I Just Don't Know What to Say.

This is a very unusual story. It reports that a photographer for the Arizona Daily Star (the same paper that is reporting the story) was asked to identify her racial background before being cleared to photograph Vice President Cheney. The photographers name, Mamta Popat, is very "swarthy" sounding, but what I originally considered to be a plausible explanation was given by the secret service:

"All the information requested of staff, volunteers and participants for
the event has been done so to ensure the safety of all those involved, including
the vice president of the United States," he said.

That seems reasonable. So, it would seem to follow that all of the other folks covering Cheney would be asked to provide this information too. But that just doesn't seem to make sense because then this would just be a non-story. If we inspect the statement a bit closer, it's not the case that the same information is necessarily requested from everyone across the board. For example, we are told that

Journalists covering the president or vice president must undergo a background
check and are required to provide their name, date of birth and Social Security
number. The Star provided that information Thursday for Popat and this reporter.

The problem is that we don't have anything to suggest that this is all that falls under the umbrella of "All the information requested of staff, volunteers and participants...". This could be what is generally requested of most, at a minimum, of everyone involved, but they could go above and beyond this stuff. This seems to be the case with this incident.

In response to why the photographers race was requested in this instance, we get this:

Walton told Hayt that Popat's race was necessary to allow the Secret
Service to distinguish her from someone else who might have the same name.

OK. First, at the risk of sounding like a dick, what are the chances of two people named Mamta Popat showing up at a rally in fucking Arizona. Second, what if it's someone named Tad Smith? I bet it would be a white dude. If they are really concerned about two people with the same name, I would think that a more specific description would be better.

I really don't know if the Arizona Daily Star is a credible paper, but if there's some truth to this, it's just not good.