Tramps Like Us

Once upon a long time ago, I heard Bruce Springsteen tell a story about how he once hopped the fence at Graceland in hopes of getting a chance to meet The King. He was telling this story as an older, wiser man. One who had risen to the lofty station of "Boss." Still, at the time of the fence-hopping, he had just recently been featured on the covers of both Time and Newsweek as the future of rock and roll. Before rock's future could ever meet its past, Elvis' security force descended upon him and his co-conspirator Little Steven before they could even ring the doorbell. Bruce tried to charm his way past the Memphis Mafia, but they would have none of it. Besides, they explained to this interloper that Mister Presley was out of town, and even if he was at home, breaking into Graceland was going to be tougher than breaking into show business in the first place.
That was back in 1976. A lot has changed since then. Elvis has left the building. Most of your Neighborhood Watch groups have more sophisticated security than what was guarding the Presley mansion on that April night so long ago. This is due in large part to the war on terror which began, in earnest, twenty-five years after Bruce and Steve made their mad dash at stardom. In 1976, you could walk right up to the fence at the White House. I know, because I have pictures of my brothers and I taken by my father doing just that. You couldn't see in the Lincoln bedroom windows or anything, but it still felt like "The People's House." When I returned to Washington D.C. with my own son a couple years back, we couldn't get anywhere near the place. My son prattled on about all the counter-terrorism measures in place: sharpshooters, missile batteries, lasers. We giggled nervously about all the ways we could get in trouble by even playing around the edge of this maximum security perimeter.
We never would have considered hopping that fence, even if our faces had been on the covers of Time, Newsweek and Rolling Stone. What made Omar Gonzalez think he was going to get away with it? Maybe because he could. He did. The forty-two-year-old from Texas made it all the way to just inside the North Portico before being subdued by Secret Service. Carrying a knife? Really. The Treasury agents didn't bother to explain to Mister Gonzalez that the Obamas were out of town. Back in 1976, Bruce Springsteen was able to walk away from the gates of Graceland and return to his band to play the next show. How long will it be before Omar Gonzalez gets back on the road. I'll be watching and waiting from behind the fence, thank you very much.