As President Barack Obama entered the stage of House of Blues venue in Hollywood for one of his many 2012 presidential fundraising campaign stops amid the backdrop of chants, “Fired up! … Ready to go!” and “Four more years!” excitement gushed openly from his supporters.
Then a hushed tone of worry immediately crawled over the place. The flow of exuberance was interrupted by a bearded man, who began to loudly heckle President Obama before the leader of the free world could even get into his speech.
Before the event had even gotten started people thought that the show might be over because of the disruption. For a split moment there was the stillness of anxiety caused by the disruptive behavior of the man. Shouting, “Christian God is the one and only true living God, the creator of Heaven and the Universe,” the man was quickly subdued by Secret Service agents and police officers.
On his way out of the building the man still had enough energy to make even more unusual, religious statements, barking out “I love Jesus. Jesus Christ is God. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Jesus Christ is God. Barrack Obama is the antichrist!”
Like a sheet of Teflon, President Obama deftly let the disruption slide off into the sunset as it came in. Flashing that engaging smile of his and ever aware of the situation around him, President Obama exhibited his presidential leadership by calming everyone else down with some light remarks that quickly deflated a very tense moment.
As the man was being escorted out of the building, someone tossed a jacket on stage, to which President Obama responded, “Is that his jacket? Make sure he gets his jacket.” More chaos ensued as it was discovered that the jacket belonged to a woman in the audience. Still keeping his cool, President Obama cracked a joke about the busy situation.
“Oh, wait that’s hers… Somebody’s car keys are in there too,” President Obama said. “We’re having all kinds of confusion here. Oh, goodness gracious. Don’t leave your jacket around like that.”
President Obama’s ability to dissipate this situation speaks volumes about his leadership qualities. The matter also speaks loudly about how much some people will go to plant the perception that the president is not who he says he is. It also clarifies the need to better protect the president.
Just like the White House flap in which an uninvited couple was able to crash a gala event and shook hands with the president and other foreign dignitaries, this latest scenario should place more scrutiny on how better to protect the president from wackos.
The message sent from the House of Blues incident is that a person or organization can fork over some money, get inside of an event where the president is slated to appear, fit into the crowd and then go off the chain with some sort of disruptive act.
What happened at the House of Blues should never happen to any sitting U.S. president. For all of the tight security that blanketed much of the West Hollywood area due to President Obama’s visit, a perpetrator somehow made his way inside the party and managed to get within a few feet of the president.
It causes concern about the screening process of those hosting the fundraising events accepting checks and funds from people. It also raises an eyebrow about far people will go to distort the image of President Obama. Apparently, all money is not good money.
President Obama has dealt with widespread rumors and innuendos created by his opponents that he is not Christian since he’s been in office. He’s been besieged by even more people questioning his love and commitment to the best interest of the United States. But like the way he has dismissed his critics, President Obama brushed off the antics by the heckler with poise and precision.
“Alright where was I? It is good to be back in LA,” President Obama said.
Dennis has covered and written about politics, crime, race, sports, and entertainment. Dennis currently covers the NFL, MLB, NBA, NCAA, and Olympic sports. Dennis is the editor of News4usonline.com and serves as the publisher of the Compton Bulletin newspaper. He earned a journalism degree from Howard University. Email Dennis at dfreeman@news4usonline.com