Friday, July 24, 2015

Papal questions

My big question about the Secret Service's plan to pretty much stop all human activity in the core of Philadelphia for the duration of the Pope's visit is: does this happen everywhere the Pope goes?

The Pope spends a lot of his time traveling the world. The security measures leaked for the Pope's Philadelphia visit are so insane, it is hard to believe this is what every city on every stop of his tour will do. I guess most of those stops are outside of the U.S. and thus outside of the jurisdiction of the U.S. Secret Service.

But if this is just the Secret Service overdoing things, aren't they also in charge of Presidential security? Presidents visit Philadelphia fairly regularly. It happens at least several times a year. Obama was here last week. The Secret Service doesn't shut down the city every time a President shows up. So why is the Pope's visit requiring such a comprehensive shut down of the city's transit system (both public transit and the roads) which will make it impossible for tens of thousands of people to go about their lives, or even see the Pope on his visit?

Besides, the Pope isn't just coming to Philly on his U.S. visit. He will also be in NYC and DC. Is the Secret Service fucking over the residents of those cities as well?