The American Spectator

This article should get the widest dissemination possible. There is no better way to defeat America that by having a friend at the top.
— Don Varnum
Holden, Maine

Mr. Wittman brings up a subject that has bothered me for years. Not only could Obama not be cleared, I’m willing to bet half the U.S. Congress and Senate couldn’t get cleared for Rrumors in the private sector! I have held a security clearance for the past 29 years. If I got caught doing anything remotely resembling the stunts pulled, the leaking/stealing/unapproved destruction of classified documents, the shady financial dealings… that pathetic lot routinely gets away with, I be looking at free room and board for the rest of my life. I understand why, and have no problem with my being required to pass very extensive back ground checks and polygraph tests to simply have access to facilities I work in, let alone documents. It scares the hell out of me to think of some of the elected “officials” who are given access to sensitive information with NO, or absolute minimal background checks.
— Greg
Waterford, Virginia

George Wittman concludes his entirely reasonable argument with the rhetorical: “Something is wrong here.” Well, sure it is, but it’s been wrong since the Good Lord was a corporal and it isn’t going to change. Look at the politicians that have “served” this wonderful land: from well before Alger Hiss to the present, the halls of Congress have been worn down by the trod of untrustworthy feet. More than that, access to sensitive, classified and secret information has been granted to people that couldn’t keep a secret if their lives depended on it. And quite frequently they do. That’s the way it is in a democracy; the people elect who they see fit to elect and sometimes it all goes to smash. We get close-hold technology transferred to unpleasant or downright ugly foreign countries, sometimes for purely filthy lucre, sometimes for filthy lucre and philosophical agreement. Doesn’t matter much really, America takes the hit and Americans live in risk. Perhaps Mr. Wittman could write his next article though on the query: Which of our major political parties inflicted more instances of this kind of corruption on our people? Just curious.
— J.C. Eaton
Chetek, Wisconsin

Why, do we, American citizens sit idly by and not do something?

Who is in charge?

Why was this not investigated before he was allowed to run for the highest office in our land?

What can we do to get some answers?

It certainly concerns me and people like me. We hear the rumors. We get the emails. Is it just rumors? Is this just a part of the campaigning? How do we know what is truth and what is lies?
— Marcie Oliver
Gun Barrel City, Texas

Not only is it unlikely that Obama could obtain a low level security clearance, he would be barred from working with nuclear weapons or commanding a nuclear equipped a nuclear weapon equipped unit be it Army, Navy, Air Force or Marine Corp due to his confessed use of cocaine.

The facts are set forth below:

Ref A. The United States Personnel Reliability Program (PRP) for Nuclear Weapons. (DODD 5210.42 Nuclear Weapon Personnel Reliability Program (PRP)

It is still the age of Nuclear Weapons and presidential candidate Barack Obama wishes to have command of the largest nuclear arsenal in the world.

My brother, a retired Naval officer who has served with nuclear weapons duties on four certified nuclear capable ships; and commanded one of them — is thoroughly familiar with the national laws and Department of Defense regulations with respect to the personnel assigned duties with Nuclear Weapons. He advised that the DOD instructions are detailed and include the following:

“It is DoD policy that: