Yes, there is even a presidential transition for US Secret Service code names, which are anything but secret anyway in loose-lips Washington.
US president-elect Barack Obama — also known as Renegade — had a say in choosing the code name that his protectors use when they are whispering into those microphones in their sleeves. He was given his choice of several names starting with R.
And in keeping with the tradition of having all family members’ code names start with the same letter, future first lady Michelle Obama is Renaissance, and daughters Sasha and Malia are known as Rosebud and Radiance, respectively.
PHOTO: AP
As for US President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura, whatever else their new lives hold for them, they can take their alternate identities as Trailblazer and Tempo with them. They are still entitled to Secret Service protection.
Lists of possible code names for those who receive Secret Service protection are drawn up by the White House Communications Agency, a branch of the military that serves the White House and Secret Service. It looks for words that are easily pronounced and easily understood in radio transmissions.
The subjects do have some say in the names they will be known by, and some have been given more leeway than others.
Which is not always a good thing.
Al Gore’s oldest daughter, Karenna, was 19 when her father became vice president in 1993. Old enough to know better.
In 1997, she wrote: “Ever since four years ago, when I was put on the spot and told ‘two syllables’ and ‘It has to start with an s,’ I have been cringing in the back seat when identified as ‘Smurfette.’”
Truth be told, the whole idea of secret code names is something of a misnomer these days.
“There’s nothing Top Secret about them,” Secret Service spokesman Eric Zahren said. “It has no operational security significance anymore because of encrypted communication capabilities.”
Nowadays, Zahren said, the code names have “nothing to do with security” and are more about tradition and ease in radio communication when tracking the subjects’ movements.
They also provide never-ending fodder for comics and politicians looking for a laugh.
As vice president, Gore repeatedly told crowds that he is so boring, his code name is ... Al Gore.
Over the years, some code names have seemed fairly random – former president Gerald Ford’s was Passkey — while others seemed tailor-made for their subjects.
Incoming vice president Joe Biden, who has Irish roots, is Celtic.
Former president Ronald Reagan, who cultivated the cowboy image, was Rawhide.
Former president Jimmy Carter, a Sunday School teacher and deacon, is Deacon.
Vice President Dick Cheney, who likes to fish, is Angler. Writer Barton Gellman thought Angler was such an apt description for the wily vice president that he used it as the name of a best-selling book about him.
The team behind the long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile yesterday published their first images, revealing breathtaking views of star-forming regions as well as distant galaxies. More than two decades in the making, the giant US-funded telescope sits perched at the summit of Cerro Pachon in central Chile, where dark skies and dry air provide ideal conditions for observing the cosmos. One of the debut images is a composite of 678 exposures taken over just seven hours, capturing the Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula — both several thousand light-years from Earth — glowing in vivid pinks against orange-red backdrops. The new image
Canada and the EU on Monday signed a defense and security pact as the transatlantic partners seek to better confront Russia, with worries over Washington’s reliability under US President Donald Trump. The deal was announced after a summit in Brussels between Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa. “While NATO remains the cornerstone of our collective defense, this partnership will allow us to strengthen our preparedness ... to invest more and to invest smarter,” Costa told a news conference. “It opens new opportunities for companies on both sides of the
ESPIONAGE: The British government’s decision on the proposed embassy hinges on the security of underground data cables, a former diplomat has said A US intervention over China’s proposed new embassy in London has thrown a potential resolution “up in the air,” campaigners have said, amid concerns over the site’s proximity to a sensitive hub of critical communication cables. The furor over a new “super-embassy” on the edge of London’s financial district was reignited last week when the White House said it was “deeply concerned” over potential Chinese access to “the sensitive communications of one of our closest allies.” The Dutch parliament has also raised concerns about Beijing’s ideal location of Royal Mint Court, on the edge of the City of London, which has so
OVERHAUL: The move would likely mark the end to Voice of America, which was founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda and operated in nearly 50 languages The parent agency of Voice of America (VOA) on Friday said it had issued termination notices to more than 639 more staff, completing an 85 percent decrease in personnel since March and effectively spelling the end of a broadcasting network founded to counter Nazi propaganda. US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) senior advisor Kari Lake said the staff reduction meant 1,400 positions had been eliminated as part of US President Donald Trump’s agenda to cut staffing at the agency to a statutory minimum. “Reduction in Force Termination Notices were sent to 639 employees at USAGM and Voice of America, part of a
RSS