Reply #45: I went to an Obama rally in Boston, and security was so awful that I decided not to write about it. [View All]

[Ian David]

I was afraid that dangerous elements might take advantage of it.

But it looks like Bush is trying to do to Obama what they did to Bhuto.


Since the cat is out of the bag, here is my experience.

1) You pay your $25 donation for a "ticket" online, and print it out. The instructions say to bring it with you.

2) Staff at the door looks closely enough to see that you have something in your hand that approximately looks like the receipt.

3) You walk past a table with a couple of cops, a secret service agent, and a bunch of college freshman volunteers, all of whom look overwhelmed.

4) I stood 2-3 rows from the stage.

5) The stage is ringed by a mix of cops and secret service who closely scrutinize everyone within spitting distance of the stage. There was one female secret service agent who gave me the impression that she could tell my entire life history as if she was Adrian Monk.

6) I do not recall seeing even one bomb-sniffing dog. And although I looked, I did not see any cops on the neighboring roofs.

7) In this particular venue, the stage was directly next to an exterior load-bearing wall and beneath a balcony. While anyone close to Obama INSIDE would have had to deal with his multiple layers of security personnel, he was only about 3 inches of 100 year-old brick and mortar away from possible danger from the outside of building.

6) The over-all impression I got was that just about anyone could walk in without paying, and carrying anything they wanted to, so long as they were not close to the stage. If something terrible happened at that event, Obama would be saved from a direct assault by his phalanx of protection, but dozens of people in the general audience could have been turned to red jelly if someone walked in with a device.

7) There is better security at the local Renaissance Faire, and people THERE get to carry swords.