(WMR) -- According
to sources with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the U.S. Army,
and the White House, a number of members of violent pro-life groups are
streaming into South Bend in anticipation of protests during the commencement
address of President Barack Obama at Notre Dame. Obama is scheduled to give his
address at Notre Dame on May 17.
In anticipation of Obama�s address and his being awarded an
honorary degree from Notre Dame, a number of right-wing groups, including
Catholic anti-abortion and anti-stem cell research groups, are ratcheting up
tensions in South Bend, according to our sources.
WMR has learned from FEMA sources that the city of South
Bend has indicated that due to its severe financial situation, it is unable to
provide the necessary police security for Obama�s speech. Notre Dame campus
security has apparently accepted responsibility for Obama�s security during his
visit to the campus, although primary presidential security will be in the
hands of the Secret Service.
What is worrying to some federal law enforcement and
emergency preparedness officials is the violent groups that will be present
both within South Bend and on the campus of Notre Dame during the president�s
address to graduating students. And these groups are being egged on by
well-financed conservative groups, including the Cardinal Newman Society
and Brent Bozell�s Media Research Center. However, the real fear of
federal security agencies is the rhetoric being voiced by professional
troublemaker Randall Terry and perennial political candidate Alan Keyes. Terry
and Keyes are both right-wing Catholics.
Terry has threatened to make Obama�s speech into a �circus�
and a �mud pit.� Keyes has called Obama a �radical communist� and has vowed
that he and his allies are �going to stop him.�
The anti-Obama rhetoric, coupled with the decision of former
George W. Bush ambassador to the Vatican, Mary Ann Glendon, to refuse to share
the stage with Obama to receive the university�s Laetare Medal, has alarmed
those concerned with Obama�s security. Glendon has rejected the medal that was
previously awarded to President John F. Kennedy and actor Martin Sheen.
Newt Gingrich, a recent convert to Catholicism, is also
stirring up anti-Obama feelings among Catholics who are opposed to Obama�s
speech at Notre Dame. A taste of what is to come at Notre Dame was seen in
anti-Obama rhetoric being stoked by Catholics upset that the Jesus �IHS�
letters were covered up during Obama�s speech at Georgetown
University, which is, like Notre Dame, a Catholic university. The
anti-Obama activists are already suggesting that Mary�s statue on the Notre
Dame campus will be covered by a tarp during Obama�s visit, further inflaming
passions.
WMR has learned that the official who has been put in
charge of coordinating Obama�s security at Notre Dame is his deputy
national security adviser, John O. Brennan, the former CIA official who helped
craft the agency�s torture program for detainees and the head of the firm, The
Analysis Corporation, whose State Department contract employee was
discovered accessing Obama�s passport file during last year�s presidential
campaign. However, the bottom line is that federal security agencies are
worried that with the lack of support from the South Bend police and Indiana
Republican Governor Mitch Daniel�s state police, there are real security
problems surrounding Obama�s speech at Notre Dame.
Obama narrowly carried Indiana over John McCain and Obama
bested the GOP candidate in St. Joseph County, the county seat of which is
South Bend.
Many FEMA and Army officials have privately expressed the
opinion that Obama should cancel his trip to Notre Dame. However, that would
also be a victory for the violent anti-abortion groups that want Notre Dame to
rescind its invitation to the president.
Obama is reportedly furious that he was not made aware of
plans to fly one of his Air Force One Boeing 747s over New York and New Jersey
for a �photo op� that was classified by the Pentagon. Our sources in lower
Manhattan report that the plane flew dangerously close to a number of high-rise
buildings during its classified �joy ride� and panicked thousands of people on
both sides of the Hudson River. If the president cannot be assured of control
over his presidential aircraft, how can he be assured of his security at Notre
Dame?
Story developing.
Previously
published in the Wayne
Madsen Report.
Copyright � 2008 WayneMadenReport.com
Wayne
Madsen is a Washington, DC-based investigative journalist and
nationally-distributed columnist. He is the editor and publisher of the Wayne Madsen Report
(subscription required).