# Next time just take a taxi, Mr. President **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 17, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-just-take-a-taxi-mr-president/550552 "2010-08-17T18:51:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-just-take-a-taxi-mr-president/550552/1 "2010-08-17T18:51:44Z")
Circulation throughout Hancock Park was a disaster yesterday, because of a motorcade taking the President to some kind of fundraiser. It was impossible to get across Wilshire, and I finally just gave up and had to cancel an appointment. Last time I got stuck in one of these things it was Cheney skulking around the airport. I was 65 minutes late dropping off a friend. Why the hell can’t the LAPD just announce these things beforehand, and give us a fair chance? Or better yet, I’ll pay the taxi fare next time. (I wonder how he tips?) ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-just-take-a-taxi-mr-president/550552/2 "2010-08-17T18:55:10Z")
Announcing in advance raises possible security risks. An evil terrorist type would be pleased to find out exactly what route POTUS would be taking in advance, for logistical purposes and such. ---
**Author:** ![FlightlessBird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/cdc98d/32.png) [@FlightlessBird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlightlessBird)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-just-take-a-taxi-mr-president/550552/3 "2010-08-17T19:01:44Z")
Took me forever to get on the 405. All of the westside was a parking lot. What would be the danger of him getting a helicopter? (maybe have a few decoys up there too) Or is it just an expense thing? Not looking forward to more of it today. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-just-take-a-taxi-mr-president/550552/4 "2010-08-17T19:03:48Z")
The President doesn’t really have any choice about it. The Secret Service makes those decisions, and (contrary to a lot of popular belief) the Secret Service does not take orders from the President. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-just-take-a-taxi-mr-president/550552/5 "2010-08-17T19:05:14Z")
> [@FlightlessBird](#): > > What would be the danger of him getting a helicopter? (maybe have a few decoys up there too) [Fox News Douchebags] Waaaaa! The president needs _three_ helicopters to get across town! How out of touch is he? Do _all_ Muslims need to travel this way?? Waaaaa! [/FND] ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-just-take-a-taxi-mr-president/550552/6 "2010-08-17T19:05:15Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > …find out exactly what route POTUS would be taking in advance, for logistical purposes and such… Well, obviously. But it was manifestly evident which route they were taking anyway, quite a while before they went by. The least they could have done was say something like, “Expect traffic delays in Wilshire Center Monday evening, on the following streets, for the president’s visit.” ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-just-take-a-taxi-mr-president/550552/7 "2010-08-17T19:07:11Z")
I mean, it’s a question of common courtesy, the way you tell your neighbor before you fumigate your house. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-just-take-a-taxi-mr-president/550552/8 "2010-08-17T19:09:28Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > The President doesn’t really have any choice about it. The Secret Service makes those decisions, and (contrary to a lot of popular belief) the Secret Service does not take orders from the President. I’ll happily take advance suggestions from the Secret Service, but they’re not talking to me. (…Ever since the evening of Ronald Reagan’s election.) ---
**Author:** ![CWN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bc79bd/32.png) [@CWN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CWN)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-just-take-a-taxi-mr-president/550552/9 "2010-08-17T19:12:47Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > > [@FlightlessBird](#): > > > > What would be the danger of him getting a helicopter? (maybe have a few decoys up there too) > > [Fox News Douchebags] Waaaaa! The president needs _three_ helicopters to get across town! How out of touch is he? Do _all_ Muslims need to travel this way?? Waaaaa! [/FND] From[Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_One) As a security measure, Marine One always flies in groups with identical helicopters, sometimes as many as five. One helicopter carries the president, while the others serve as decoys for would-be assassins on the ground. There was a show about Marine one with 3 landing in Manhattans West side with President Bush ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-just-take-a-taxi-mr-president/550552/10 "2010-08-17T19:24:36Z")
LOL! Welcome to my world! Presidential delays are a fact of life here. Don’t like it, but them’s the breaks. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-just-take-a-taxi-mr-president/550552/11 "2010-08-17T19:27:37Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Well, obviously. But it was manifestly evident which route they were taking anyway, quite a while before they went by. The least they could have done was say something like, “Expect traffic delays in Wilshire Center Monday evening, on the following streets, for the president’s visit.” I don’t get it – he was here in Jersey about two weeks ago, and I was well aware of every stop (All right already – I get it! He’s going to a sub shop!) days before. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-just-take-a-taxi-mr-president/550552/12 "2010-08-17T19:47:54Z")
