Hot on the heels of the New Mexico
"Democrats forced to sign Oaths of Fealty to see Dick Cheney speak" story comes this item from my hometown of Tucson, AZ:
Bush camp solicits race of Star staffer
President Bush's re-election campaign insisted on knowing the race of an Arizona Daily Star journalist assigned to photograph Vice President Dick Cheney.
The Star refused to provide the information.
[...]
Danny Diaz, a spokesman for the president's re-election campaign, said the information was needed for security purposes.
"All the information requested of staff, volunteers and participants for the event has been done so to ensure the safety of all those involved, including the vice president of the United States," he said.
Diaz repeated that answer when asked if it is the practice of the White House to ask for racial information or if the photographer, Mamta Popat, was singled out because of her name. He referred those questions to the U.S. Secret Service, which did not respond to a call from the Star Friday afternoon.
[more in link]
Is it just me, or has Cheney reached positively Nixonian levels of paranoia?