We have to admit that when we saw a headline that said, “Coconuts removed in India ahead of Obama visit,” we thought it was some kind of racial insult.
You may remember how liberals taunted Michael Steele by calling him a coconut when he ran for the U.S. Senate in Maryland.
In racial terms, of course, a coconut is a person who is dark brown on the outside, but white on the inside. And let’s face it, Barack Obama is the whitest brother in the history of brothers.
But no, India is actually removing coconuts from the trees. Real coconuts.
The BBC has the story:
Officials in the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay) have taken extraordinary measures to protect US President Barack Obama ahead of his visit. In their effort to provide maximum security in the run-up to his visit on Friday, they have removed coconuts which may fall on his head from trees.
All coconuts around the city’s Gandhi museum have now been cut down, an official told the BBC.
Every year in India people are injured or even killed by falling coconuts.
Mani Bhavan, where Mahatma Gandhi stayed during his freedom struggle against the British, is among five places the US president is visiting apart from a school, college and hotels attacked by Islamic militants in 2008.“We told the authorities to remove the dry coconuts from trees near the building. Why take a chance?” Mani Bhavan’s executive secretary, Meghshyam Ajgaonkar, told the BBC.
Luckily, Michael Steele is not part of the President’s entourage.
Source: BBC
