June 23, 2012

"So there’s a reason why there’s no knives at your table and the forks will be collected. ... And I’m not joking."

Said National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials board member Raquel Regalado to the delegates at its annual conference.

Is this a special Secret Service rule applied to Latinos? Or is this just the first time somebody conspicuously vocalized the policy? Apparently, it's the latter, according to the SS, but the Regalado clip is pretty funny and, unsurprisingly, went viral.

ADDED: This makes me what to quote my favorite verse of Lewis Carroll's "The Hunting of the Snark":
"'You may seek it with thimbles—and seek it with care;
You may hunt it with forks and hope;
You may threaten its life with a railway-share;
You may charm it with smiles and soap—'"
Hope... that's quite the Obama word. Forks and Hope... I love that. I once wrote a Civil Procedure exam with made-up facts that included a restaurant I called Forks and Hope. (That was many years ago, when I wove little jokes into the fact patterns, and if anyone had ever let on that they noticed and felt the oppression of exam-taking lightened a tiny notch, I'd still do it today.)

61 comments:

cubanbob said...

Just being cautious. Spics and knives.... well we just know where that can lead to.

edutcher said...

I've never heard of it before, but, since most of those people are hard core Demos anyway, doubtless they didn't mind.

But, yeah, if the Romster's Secret Service detail (don't call them the SS) had asked the same thing of the same group, you'd hear, "Rraaacissttt", all the way to November.

Jason (the commenter) said...

Aren't forks protected by the second amendment?

traditionalguy said...

Let's hope the latinos don't try to spoon him to death. They talk all that gibberish Spanish, so they are dangerous per se.

ricpic said...

Violencia solamente en la cucina!

jeff said...

Took the sharp objects away from the spanish speaking folk and then fell down going up some steps. Thank goodness he isnt a republican, it would be all over for him. Getting pretty close to time to call Romney a far right conservative tea party extremist, isn't it?

Bob said...

My favorite comment on the matter, over at 2 1/2 Baker Street:

They're not confiscating forks for security reasons; it's 'cause they don't want someone poking Obama with one to see if he's done.

Roger J. said...

Forks can clearly be dangerous--ask Sharon Tate and Bernadette Dohrn. Can you dig it?

Michael K said...

Every day we see the evidence of brilliance running this campaign. Every day. Especially Fridays.

KCFleming said...

They're selling the silverware to raise money for Obama 2012.

Wally Kalbacken said...

The proper term is "shiv".

Peter Ryan said...

So, the Secret Service is afraid of forks?! Like, someone is going to fling a fork at the President and somehow cause injury? Did they have some knowledge that Bullseye might be in attendance? (http://marvel.com/universe/Bullseye)

Or is this specifically "racist" because they are afraid of "Latinos being good with knives"? (Of course, they're actually butter knives, because that's all you get at a function like this). Unless the Latinos somehow used a great deal of ingenuity to sharpen these "instruments of death", I think this is ridiculous.

It's not like somebody tried to throw a shoe at him, which he could simply dodge. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSHNRNi91wQ

Hagar said...

Here, Cookie,

Government "regulations" about luncheon cutlery. OTOH, setting up a 105 recoilless in the balcony probably would be just fine.

jeff said...

I think Pogo's onto something. Perhaps all the silverware was a wedding present.

Quaestor said...

In case any of you missed Roger's reference, here's Berndetta Dohrn (aka Mrs. Bill Ayers) on Sharon Tate:

Dig it! First they killed those pigs and then they put a fork in pig Tate’s belly. Wild! Offing those rich pigs with their own forks and knives, and then eating a meal in the same room, far out! The Weathermen dig Charles Manson!

Obama hangs out with these people. That fact alone ought to have alerted Althouse and every thinking person to the incipient disaster Obama represented in 2008. You don't need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows.

Roger J. said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
dbp said...

Last time I had a steak at a restaurant they gave me a knife that looked sufficient to take down a rhino. I've never had a fork that looked at all threatening though.

Ann Althouse said...

Poor Bob. He repeats a joke only to have it immediately likened to one of the ugliest jokes ever made.

MayBee said...

I wonder if Sarah Jessica Parker had to give up her knife and fork.

Quaestor said...

I wonder if Sarah Jessica Parker had to give up her knife and fork.

No, but she was required to wear a muzzle.

Daddy Binx said...

In Soviet Russia, luncheon forks you!

SteveR said...

Goops they lick their fingers, And the Goops they lick their knives;
They spill their broth on the tablecloth--
Oh, they lead disgusting lives!
The Goops they talk while eating,
And loud and fast they chew;
And that is why I'm glad that I
Am not a Goop--are you?

rhhardin said...

(3) Deadly forks means forks that are intended or known by the actor to cause, or in the manner of its use or intended use is capable of causing, death or serious ...

Google hit, lightly edited.

chickelit said...

I Wanna Fork On The Table

chuck said...

Hope they didn't serve hard rolls, there is always the danger of a food fight.

Jose_K said...

Violencia solamente en la cocina!

