The pomp and ceremony leading to the inauguration of Barack Obama as President of the United States has started. Today he’s leaving Philadelphia by train, mimicking the trip that brought Abraham Lincoln to Washington. On Sunday in Washington there will be a concert with a “who’s who” of the music world performing, stars reportedly all eager to be a part of the celebration. Monday is Martin Luther King Day in the US, and Obama has asked for people to devote the holiday to community service. Tuesday is the inauguration, which Obama has indicated will be the most “open and accessible” of any held to date.

Like a lot of people watching the events from afar, I find myself thinking about a possible new age in the US. Obama is one of the best speakers to appear in quite a while, and it’s not hard to get pulled into the idea that something truly different and exciting is about to happen. Certainly he comes to the job with possibly more work facing him than many presidents have had: two wars on the go, an economy that is staggering on the edge of collapse, continuing conflicts in the world that the US must take a stand on, the need to be less dependent on oil, and hotspots like Iran and North Korea always seeking attention. The US, and to some extent the western world, is looking for great things from this man. Great challenges can bring out the best in a leader who is capable of handling them.

Of all the groups directly involved in the celebrations, I can only think on one that is not excited, but stressed to the limit: the Secret Service. Obama has apparently had more security than any other president-elect to this point, and this will continue or increase at the same time that he offers “open and accessible”.

Like a lot of observers, and no doubt a lot of Americans, I worry about Obama. He’s duplicating a ride of Abraham Lincoln to Washington, but will he be duplicating the eventual fate of Lincoln as well? I’m old enough to remember the Kennedy years, when the American spirit rose to a new high as someone young and capable was at the helm of the nation, spirit that was snuffed out in Dallas, plunging many Americans into a depression they never quite recovered from.

I’m a realist enough to know, as do those coordinating his safety, that he is more of a target than perhaps even JFK was. Surprisingly, and all the more worrisome, is the realization that the danger is unlikely to come from afar, but from within the US. Groups like Al Qaeda, while not having a love of any American president, are probably cheered to see a replacement for Bush, one who promises a withdrawal from Iraq and better relations with the Arab world.

The danger comes from people within the US, so extreme in their views that they regard the coming of Barack Obama as a terrible day in the history of the United States. Tuesday to them is a day of shame in America. Although different men and groups might have particular grudges against Obama, mainly they hate him for three reasons.

One, he is a liberal. While that might have been at times (unfortunately) a source of amusement in Canadian politics of the past year, at least the capital L Liberals, to some people in the States liberals are in the same league as child molesters. Just today, in his speech when embarking on the train ride, Obama mentioned a land where all people were treated as equal: black and white, Latino, gay and straight. While Obama is a man of personal faith, he talks about a nation where people are free to worship as they choose. A United States like that is not in the dreams of these people.

Secondly, as foolish as it sounds, surveys indicate that a ridiculous amount of people are suspicious of Obama due to the rumors circulating during his campaign. Barack’s middle name is (unfortunately?) Hussein, inherited from his father. His father, with whom he has had little relationship, was Kenyan, and apparently Muslim. While Obama was born in Hawaii, and the marriage of his parents only lasted two years, his name and heritage has labeled him as being possibly Muslim, despite his past and present proclamation of being Christian. For reasons even less logical (if there was any logic there), others feel there is a connection between “Obama” and “Osama”. It sounds too ridiculous to even write here, but if you wish to delve into this world of loonies, you will find conspiracy sites on the Internet purporting that while Barack might claim to be Christian, he in fact is secretly Muslim, and bent on taking over the United States to extend the world of Islam.

The final reason, at least understandable given American history, is that he is Black. While we might like to think that North Americans have moved well beyond the days of prejudice and segregation, the reality is that racial prejudice still exists in the United States, as it does in Canada. I have little doubt that the “n” word precedes “Barack Obama” in far too many conversations, particularly in the southern states. Certainly the vast majority of people have managed to move on into a better world, but in a nation of 300 million, it only takes a few to cause a tragedy. There are loonies by the hundreds available who will feel chosen by God for a task like this.

I certainly hope that those given the task of protecting Barack Obama will do their jobs well. There is such fervor in his coming that should a tragedy like the JFK assassination befall him, the US would sink rapidly into a depression far worse than the economic one that grips them. I would hate to see the outcome of that.

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