Couple slips though security to crash state dinner

[Turborama]

Source: AP

Crashing a state dinner at the White House apparently takes a security breakdown as well as some kind of nerve.

The Secret Service is looking into its own security procedures after determining that a Virginia couple, Michaele and Tareq Salahi, managed to slip into Tuesday night's state dinner at the White House even though they were not on the guest list, agency spokesman Ed Donovan said.

President Barack Obama was never in any danger because the party crashers went through the same security screening for weapons as the 300-plus people actually invited to the dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Donovan said.

Donovan confirmed the identities of the couple. The Washington Post, which first reported on their evening out, said the Salahis were well-known in the Virginia horse-country set.

Read more: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j6d6q...

---

CNN reporting on this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNvxKtk-tLA&feature=sub

[rwheeler31]

1. Stupid

[Xipe Totec]

11. Memorable

[Thor_MN]

30. Prison Time

[JonQ]

2. What was the purpose?

[jaysunb]

3. Free Dinner ?

[JonQ]

4. Times must be worse than I thought

if people are going to such lengths just to get a hot meal.

[tomm2thumbs]

6. Reality Show Fever - it's worse than Swine Flu

They wanted to BE somebody on the TV! And they had no little boy or an extra large silver balloon, so they had to blaze their own trail of 'teh stoopid'

[Xipe Totec]

12. Bucket List n/t

[polpilot]

37. Why not?

[Froward69]

23. pictures aparantly... (Link)

on facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=125305&id=1019079...


the one with her hand on Joe Biden is funny.

SS needs to step up! as these two could have just as well have been some RW Freak bent upon "restoring our Republic"...

[hootinholler]

24. OMG IT's the Donna Character from West Wing!

That's how they pulled it off, they said you know how forgetful Josh is!



Wait, this is serious.

-Hoot

[marshall]

48. A good time?

And a one of a kind photo for Facebook.

[Stevenmarc]

5. Too bad her next appearance won't be on The Housewives of Guantanamo Bay

[Jim Sagle]

7. That's the cover story. Acually it was a couple techies wanting their jobs back from India.

They were told to fuck off and tossed back in the gutter.

[Ian David]

8. They got in because they don't look like Cindy Sheehan. n/t

[Ian David]

9. Sorry, Agent Mike, but I don't think Secret Service is trying very hard.

I've been thinking that since Secret Service forced local law enforcement to stop making guests go through metal detectors when Obama was on the campaign trail.

[Webster Green]

10. Perhaps Cheney has given orders to the Secret service to relax their procedures.

I think the traitorous scumbag still has operatives high up in the government.

[WriteDown]

45. Cheney? No. Think higher up the chain.

Coke Zero.

[musicblind]

13. While I think it is awful that someone could slip through the cracks and get into a dinner like this

especially since it endangers the life of the President... but it says on CNN the couple's publicist claim they had clearance to attend the dinner? Is it possible this is all some horrible mix up and the couple legitimately thought they were supposed to be there?

[paulsby]

19. it didn't endanger his life

that much is clear from the article.

[musicblind]

40. No, I think you misunderstood me

The couple didn't endanger his life, but having lax security endangers his life... especially if it continues. That's all I meant.

[paulsby]

43. my bad. now i understand nt

[onehandle]

14. Jail them. Throw away the key.

Just for being reality show fucks, at a minimum.

[Downwinder]

15. With this economy you are begrudging someone a hot meal?

About time there was a Presidential Soup Kitchen. How about a room for the night?

[dysfunctional press]

16. she's apparently a finalist for a gig on an upcoming bravo show....

'real houswives of washington dc'...

i wonder if this stunt will get her the gig, or cost her the gig..?

[tammywammy]

18. Get her the gig

One of the housewives (and now I'll go into one of my secret guilty pleasure teevee shows...) of the OC started last season with a dying older very wealthy man as her fiancee. Turned out that she was totally sleeping/had a boyfriend the whole time (and took vacations with him while her fiancee was dying in the hospital). And Bravo still didn't cancel her off the show.


(And yes, The Real Housewives and Bridezillas are my guilty pleasures. )

[Firstzar]

17. Great. Just great.

I've read elsewhere that the couple were a pair of wannabe reality TV stars. If true, this is very bad, as the average IQ of reality-show stars is approximately that of a doorknob. If they can get past the Secret Service...