Unless the Latinos somehow used a great deal of ingenuity .. in venezuela´s jail con are armed with AK 47 but before the goverment handed them those they used chuzos..a piece of steel usually from bed that became mortal weapon.

lemondog said...

Fork You

Saint Croix said...

That's twice now that the Secret Service has unintentionally embarrassed Obama. I hope they're not under a lot of stress.

"I want you to collect all the knives and forks and do it now!"

That's a lot of paranoia. It reminds me a bit of this.

Saint Croix said...

Lemondog, that link is forbidden. Now I got to know!

So I've been googling fork yous.

I got this, which is kind of funny. If the Secret Service ever takes my knife and fork, I think I will try that one.

There is also the wacky of adventures of fork and spoon. Which really isn't on point, but funny.

wyo sis said...

If this is standard practice why make a big deal about it? What political benefit does either side get?

Automatic_Wing said...

Poor Bob. He repeats a joke only to have it immediately likened to one of the ugliest jokes ever made.

Ah, but Bernadette wasn't joking, though, was she?

caplight45 said...

cubanbob said...
"Just being cautious. Spics and knives.... well we just know where that can lead to"

Why, yes I do. I've seen Westside Story.

Saint Croix said...

Ah, but Bernadette wasn't joking, though, was she?

Not only was she not joking, but Northwestern liked the story so much they hired her to be a law professor. Yes, that's right, six-figure salary and sweet teaching gig. You know, for the children.

Saint Croix said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Saint Croix said...

Here's Andrew Breitbart talking about his dinner with Ayers and Dohrn.

LordSomber said...

Are chopsticks also considered potential weapons?

Mary Beth said...

If it's common practice, why hasn't anyone commented on it before? I can't find any references to it happening with Bush. (I thought that would be easier to search for precedence and not get all the ones from this dinner.) The only thing I've found so far appears to be a joke:

"The parties are being toned down because the incoming Obama Administration is serious about changing the way lobbyists conduct business. New ethics rules mean that knives and forks, as well as plates wider than 15cm, are banned for any party for politicians or government officials."

We were eating at a restaurant once when President Bush was also there. It was an unannounced visit and a pleasant surprise for us. No one took any of our cutlery.

Saint Croix said...

I find the left pathologically weird and vile. Consider Dohrn cheering the gruesome murder of Sharon Tate. Why? Because Sharon Tate was part of the 1%.

Who is Sharon Tate? Wife of Roman Polanski, famous filmmaker and artist.

Jump forward a decade or two. Polanski would rape a 13-year-old girl. Not just statutory rape. Rape rape. Drugged her and raped her. And fled our country to avoid jail.

To this day, Roman Polanski is thought to be a celebrity in the circles of Hollywood. He is celebrated like Bernardine Dohrn is celebrated.

The left may pretend they hate the 1%. That's the story for the rubes. When Dohrn was young, she believed it. She was almost exactly like one of these Occupy idiots.

But when she got out of jail, did she suffer? Was she forced to move to a trailer park and get a job in a grocery store?

What, are you kidding?

Dohrn may have a pathological hatred of the 1%, but she is the 1%. She's a hypocrite. Like Obama is a hypocrite. Rich, powerful, a celebrity. She enjoys her entitled status.

The left is the upper class in our country. They are rich. They are decadent. They are corrupt. They are the old guard. And they use rhetoric designed to fool the poor into giving them power, authority, and riches.

Who is the true enemy of Dohrn, Ayers, Obama? That's obvious. The middle class.

Automatic_Wing said...

Are chopsticks also considered potential weapons?


Only in the hands of the wily, incrutable Orientals. I wouldn't worry about a bunch of Mexicans with chopsticks.

wyo sis said...

Mary Beth
I don't know if it's common practice or not, but things have changed in the last few years. Many schools will only allow children to have plastic sporks to eat lunch with. I'm not a fan of that kind of nannyism, but it happens. I' m simply saying if that's the way all dinners with the president go it seems silly to make a big deal about this single occasion.

Synova said...

It's about white privilege.

No, seriously. Think it through.

If you're at a lunch or dinner with white people and you are served pre-cut-up food on small plates and your forks are collected before you've finished your pie, it's because of white privilege that you don't have to wonder if it's due to some lingering stereotype of the Norse tolerating or even celebrating boys who kill playmates with axes.

But because you don't have that privilege of not seeing yourself primarily as your racial identity and don't get to view events as entirely separate from your race, because you're at a dinner that's all for Hispanics, you've got to wonder if the Secret Service thinks anyone named Regalado is potentially a coyote or member of a Mexican cartel.

And even if you admit that this is the rule for majority white-Anglo events as well, you aren't *priviledged* to discount the possibility that at those events the matter was handled in a less insulting way.

richard mcenroe said...

Thank the President for his faith in the Hispanic community: tinyurl.com/869ocgj

Mary Beth said...

