Oklahoma football: No offense, Mr. President, but stay away

We’re headed to El Paso today for the OU-UTEP season opener, and I’ve received some unsettling news. President Obama is flying to El Paso on Friday, also.

No offense, Mr. President, but I hope you keep your distance. The El Paso Times says Air Force One will fly into Fort Bliss and address troops stationed there, with no public access to the event. If that’s the case, things might be bearable. Presidential visits usually are nothing but a hassle.

I once was in New York when Bill Clinton was president and visited the city. The entire eastside highway on Manhattan was shut down. Think about that. Four million people on that 22-square-mile island, and one of the few slices of roadway that move traffic quickly is gone.

Sometime during the George Bush I administration, some friends and I drove down to Arlington for a Rangers game. Sadly, the president decided to attend that night, too. Traffic was a total mess as Secret Service closed intersections. We finally got into the ballpark, and I headed for a bathroom.

Closed. It was closed. With a secret service agent standing sentry. Closed for security reasons, he said.

There aren’t too many politicians I’ve liked better than George Herbert Walker Bush. But geez, if we’re going to close bathrooms at already-antiquated Arlington Stadium just because the president is arriving and sitting 10 sections over, then maybe we ought to invite the president to watch the game on television.

Hopefully, Obama’s visit to Fort Bliss won’t disrupt the daily lives of the good folks of El Paso. Or the visitors. The Sooners are flying into El Paso later Friday. Maybe Obama will be gone by the time OU lands. Fort Bliss and the El Paso airport are on the same side of town. I can’t imagine the aerial headaches caused by a presidential flight. But I’ve experienced on land the headaches caused by a presidential visit.