Connecticut beaches closed so Obama can fund-raise with Hollywood mogul
By Joseph Weber Published August 06, 2012 FoxNews.com
Beachgoers, get lost.
Amid the peak summer season, two of Connecticut’s popular public beaches -- maintained with taxpayer money -- will close Monday to accommodate President Obama’s fundraising excursion that ends with a $35,800-per-plate event at movie mogul Harvey Weinstein’s mansion. And Republicans aren't happy about it.
The 238-acre Sherwood Island State Park will be closed so the president’s helicopter can land and then take off after a day-long trip that begins in Stamford.
The other beach, the roughly two-acre Burying Hill Beach, is adjacent to Weinstein’s mansion and is owned by the town of Westport. Both beaches border the Long Island Sound.
"This is the height of hypocrisy," state House Minority Leader Lawrence F. Cafero Jr. told FoxNews.com.
Cafero, a Norwalk Republican, said he was so shocked to hear the parks would be closed to accommodate Obama's fundraisers that he immediate double-checked his information.
"Purely political," he said. "Can you imagine if George W. Bush in 2004 had requested that our Republican governor shut down the park? It would have made national news. This is wrong in so many ways."
This is not the first time the state park has been closed so a president could use it as an airport for reelection fundraisers in southwest Connecticut.
President Bill Clinton used the Sherwood park twice for trips that included fundraising events. He landed there in 1998 for a series of events that included a fundraiser that reportedly raised $350,000 for his party. A year later, the park was closed for much of the day for Clinton, who attended a fundraising luncheon for the Democratic National Committee and the Women's Leadership Forum that reportedly raised more than $400,000.
Obama is scheduled to begin his trip to Connecticut with a fundraiser at the Stamford Marriott Hotel, then attend Weinstein's evening fundraiser that is reported to include such celebrities as Anne Hathaway, Aaron Sorkin, Joanne Woodward and Vogue editor Anna Wintour.
Beyond forcing beach-goers to swim elsewhere on a hot summer day, the state will also lose daily parking fees -- $9 for in-state visitors and $15 for out-of-state cars, critics say.
"I don't like to inconvenience the public to any degree," Westport Selectman Gordon Joseloff said Monday. "But I understand that security is paramount."
Joseloff, a Democrat, said he's already gotten phone calls about local tax dollars being spent on additional security and that beach-goers are being turned away "as we speak."
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Back on subject, The same thing happens when Obama goes to a golf course, theme park, resturant, shopping mall...the Secret Service and local law enforcement take over the place in fear that someone might want to harm the President.
ReplyDeleteDo you really believe Obama demanded the closing of thr beach and the park. I suspect the president does not get involved in the detailed planning of his visits etc but without a doubt bit of a PR own goal. You would think someone would be on the campaign (any campaign) who looks at everything from locations to speeches to so called off the cuff remarks from a PR perspective
Presidents for generations have been doing exactly the same thing. Why do I suspect you only have an issue now?
Could it be because President Obama is, dare I say it, our first president of color? yes ... I believe that is the same reason they give Michelle Obama a problem with her kitchen garden when Eleanor Roosevelt had one during WWII.