I'm still looking for any mention of this happening before. The closest I have to this so far is, "In 1669, King Louis XIV of France banned pointed knives, at the table or as weapons, trying to reduce violence."

wyo sis, I know the schools have gotten crazy about this but I think that adults are more likely to force stupid rules on kids than they are on other adults. Although, given the salt, soda, and trans-fat bans, I may be wrong about that.

Quaestor said...

Mary Beth
"In 1669, King Louis XIV of France banned pointed knives, at the table or as weapons, trying to reduce violence."

Until the late 17th century the table setting included a fork or skewer, usually with two tines rather than four as is now the custom, and a spoon, but no knife. Everybody brought their own.

Chip Ahoy said...

Saint Croix thank you for linking that. I read that a about month ago and it had a lasting impression then I lost track of who said it and where I saw it.

I want to hate the guy, I really do. I look at photos of when he was young and now that he's old and I read all about the really bad stuff and the basic treason of hiring these two instead of exiling them. That's where I was at when I encountered the item about his mad cheffery skillz that apparently seem natural and that changed my opinion. Slowly. That is seems like a natural thing that just comes out of him forces me to be interested. I am interested. I want to see. Compare. Exchange. I feel a kindred spirit in there through the cloud of felonious crap and everything else that is bad fades. And keeps fading. To nearly nothing, and now he intrigues me. If I met him I'd want to talk to him and imagine all the while how does developing chef and hosting skills concur with propounding radical politics that include terror. Okay, you know communism, socialism, means everybody being poor together except for the leaders who always do much better

except for guys like, say, Ché,

but was and is all that trying to show people how to be wealthy or how to act at least act like it or show how the other half is living or this is what they are doing that you are missing so take it. ¿¿¿ what ???

So do you make mayonnaise all the time or just sometimes? You go ahead and let it be yellow. That's the way is should be?

Mary Beth said...

I decided an image search would work better and found Obama Foodorama. There aren't many photos that show tables but I have seen ones that show knives and forks on the table.

I think it didn't have anything to do with security, he just wanted to make his speech and get out of there and didn't want the sound of silverware on plates while he was talking.

Paul said...

Obama is just getting paranoid from smoking all that crack and meth.

As for the Secret Service, aw... just get 47 bucks and a condom and wave it a the SS agent. He'll grab it and let you by.

Mary Beth said...

Quaestor, I know. My reference to the Sun King in a discussion about Obama was my attempt at humor. This is why no one laughs at my jokes. :(

Gospace said...

If it were a standard precaution, it would have happened the day before when candidate Romney, under secret service protection, appeared. At least, if it were during a luncheon.

I was at a union lunch when Hilary was 1st lady. Tableware was present and in open view.

Firehand said...

They'd been watching too many Robin Hood movies:
"Locksley! I'm going to cut out your liver with a SPOON!"

Saint Croix said...

Fork attacks are no joke!

"The fork-wielding man was apparently angry with the victim for dancing with a woman, police said."

No word on the ethnicity of the attacker. So he's got to be Spanish, right?

Puta!

Sporks, sporks for the Spanish.

Saint Croix said...

More fork horror stories.

"A late-night memorial barbecue ended up with a California woman under arrest for allegedly attacking her husband with a fork."

Barbecue!

Dare I say...Tex-Mex?

Sporks! Sporks for the Spanish!

Saint Croix said...

You might take away our knives. You might take away our forks.

But you will never take...

our sporks!

Daddy Binx said...

Mary Beth said...
Although, given the salt, soda, and trans-fat bans, I may be wrong about that.


I think Mary Beth may be on to something. The White House is taking the lead on protecting the public from dangerous eating utensils. Not to be out nanny-stated by Bloomberg, Obama's FDA is going to mandate that all food must be packaged pre-cut and issue guidelines recommending the elimination of any utensil that is sharp or pointy.

Up next, all paper must have dull edges.

Unknown said...

Yeah, Pogo, that's what I thought! They're stealing the silver! LOL.

Maybe he can urge all the criminals to go out and steal some copper for the campaign!

Cincinnatus said...

The Secret Service is out of control. Someone needs to rein them in.

Rusty said...

Saint Croix said...
You might take away our knives. You might take away our forks.

But you will never take...

sporks.



Yeah. But did you ever try and stab a nice piece of ham with a spork? Can't do it. Or a salad? It's comical really. Soup? Ferget it. You'll be there all day.
Sporks are evil.

Bruce Hayden said...

What is it about Democrats and silverware? When we were up on the Hill a bit over a year ago, we ate in the dining room, and people were still talking about getting their silverware back. Apparently, when Pelosi was Speaker, they went for biodegradable "silverware", which apparently tended to fall apart at inconvenient times due to heat, moisture, etc. Something like that. Apparently, one of the first things changed when the Republicans retook the House.

D.C. is expensive anyway, but I was surprised that the prices there were as high as they were, given the quality of the food served there. I think I would have done as well eating at the hotel first.

Danno said...

I went to the article and saw a great comment a few minutes ago.

It said that they were afraid someone would stick a fork in him because he is done!

And you don't need a food thermometer to know that.

Ipso Fatso said...

4Q

Known Unknown said...

Forks and Furious.