Keep Your Presidents Away From Flammable Objects

Can it get more embarrassing than being two seconds and some quick thinking away from the President being eligible for a Darwin Award?

Credit Ford Motor Co. CEO Alan Mulally with saving the leader of the free world from self-immolation. Mulally told journalists at the New York auto show that he intervened to prevent President Bush from plugging an electrical cord into the hydrogen tank of Ford's hydrogen-electric plug-in hybrid at the White House last week

Mulally told journalists at the New York auto show that he intervened to prevent President Bush from plugging an electrical cord into the hydrogen tank of Ford's hydrogen-electric plug-in hybrid at the White House last week. Ford wanted to give the Commander-in-Chief an actual demonstration of the innovative vehicle, so the automaker arranged for an electrical outlet to be installed on the South Lawn and ran a charging cord to the hybrid. However, as Mulally followed Bush out to the car, he noticed someone had left the cord lying at the rear of the vehicle, near the fuel tank.

"I just thought, 'Oh my goodness!' So, I started walking faster, and the President walked faster and he got to the cord before I did. I violated all the protocols. I touched the President. I grabbed his arm and I moved him up to the front," Mulally said. "I wanted the president to make sure he plugged into the electricity, not into the hydrogen. This is all off the record, right?"

I don't necessarily expect the President to know exactly what to plug in where. But don't you think he would actually FIND OUT before sticking cords into sockets willy-nilly?

I'm wondering, has the White House been made President-proof? Are all the knives locked away or up on high shelves? Are there safety barriers on the electrical outlets? Are the pretzels kept out of his reach?

I'd like to see the book on "How To President-Proof Your Home".