The lure of citizens to keep written diaries recording all manner of things in these bizarre times is compelling.
Is it midterm election euphoria that is keeping politicians other than Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann from speaking out against the President Barack Obama Traveling Show set to begin today?
This is a storied Trip Among Trips, details of which have gone from bizarre to surrealistic.
Along with the 40 planes and 34 warships Obama is taking along with him, comes news of the bomb-proof over-ground tunnel that will be built by American military engineers for Obama to visit the Gandhi museum in Mani Bhavan.
“The tunnel would be a kilometer long and measure 12ft. by 12ft--enough to let Obama’s cavalcade pass through.” (Daily News & Analysis, Nov. 4, 2010). “The tunnel would be centrally air-conditioned, fitted with close-circuit television cameras, and will be heavily guarded at every point, including, of course, its entry and exit.”
A loud and bumptious invasion of the quiet environment that contains the artifacts of a man who dedicated his entire life on Earth to peace.
Not since Cleopatra’s elaborate barges along the Nile has royalty travelled in such luxury and style.
The silence from Washington’s House of Representatives right is almost as eerie as the sound of the coconuts being lopped from the trees of Mumbai and the screams of the monkeys being rounded up for this trip of a would-be blue-blood.
White House officials have dismissed a claim made by an Indian news outlet that the trip to India would cost $200-million a day, as “wildly inflated”.
Well, how much does it cost to take 40 planes, 34 warships, 3,000 travel companions renting the Taj Mahal Hotel’s 570 rooms, and the rooms of other nearby hotels?
Doing the math would come close.
“The numbers reported in this article have no basis in reality,” Tommy Victor, a White House spokesman said.
Yet, “due to security concerns”, the White House was unable to put an actual price tag on the trip.
Nor is there any estimate for the remainder of the trip, which includes Indonesia, South Korea, Japan and China.
The timing of the trip is its biggest mystery.
There are those who say Obama departs America still smarting from the loss of Dem seats in Tuesday’s election. India is a long way to go to take the sting out of post-election blues.
There are others who claim that Obama’s narcissism protects him from blues about anything.
According to the Khaleej Times online, “India is brimming with excitement over U.S. President Barack Obama’s four-day maiden visit to the Land of the Mahatma, a man he idolises.”
“And indeed there’s much to look forward to in this summit between the leaders of the world’s oldest and largest democracies. The trip, Obama has said, will be a `defining moment in history`, helping both nations forge closer ties rooted in common interests and values.”
Therein lies the most bizarre. Obama, who advocates for the socialization of America does not believe in democracies but in socialist states.
Let us hope and pray that any “defining moment in history” held by Obama does not touch the shores of the United States of America.
Judi McLeod——
Bio and Archives
-- Judi McLeod, Founder, Owner and Editor of Canada Free Press, is an award-winning journalist with more than 30 years’ experience in the print and online media. A former Toronto Sun columnist, she also worked for the Kingston Whig Standard. Her work has appeared throughout the ‘Net, including on Rush Limbaugh and Fox News.
