Re: the recent SS foul-ups and failings, to what do you attribute them?

[Savannahmann]

16. Incompetence, Stupidity, and laziness.

Everyone knows it's difficult to be constantly aware all the time. I challenge anyone here to go into your yard, and just stand there sweeping your eyes back and forth, watching for someone to charge out at you or anything that looks suspicious. You get bored in minutes, perhaps an hour or two.

We recognize that, and we invested in all sorts of electronic devices to allow the agents to relax their guard so to speak. This put the stress of alerting people of the threat on the machines. When the machine screamed alarm, then the humans could react. Sure it takes vital seconds, perhaps thirty to switch from calm and relaxed to fully alert and ready, but we'll skip past that.

Also the SS started to rely on their image. Movies that showed them as nearly superhuman including White House Down. Then we see the video of Reagan getting shot, in seconds, hyper alert and aware agents had the President in the Limo. Obviously they are extremely well trained. Obviously they are nearly superhuman to go from a casual appearing walk to moving to protect the President in about a second.

Even West Wing the TV show had the Secret Service agents as awesome and aware of everything.

So anyone who is thinking about harming the President is dissuaded because all the information they can get is that the SS is nearly perfect, the best trained bodyguards in the world. The truth is they have gotten lazy, relying on video surveillance, electronic sensors, and computers instead of those previously highly trained skills. As another poster put out they started going with muscle bound people to intimidate, instead of the brightest people in the world. It's harder for an average sized guy of 165 lbs to intimidate a crowd the way a 225 lbs guy over six feet can. Besides, the bigger guy can more easily block bullets right?

Look at the agents around Reagan in the video of him getting shot.

Instant response, no hesitation. Look at the agents. Average size, average build. Average looks. Nothing special about them. Now, they are all bulky guys, armed with state of the art weapons, with state of the art computers, and every security gizmo known to mankind.

Look at the Zapruder film.

The agent was really no bigger than Jackie O. But he was there in a flash. A second or so before he was there.

Imagine the confusion. If this alarm, go this way, if that alarm, go that way. Do this, for the warbling three tone alarm, do that for the high pitched alarm of a single tone repeating. It takes a second to identify which alarm is actually sounding. Then another second for the agent in charge to call up the procedure from the depths of his mind. Then five seconds to get the others moving in a useful direction. Seven seconds from the alarm before motion starts.

Look at the gunshots to the White House. No alarms sounded, so everyone ignored it.

We are relying on the computers to think for us, and they suck at it. We're relying on the computers to identify the danger, and they suck at that too. By the time we identify the danger, and start to react, precious seconds are lost. Seconds that were historically the entire incident from start, to finish. Watch the Reagan vid again. Seven seconds later and John Hinckley was already in custody. Seven second later and the agent had caught up to the car, and climbed aboard a moving car to get to the President. The car was already moving out of the area. No one hesitated, nor asked, what the hell was that. No one waited to be told what to do.

So I vote Incompetence, because we're taking the initiative and intelligence out of the equation. Stupidity, because we're waiting for the machines to tell us what to do. All the facial recognition in the world can't do a damn thing. Setting up screening a mile away from the White House ignores the big problem. We have muscle bound thugs instead of the best and brightest of the Federal Agents. We have overgrown frat boys who put parties on their expense cards, because it's stressful you know, and they gotta blow of some steam.

Then these hungover jackasses stand around and look intimidating while waiting for the computer to tell them if there is anything to worry about. They checked the block man, no trash cans on the street, no cars on the street, no mailboxes. All manhole covers are checked and welded down. The computer is happy man, so what are we going to do tonight?