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Meetings with Israeli, Palestinian, Afghanistani, and Jordanian leaders cram the itinerary of Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama over the last few days, with more to come. (Keeping his image unbesmirched, he skipped rubbing elbows with leaders of Saudi Arabia and the UAE—doesn't look good to those suffering with high petrol prices at home). Scary places where scary stuff can happen (except for Jordan, which sounds like the oases of calm sanity in the Middle East.)
Already one attack has taken place near where Obama was staying in Jerusalem. Granted, it was the the same modus (grabbing a bulldozer and running over cars) and the same perpetrator as a previous attack (this time he was shot dead). But, only a few miles from where Obama laid his head? Frightening. I, for one, will be glad when Obama returns to U.S. soil—not that that was any help to the four actual presidents who were assassinated here at home. Safe is a relative term. But what scares me most is the possibility of a staged "terrorist" attack abroad, giving the lame-duck Bush administration all the ammo it needs to enact NSPD-51, declare a National State of Emergency, and stay in office, like, ferever (at seven and a half years of hell, it has seemed like forever already).
Next up on the whirlwind tour, a much less scary series of jaunts through Great Britain, Germany (where you can bet he will not rub the shoulders of chancellor Angela Merkel), and France. All the while building an incredible windfall of PR mojo, with lots of choice photo ops and lots of whooshing sounds of deflated egos from the John "Iraq Borders Afghanistan" McCain camp.
So send up some good juju to the forces of the universe to keep Obama safe on his journey.
