dick cheney: major league sweetheart

So a reporter and photographer were to meet with Vice President Dick down in Arizona and, as is necessary for security, vital information (like Social Security, name, date of birth, and all that crap) was provided for the background check. No big whoop, you need to be careful right...and besides, it's the same for everyone.

Unless you got a foriegn sounding name....

President Bush's re-election campaign insisted on knowing the race of an Arizona Daily Star journalist assigned to photograph Vice President Dick Cheney.

The Star refused to provide the information.

...

Danny Diaz, a spokesman for the president's re-election campaign, said the information was needed for security purposes.

"All the information requested of staff, volunteers and participants for the event has been done so to ensure the safety of all those involved, including the vice president of the United States," he said.

Diaz repeated that answer when asked if it is the practice of the White House to ask for racial information or if the photographer, Mamta Popat, was singled out because of her name. He referred those questions to the U.S. Secret Service, which did not respond to a call from the Star Friday afternoon.

...

Organizer Christine Walton asked for Popat's race in telephone conversations with two other Star editors before she spoke to Hayt. They also refused to provide the information. Walton told Hayt that Popat's race was necessary to allow the Secret Service to distinguish her from someone else who might have the same name.

from the Arizona Daily Star

I can't think of any reason aside from racial profiling of some sort for this to be going on. After all, can't there be blacks or arabs or whites or asians with the name "Nancy Smith" or whatever? Why does this only come to question when the name is unique and "obviously" not "American"? If race is needed to identify, wouldn't it be just as easy to fax over a picture of every reporter that is going to be interviewing the Vice President when they send over eveything else? I mean, this is assanine, race itself isn't even important aside from identity and as far as the logic goes here anyone could say they're anyone. Ugh.

There's only one thing I can think here..."Mamta Popat" sounds like an Middle Eastern name and the adminstration's handlers are so paranoid and so honestly believe that anyone of Middle Eastern descent is suspect that this shit is going on. God Bless America.