Monday, May 02, 2005
Secret Service seeks race of media party guests
Conservatives are finally showing their true colors orr lack there of. Once upon a time they claimed that all they wanted was a "colorblind society." Now it is plain to see that what they really want is create a list of every person not of European descent and then round them up in concentration camps.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The U.S. Secret Service has asked for the race of guests attending a media reception with President Bush before the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner Saturday.
Some senior correspondents who cover Bush regularly and have attended the reception in past years said Friday they had not been asked for race information previously and were shocked at the request.
"[White House] reporters already have hard [permanent] passes, have gone through all the checks, and are often in reach of the president," said Ed Chen of the Los Angeles Times, who is secretary of the association. "I think it's unnecessary and offensive."
The Secret Service said it routinely asks for information about the race of people who are going to be in close proximity to the president.
"It's nothing to do with racial profiling. We wouldn't tolerate any racial or cultural bias in these types of matters," said Tom Mazur, spokesman for the Secret Service.
But he said he did not know whether race information had been requested for this reception in previous years.
The Secret Service, which is responsible for protecting Bush and his family, "routinely" asks for five "identifiers" of people who will be near the president to run through a criminal data base, Mazur said.
The five factors -- name, date-of-birth, Social Security number, gender and race -- are used to search the database "in a most timely and effective manner," he said.
"When the president travels or has events, this is information that is routinely requested," Mazur said.
White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the White House had not requested the information on race and that it was a law enforcement matter.
"Law enforcement officials, the Secret Service, can talk to you about that and tell you why they have done that for a long time for criminal background checks, and so that they can get those checks done in a timely manner," McClellan said.
Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The U.S. Secret Service has asked for the race of guests attending a media reception with President Bush before the annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner Saturday.
Some senior correspondents who cover Bush regularly and have attended the reception in past years said Friday they had not been asked for race information previously and were shocked at the request.
"[White House] reporters already have hard [permanent] passes, have gone through all the checks, and are often in reach of the president," said Ed Chen of the Los Angeles Times, who is secretary of the association. "I think it's unnecessary and offensive."
The Secret Service said it routinely asks for information about the race of people who are going to be in close proximity to the president.
"It's nothing to do with racial profiling. We wouldn't tolerate any racial or cultural bias in these types of matters," said Tom Mazur, spokesman for the Secret Service.
But he said he did not know whether race information had been requested for this reception in previous years.
The Secret Service, which is responsible for protecting Bush and his family, "routinely" asks for five "identifiers" of people who will be near the president to run through a criminal data base, Mazur said.
The five factors -- name, date-of-birth, Social Security number, gender and race -- are used to search the database "in a most timely and effective manner," he said.
"When the president travels or has events, this is information that is routinely requested," Mazur said.
White House press secretary Scott McClellan said the White House had not requested the information on race and that it was a law enforcement matter.
"Law enforcement officials, the Secret Service, can talk to you about that and tell you why they have done that for a long time for criminal background checks, and so that they can get those checks done in a timely manner," McClellan said.
Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
# posted by The Alabama Hammer @ Monday, May 02, 2005 
