<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16890" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>It seems to me that what we may all be overlooking is the fact that this was a visit by the first non-white President who happens to be embroiled in a policy debate which clearly has the "lunatic fringe" in an uproar.  When was the last time you saw people carrying guns (including assault rifles) to Presidential rallies, in an attempt to just plain be intimidating?  Security was ramped up for Obama during the campaign in proportion to the threat level and the threat level continues to be higher than for any other president in recent history.  I imagine the Secret Service is making those decisions, not Mr. Obama.  </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I'm grateful to have a President who is interested enough in our national treasures to make a visit and I'm sorry that security and scheduling issues made his visit so short.  The potential for policy influence seems to me to be a good trade for a few hours, or even days, of inconvenience.   After all, the President's visit was restricted to one small area of the park.  </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Diane Brown</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>