[aquart]

33. Balloon boy syndrome?

[NecklyTyler]

20. Put their names on the Terrorist Watch List

Make flying on an airplane a miserably experience for them the rest of their lives

[Algorem]

21. he donated $600 to George Allen

http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?st=VA&la...

Contributor Candidate or PAC Amount Date FEC Filing
SALAHI, TAREQ
HUME, VA 22639
OASIS VINEYARDS ALLEN, GEORGE (R)
Senate - VA
FRIENDS OF GEORGE ALLEN $600
general 07/17/00

[Joanie Baloney]

22. Jackasses

They are all smiles now...boasting how cool they were, crashing the President's state dinner. Turns my stomach.



I tried to pet a German shepherd guard dog at the Miramar air show once and was told firmly by the Marine handler that I may not pet the dog, ma'am.

Things sure have changed:



She will be on all the guest lists back in the horse country of Virginia now. Can't wait to see her on the Housewives show.

-JB

[badgerpup]

31. Pretty dress, though...

Looking closer...it's a sari, isn't it?

[Stinky The Clown]

25. The SS assures us that there was no danger because they went through a weapons screening

Do those "screenings" pick up exotic plastic explosives molded to a miscreant's body?

Just sayin' ......





The fact is, they fucked up BIG time.

[sattahipdeep]

42. Interesting choice

COEUR D’ALENE, Idaho (AP) — The Aryan Nations, a white supremacist group, has returned to northern Idaho with what it is calling a “world headquarters” and a recruitment campaign.

Coeur d’Alene resident Jerald O’Brien, who has a large swastika tattoo on his scalp, is one of the leaders of the white supremacist group and said he expects membership to grow because of the election of President Barack Obama. He told The Spokesman-Review newspaper that the president is the “greatest recruiting tool ever.”

http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2009/apr/19/white-s... /

[no limit]

26. anyone pissed at these people shouldn't be. You should be pissed at the secret service

The fact something like this can happen is insane. And its a good thing 2 americans in deperate need of attention exposed it instead of someone much worse.

[ensho]

28. agree - I'm pissed at our SS

it shouldn't have happened

heads should roll

[Historic NY]

27. I thought you were supposed to have the invitation in hand. What happened to that rule.

Its supposed to be checked by the Protocol person, State Dept. and the SS. People are assigned seating that way. Strange unless it was all faked.

[Blue_Tires]

38. if you look, talk, and act like you belong and have people believe it

especially if you can do it with a "Do you KNOW who I am and who my friends are?" air of condescending authority, you can get security to believe just about anything....

i can't recall it now, but there was a great study on just how gullible intelligent, educated people of all stripes can be when they believe they are talking to someone "above" them on the socio scale, or a supposed "authority" or "expert" in a certain field...

[BreweryYardRat]

49. Erm...

"especially if you can do it with a "Do you KNOW who I am and who my friends are?" air of condescending authority, you can get security to believe just about anything...."

That's only supposed to work on low-end security. Mall guards, private party guards, etc...

The fact that it worked on the damn SECRET SERVICE is appalling.

[zonkers]

29. If you walk into the party backwards in a tux,with a cocktail in your hand, you can get in anywhere.

[Jefferson23]

32. As history has shown anyone can get to the president, the Secret Service is not perfect but this

was ridiculous.

[freeplessinseattle]

34. well, as long as their shoes were checked for bombs

I guess it's ok.

[Festivito]

35. Kind of fun, could be worse, might have been a poor hungry person.

That would be the real horror, right?

[Sultana]

36. I know right

Those two need to be blacklisted, trashy individuals. Damn, SS, ya'll suck!

[sattahipdeep]

39. “How can they take a chance with the president’s life?”

While magnetometers can detect weapons, lethal agents such as anthrax could still slip through, said Kessler, who called for the resignation of Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan. “How can they take a chance with the president’s life?”

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aoY...

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

41. outside of the worry about the Presidents safety (and I do worry)

I must say at least it wasn't a prostitute pretending to be a journalist.

[Vickers]

44. "at least it wasn't a prostitute pretending to be a journalist"

[pundaint]

46. There was no pretense of journalism there.

He was just a prostitute with lots of visits to the White House.

[ZombieHorde]

47. These two did the U.S. a favor. They exposed weaknesses

in President Obama's security team. The prank was funny and helpful, I hope they get a light sentence.