Kalamazoo Central High School Seniors Must Get Background Checks to Shake Obama's Hand at Luncheon

The White House is laying to groundwork for President Obama to give the commencement speech at Kalamazoo Central High School next month. The preparation is unnerving some students and the right wing. President Obama is expected to shake the hand of each senior at the school. According to MLive, as a result, the students are being asked to provide their birth dates, Social Security numbers and citizen status to the Secret Service so background checks could be performed.

This is nothing new. The reality is that the President of the United States isn't a homeboy around the way. He should be protected. Funny how the right wing seems to have forgotten how many Presidents were assassinated and had threats leveled against them. It is common practice for anyone who will get close to the president to be subjected to a background check. What I find disgusting is the fact that the Drudge Report has this story prominently featured on the top of the page. Wouldn't President George Bush have had the same procedure in place? Considering that so many threats have been made on the life of President Obama, I can't say I blame the Secret Service and White House one bit.

Here's an excerpt from the Kalamazoo News article:

Of the fact that the White House is requesting information on all the graduating seniors, K-Central Principal Von Washingon Jr. told the students, “I’ll let you figure out what that means,” said senior Simon Boehme, who was at the breakfast.

K-Central found out May 4 that the school won a national competition that will bring Obama to its commencement as graduation speaker. The ceremony will be held at 7 p.m. June 7 at Western Michigan University’s basketball arena.... Each graduate will get eight tickets for guests, an amount that drew cheers from students at Friday’s breakfast, Boehme said.

Boehme also said that most students are happy that the graduation is being held at University Arena versus WMU’s Waldo Stadium, another venue under consideration. While the stadium could hold up to 30,000 people, Boehme said many seniors were apprehensive about the potential of having an audience comprised mainly of people interested in seeing the president. The smaller audience will mean the focus will stay on graduation, Boehme said. Source: MLive

To Matt Drudge, why make a mountain out of a mole hill? Some members of the right wing will stop at nothing to push the notion that President Obama is a Socialist who is seeking to indoctrinate our children. Ridiculous. This is a non-issue. If you don't want to be subjected to a background check, then stay home.