News of Malia Obama’s spring break trip to Oaxaca, Mexico, raced
across news sites early last week, only to mysteriously disappear into
broken links just as fast.
Stories were pulled, and the White House was mum. The Obamas can be
fiercely protective of their daughters’ privacy and security.
But then came the 7.6 magnitude earthquake whose epicenter was not far
from Oaxaca. The first reports of the quake were scary, especially when
videos surfaced of office workers 200 miles away in Mexico City fleeing
swaying high-rises.
Finally, the White House tacitly acknowledged that yes indeed, Malia was in Oaxaca, she was safe, end of story.
Not quite. Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum (and father of seven)
criticized the dad-in-chief for allowing his 13-year-old daughter to
visit Mexico despite the current State Department travel warning.
Clearly, Santorum did not take time to read the 10-page warning in its
entirety. If he had, he would have seen that no travel warning is in
effect for the city of Oaxaca or for the entire Mexican state of Oaxaca.
The U.S. State Department warning made that very clear.