Look who's traveling with Obama

Sound Of Cannons found out who is traveling to Brazil with President Obama, but the information didn't come from any sources in the U.S.

"We had to go to Brazil to find it, translated from the Portuguese," Associate Editor Ralph said on his way to a coffee dispensary yesterday.

CEOs Jeffrey Immelt of General Electric, Aris Candris of Westinghouse, James T. Hackett of Anadarko Petroleum, John V. Faraci of International Paper and Anthony S. Harrington of Albright Stonebridge Group went to Brazil with the president.

"If this list were not so incendiary, why would it not be published as a matter of fact in the newspapers in America?" we ask our Sound Of Cannons audience. "Why are they hiding who is going there?"

Of all the names, Ralph found Harrington's the most interesting.

"Remember Sandy Berger, the man who hid state secrets in his underwear and socks?" Ralph asked. "Well, he works for Anthony S. Harrington at Albright Stonebridge Group, as well as does the … craziest woman in the history of the U.S. government, Madeline K. Albright."

On the face of it, he said, there is nothing untoward about this trip, but, "Why then," he asked, "were these names so hard to find? Why did we have to get them in Portuguese?

"This looks like a gigantic fundraising tour, and indeed many of these CEOs are documented to have donated to Democratic candidates and causes," our esteemed staffer said. "But for the president to embarrass himself by traveling to Rio at the time of the Japanese nuclear meltdown, the war in Libya, the Middle East on fire, the economy in ruins and the budget in a deadlock is astounding."

We have to assume, Ralph concluded, "this is a fundraising trip for Obama and that those traveling with him will pay or have paid a handsome fee to do so – will soon be making a major contribution to him or to NPR."
He also noted Obama's family is on the trip.
"They're lovely people, but why is his wife, children and mother-in-law coming along with them to Brazil?" Ralph asked.
"Is this fair? Is this going to be another taxpayer-funded vacation for them? Will the first lady be seen eating ice cream on the beach at Ipanema while lecturing us about growing carrots in our backyard?"