I saw the President’s fund raising intinerary yesterday on the regular news websites, but for some reason those same articles do not show up on Google now. IIRC: Monday: Milwaukee, then L.A. Tuesday: Seattle Wednesday: Columbus OH., Miami ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-just-take-a-taxi-mr-president/550552/13 "2010-08-17T19:54:02Z")
I always hate it when the president comes to town. There are days when I wish he could just sneak around on a moped. It’s be cheaper and probabaly just as effective. Ok, maybe not. I think I came up with that plan back when former Pres. Bush was in office. ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-just-take-a-taxi-mr-president/550552/14 "2010-08-17T19:54:10Z")
> [@FlightlessBird](#): > > Took me forever to get on the 405. All of the westside was a parking lot. What would be the danger of him getting a helicopter? (maybe have a few decoys up there too) Or is it just an expense thing? > > Not looking forward to more of it today. 1. (as noted) it’s absurdly expensive 2. rocket propelled missiles, esp. heat-seeking ones, would have an easier time picking out a single helicopter in the sky than a limousine in the middle of god knows how many other Secret Service limousines. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-just-take-a-taxi-mr-president/550552/15 "2010-08-17T20:13:57Z")
I’m just glad he didn’t ruin my vacation last week, like the Clintons did to my friends a few times. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-just-take-a-taxi-mr-president/550552/16 "2010-08-17T20:36:43Z")
God, it was a nightmare on the Westside yesterday afternoon and this morning. They fucking CLOSED Wilshire! And not just so you couldn’t drive on it … you couldn’t cross it either. My kids are going to summer camp at UCLA, which is north of Wilshire. And I live in Westwood, which is SOUTH of Wilshire. Normally it’s a fifteen-minute trip up Veteran to campus. Yesterday my wife spent 90 minutes trying to get there to pick them up (eventually she gave up and they caught a right home with another mom who found a way north through Beverly Hills). And this morning it took me over an hour to drop them off! The only way I could go north was to get on the 405 – I figured there was no way they’d close THAT. Fortunately the fieldtrip buses were stuck too, so my son didn’t miss going to the beach, but Jesus, I didn’t want to spend my entire morning in traffic. Sending a Presidential motorcade through L.A. is crazy, particularly if they do it close to rush hour. If he needs to be here, they should fly him to his destination by helicopter and not fuck things up for tens of thousands of people. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-just-take-a-taxi-mr-president/550552/17 "2010-08-17T20:46:30Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > The President doesn’t really have any choice about it. The Secret Service makes those decisions, and (contrary to a lot of popular belief) the Secret Service does not take orders from the President. That’s ridiculous. If the Prez says, I feel like taking a cab today, what is the SS going to do, arrest him? As a practical matter, the Prez defers to the SS, but there’s no law or anything else saying that he has to. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-just-take-a-taxi-mr-president/550552/18 "2010-08-17T21:01:45Z")
He can’t stop them from going with him, and they can prevent the cab from leaving. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-just-take-a-taxi-mr-president/550552/19 "2010-08-17T21:14:10Z")
[QUOTE=treis] That’s ridiculous. If the Prez says, I feel like taking a cab today, what is the SS going to do, arrest him? As a practical matter, the Prez defers to the SS, but there’s no law or anything else saying that he has to. [/QUOTE] DtC is right…they do tell the President what he can and can’t do. And while they wouldn’t arrest him, they would basically make it impossible for him to take a cab, even if he ordered it. Why anyone would want that job is and always has been beyond me. I doubt he had much choice or even input into the decisions that blocked that traffic the OP is complaining about. FWIW, I sympathize…I used to work in DC and it was a frequent occurrence to have traffic issues (especially on the SP). -XT ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-just-take-a-taxi-mr-president/550552/20 "2010-08-17T21:42:14Z")
He can’t just “take a cab”, like he can’t go to MacDonald’s and snag a burger and fries on the spur of the moment. Can’t sneak out for a night with the boys at Titties 'R Us. Can’t call in sick and spend the day playing Grand Theft Auto. Most powerful single human being on the face of this Earth, and has less options than I do. Like the man, admire him. Envy him? Noooooo. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/next-time-just-take-a-taxi-mr-president/550552.md?page=2)