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DOOL Discussion Group
President Obama's 13-year-old daughter Malia Ann joined thousands of American students as they crossed the border to Mexico for spring break this weekend.
Despite warnings from the Texas Department of Public Safety that students avoid Mexico for spring break, many ignored cautions and ventured to cities and resort towns throughout Mexico.
However, most students do not have a team of bodyguards to ensure their safety.
Malia landed in Oaxaca on Saturday with 12 of her friends and 25 secret service agents in tow. The teen flew from Houston on United Airlines, as originally reported by Mexican newspaper Milenio. The group was escorted to their hotel in three bulletproof SUVs, with some streets partially blocked off while the teens were en route.
Malia and her friends are staying in a downtown hotel near the heart of the city's historic center.
The young tourists have already visited the architectural zone of Mitla and the tree of El Tule since their arrival. They will also visit Monte Alban, home to archeological research sites, and the artisan quarters in Oaxaca.
Aside from secret service agents dressed in black suits with radio sets, Mexican police have also been on scene to guard Malia and her friends.
"We are here to block access to the hotel by other people and escort the vehicles that are carrying the visitors to tourism sites," a police official told AFP under the condition of anonymity.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/19/malia-obama-mexico-spring-break_n_1364063.html
This link may not last too long...it took me awhile to find a link for this story that actually worked...
I am conflicted about this one. It is a school trip and it seems to be focused on archaeology, so it seems to have some academic merit. I went to a small school where trips like this were the norm (class of 17 students). (Not that we every did this one, i would have loved it back then!) So I dont see the trip itself as that big of a deal. I do have concerns about the school thinking Mexico was appropriate, not because of the Girls Gone Wild vibe but more so because of the general unsafety of traveling in Mexico right now. There are much safer places of academic importance that could have been visited.
Now about the funding of the security...I understand the need for the whole class to have security beyond what a normal high school class would need. In a school that small most become close. A kidnapping of any student could be a big issue, not just Obama's daughter. You want your security to be fresh when they are on duty so I can even understand the amount of people they have verses the amount of people under protection. It is a lot but does not seem grossly outside the relm of what could be reasonably considered necessary. Beyond the amount of security, I dont think the president should be responsible for paying for his family's security detail. If you make that a condition of holding the office of president, then you are getting into iffy territory where a person has to be so rich in order to even hold office. So I wouldnt expect that the president pay for the security detail of his family, either while at home or on vacation.
Now I will say that perhaps the amount of vacations that the Presidents family can take without the president should be limited to a more reasonable amount by policy. it seems like every couple of months we are reading about this Obama's trip or that Obama's trip. I know that growing up the average family doesnt take 6 vacations a year...either apart or together. I see two trips a year where the president is not accompanying his family as an appropriate amount. Not 2 per family member but 2 altogether. Maybe one of the girls takes a class trip and then maybe Michelle and the girls take a trip over the summer. that seems to be enough for us to pay for IMO.
And since there isnt an official policy, it is just plain tacky that Obama isnt limiting his family on his own. We are in a recession right now. Government spending is out of control. Many Americans dont know if they are still going to have a job or a roof over their heads two months from now...we dont need to be reading about another vacation for the president's family that we are paying for. It's just selfish and bad for morale. I understand that he wants his family to have a 'normal childhood' but so do the many people that are unemployed. You think they want their kids to grow up in shelters, that they have envisioned that as a 'normal childhood' for their kids?
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Pictures of the girls on break and an article.
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Since when do 13 year olds participate in Spring Break like college students do? I've never ever heard of that.
Spring Break can be a wild time. I wouldn't even want to introduce a 13 year old to the concept. Thirteen year olds are usually just glad to be out of school and hanging out at the mall (although I don't know how the President's daughter can hang out at the mall).
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WOW !!! Just WOW !!!
And yeah, it is no longer on Huffington. I found this link which has screen caps of some of the webpages which have now disappeared.
Wonder how long this one will be up? Could it not be true? Something tells me it is true...and if so, WOW !!!
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OMG, I'm so angry at this story that I could throw my computer. Why didn't she just go to Hawaii? Mexico? What is wrong with these parents?????
This guy has to get the hell out of office. I can't stand him.
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And before someone points out how small a portion of the budget this is, as often seems to happen in these topics ... I'm a couponer. I don't think any savings is too small. :-)
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