Secret Service: officers didn't verify crashers

[demoleft]

Source: ap

WASHINGTON – The Virginia couple who crashed a presidential dinner met President Barack Obama in the receiving line, the White House said Friday, as a "deeply concerned and embarrassed" Secret Service acknowledged its officers failed to check whether the couple was on the guest list.

The White House released a photo showing the Salahis in the receiving line in the Blue Room with Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in whose honor the dinner was held. Obama and Michaele Salahi are smiling as she grasps his right hand with both of hers as her husband, Tareq, looks on. Singh is standing to the left of Obama.


Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091128/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_s...

[virgogal]

1. This is reverse profiling. If you look rich,and are attractive and self-assured

you don't even get a second glance.

[elocs]

8. That's always the key--you must look like you belong, then you're not likely to be questioned. n/t

[tomm2thumbs]

15. exactly, and this is how close they get to the leader of the free world

Someone needs to really be held accountable - in today's climate, there is no excuse.

[dysfunctional press]

26. didn't they also show up with a tv crew?

i haven't been following the story, but i thought i heard that mentioned on a news show this morning...

[WriteDown]

29. Dress in scrubs in a hospital and you can walk into any

room too. The key is to always look like you belong.

[marshall]

32. Rich, attractive, and self-assured....

That probably defines every single person who was on the guest list.

[MichiganVote]

2. Ok, how frickin' hard is it to stand somewhere, check a name, radio for verification and be done?

Is that rocket science or something?

Heck of a job Secret Service.

[DRoseDARs]

10. I know. Fuck, if little old ladies can do it when you arrive at your precinct to vote... nt

[NYC_SKP]

3. Meanwhile, I'm taking my Shoes Off and Getting My Ass Scanned just to fly from Burbank to San Diego!

[demoleft]

4. haha :) true. n/t

[PatrynXX]

6. Or Chevy Chase taking his socks off....

Thought this was a hollywood event. lol. stupid right wing gaffs.

[robo50]

12. I know, I think...

I think we should ask all White House guests to strip down to panties and bra.
It's only fair.

[cliffordu]

16. ...And what a fine ass it is, too.

[PatrynXX]

5. Frankly I don't think anyone should be charged.

Secret Service fucked up. Besides it's a right of passage in so many movies.
James Bond, Indiana Jones, James Bond, Wedding Crashers, James Bond....

[robo50]

14. Were you alive on 9/11? Or perhaps in your US History book

you heard about Abraham Lincoln, John F Kennedy?

What planet did you fly in from?

HINT: James Bond and Indiana Jones, not real people!!!!

White House party crashers: real people with a mission.

[boppers]

19. How many box cutters, pistols, and rifles were on them?

Since you mentioned 9/11, Lincoln, and Kennedy, I'm curious...

How many of these people were profiled, and verified?



These?



Should everyone who gets close to Obama be verified and vetted by name?

[KatyaR]

23. I only know that in April, 2000, I sang in a choir at the dedication

of the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial, which the Clintons and other Cabinet members attended, and I had to furnish name, address, and SS# before the event for a security check. Everyone who attended had to go through a scanning device before they could enter the area.

[treestar]

34. those situation are risky no doubt

But at the WH, the risks shouldn't be taken.

They really should have checked that guest list. Unless the person is recognizable, like Hillary or celebrities, their names ought to be checked and IDs demanded. I guess from now on, they will be.

[malletgirl02]

27. Also President Mckinley

President McKinley was assinated while he was meeting people at the Panamerican Expedition. His Assassin actually stood in line and waited to shoot him.

[kirby]

33. If you dont set an example out of them...

Others will try knowing there are is no punishment for fraud, trespassing, and deceit.

These people could have had poison on them and poisoned those they shook hands with, forget the weapons.

[mattvermont]

7. I guess it is now the SS's turn to convince us that

they are not trying to lead Obama into danger.
This kind of thing would be unacceptable at a high school prom

[tabasco]

9. Fire the dumbasses responsible.

They're supposed to be the best in the world.

This was a serious breach and the SS needs to get its shit together NOW.

[Bigmack]

18. I have NEVER said "fire the bastards"...

about anybody before... ever.

But...

We're not just talking about the safety of one man, or a few men and women. We're talking about a man whose assassination could well cause worldwide damage to economies and governments.

Biiiig investigation should ensue. Heads should roll.

I remember reading about suicide bombers who stuffed a couple of pounds of Semtex up their asses and took out a large number of people.

Creativity beats brainless bureaucracies every time.

[geckosfeet]

11. Time to purge the ranks.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

13. Wondering if the film crew that came

along with them was admitted as well. There seem to be a lot of pics of them at the dinner.

[katkat]

17. worried ever since the campaign

I've been worried about the SS and law enforcement in general ever since the campaign. Threats against former Presidents got people in jail so fast their heads would spin. With Obama it was hohum and release them or not even arrest them.

[robo50]

22. I have been worried, too! It's not like we don't have any

skinheads, KKK members, and it's not like we don't have members of Congress and Glenn Beck asking for a "revolution" to "take our country back.

I have never seen so much outright hatred of a President broadcast on the teevee, daily, and there's even one cable channel totally devoted 24/7 to bringing Obama down.

[TexasObserver]

20. K&R

[cowcommander]

21. Someone needs to be fired

[MaineDem]

24. I totally agree

Someone screwed up. Someone is ultimately responsible. I hope the right person is fired.

[peaches2003]

25. Meanwhile this disgusting couple

is set to be on Larry King and God knows the other networks will be fighting for them, too. Makes me sick to my stomach. No doubt she is now a lock to get on Bravo DC. What have we come to?

[Joe Chi Minh]

31. However, unwittingly, they performed an invaluable public service.

Watched a cable documentary last night about the Battle of the Bulge, during which German special forces wore American uniforms, and wreaked havoc among the American troops there. When they were captured, of course, they were shot as spies.

Understandably, everyone became very nervy. In fact, the identity checks were so thorough, a general was taken from his jeep and detained for several hours, because he couldn't say which team had won the baseball trophy in such and such a year!

[TankLV]

28. Gee - I wonder if these ASSHOLE "agents" were REPUKES!!!

If Obama doesn't PURGE the SS of bush REPUKES, he will only have himself to blame if anything happens to him...

Remember - it's REPUKE Party ABOVE Country for ALL these idiots!!!

[WriteDown]

30. And if they're not?

Weird response by you. I think this is more incompetence than malevolence.

[sattahipdeep]

35. I don't know...

Mr. Sullivan was promoted into the federal Senior Executive Service in July of 2000, when he was selected as a Deputy Assistant Director in the Office of Protective Operations.

Cheney

In 2002, he was reassigned to the position of Deputy Special Agent in Charge of the Vice Presidential Protective Division.

[sattahipdeep]

36. Sullivan, testified in March

before the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Homeland Security

The Secret Service is preparing to provide Vice President Cheney with agents, transportation, advance work and other security-related trappings of executive power for six months after the Bush administration packs up and moves out in January, the agency's director, Mark Sullivan, told Congress last week. The expected cost: $4 million.

Although presidents and their spouses are entitled to Secret Service protection long after they depart the White House, federal law authorizes protective services for the vice president and his immediate family only during his time in office. Extending Cheney's detail would require a directive from the president or a joint resolution of Congress.

....
"We believe that it's a pretty safe bet with the threat environment we face today that Vice President Cheney will be afforded Secret Service protection upon his departure," Sullivan told the House Appropriations subcommittee on homeland security last week.

It is unclear whether Cheney could receive protection beyond six months, Secret Service officials said, but another extension would require presidential or congressional action.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/20...