According to sources, what could have been a plot to assassinate presidential candidate Barack Obama in Denver was thwarted yesterday. Here’s a clip from the UK’s “Telegraph”:

…One of the group said he was “going to shoot Obama”, who is in Denver, Colorado, for the Democratic National Convention, “from a high vantage point using a rifle sighted at 750 yards”.

Police said that one of the suspects “was directly asked if they had come to Denver to kill Obama. He responded in the affirmative”.

The shooting was planned for Thursday, when Mr Obama is set to accept the nomination as the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate for the November election at the 75,000-seat Invesco stadium.

Tharin Gartrell, 28, who was wanted on numerous warrants, was arrested on Sunday after police found two high-powered rifles, boxes of ammunition, a rifle scope, a bullet-proof vest, walkie-talkies and methamphetamine in a rented truck he was driving…

But, maybe things aren’t what they seem. At least that’s what the Secret Service is claiming. The article goes on to say:

…It is thought the men may have ties to Sons of Silence, an outlaw biker group, with suspected connections with white supremacists. However, federal sources have said that the incident may have had more to do with drugs than with a plot to assassinate Mr Obama, despite local police claims.

The federal officials said that the verbal threats against Mr Obama were made during one of the arrests, but were not considered credible. “It could turn out that these were nothing but a bunch of knuckleheads, meth heads,” a US government source has claimed…

My guess, and I hope I’m wrong, is that a plot (perhaps not the most professional of plots) really was thwarted (perhaps by dumb luck), but that the Obama campaign and others don’t want to draw attention to it, as it would change the media focus during the Convention, and negatively impact the candidate’s campaign…. I hope and pray that this is the first and last thread on this subject to be posted here on the site, and that Obama and his family stay safe. I don’t think our country could withstand having yet another leader promising a better future taken from us.

Being the 8th most influential political blogger in a state with 10 political bloggers means having to watch the Democratic National Convention at home, on television. So, while my associates at Michigan Liberal are in Denver tonight, living it up, I’m here in Ypsi, glued to basic cable and eating stale taco shells.

Not to sound bitter or anything, but I doubt that I would have gone, even if someone had offered to send me. I have this fear of being put in situations that call for ethical decisions to be made, and I don’t reckon that I could hold out very long if approached by someone from Raytheon, or some other offense contractor, carrying a tray of delicious looking shrimp puffs. Maybe I’m not giving myself enough credit, but I think that I’d hand over editorial control of this blog for a free drink and few kind words in an instant. And, from what I understand, Denver this week is lousy with big companies and lobbying firms looking to ingratiate themselves to elected officials and the like.

According to our friends at the Sunlight Foundation, who have just rolled out a new site to monitor the outrageous influence peddling that takes place within the ecosystem of the national party conventions, Denver is the scene of a massive gravy train orgy the likes of which has never before been seen on earth. According to the site, called Political Party Time, there will be over 400 parties thrown during the Republican and Democratic conventions “by the likes of Citi, Eli Lilly, AT&T and powerhouse lobbying firms such as Patton Boggs.” You’ll be happy to know, however, that some folks can’t be bought. According to Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas, he’ll be passing on tonight’s big party… Or, to be more accurate, he doesn’t think he’d get in… At any rate, he won’t be attending, and I think that’s admirable.

So, all that aside, what do you make of the convention?

[Tonight’s post is brought to you by John McCain’s adopted daughter, who won’t be inheriting as much as her siblings.]