is so true... The spokesman may be satire, but thta is what he was obviously thinking.
I was caught in a Obama motocade recently in San Diego while leaving a VA hospital. Traffic was at a total standstill in all directions for at least 1/2 hour until the great one had passed. I don’t know how any ambulances got in. One would think they would be given precedence. But if it’s OK for a woman to potentially give birth on the sidewalk to give way for the president’s limo, perhaps an ambulance would similarly have to yield.
It’s a matter of security — the agent in charge of the SS detail to protect the POTUS would not have allowed the motorcade to stop anywhere along its route. It could be a trap.
Our enemies are very sophisticated (remember 9/11?) and there are plenty of them inside the country.
“...perhaps an ambulance would similarly have to yield.”
But of course the ambulance would have to yield to the great one. The VA is his command. For him to yield to a subordinate field operation would not be acceptable practice. Look at the precedent that would be set. He might be considered a President of the people. /s
Another good one John. Enjoyed.
Exactly. This is pretty much standard protocol for every President after Kennedy, and it’s driven by the Secret Service, not the President.
My office looks out on the helipad that the President uses when he comes to NYC. I’ve watched the President arrive many times (both Bush and Obama), and the coordination that goes into the movement is really quite impressive. Everything—every movement (land, sea and air), every officer (and there are dozens, if not hundreds), every street shutdown—is timed down to the second, and for the exact reason you posted. Any slight delay, at any point along the route could be a trap. Of course, it could also be nothing, but the Secret Service doesn’t play guessing games.
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