If people can just jump the fence and go wherever they want to get into this country, why can’t they jump the fence and go wherever they want in the White House?
Inexplicably, Omar Gonzalez breached at least “Five Rings” of security on September 19th. The White House complex is supposed to be one of the most secure facilities in the country, if not the world. So, how on earth did this happen? This failure has once again tested the trust of the American people in the Secret Service – a trust already strained by a string of recent scandals.
From allowing paparazzi-craving-reality-TV “stars” to crash a State Dinner, to engaging with prostitutes in Cartagena, and excessive drinking in the Netherlands, the Secret Service has encountered some serious problems recently. Just this weekend, there are new reports of a mishandled response in 2011 to a gunman who sprayed bullets into the White House, causing nearly $100,000 in damage.
Morale at the agency appears in decline. In light of the recent break-in, we have to ask whether the culture at the Secret Service and declining morale have impacted operational security. We will be asking tough questions today. The appointment of Director Pierson brought the hope that the agency would reclaim its noble image – but recent events show the troubles facing the agency are far from over.
Chris Plante just saying a WaPoo article saying perp at WH overpowered a FEMALE Secret Service agent at the first entrance.
Given my experience as a former Secret Service agent, understandably, I've been asked by many on this page for my opinion on the recent security failures at the White House.
First, let me state that my efforts to explain the situation here are in no way an excuse or an apology for the unacceptable failure to get the job done. One point of pride my fellow agents and I always maintained was a "no excuses" atmosphere and, although I have since moved on from the Secret Service, I maintain relationships with many of the proud men and women who work there and I assure you, they are deeply disturbed by these failures.
With that context in the background, here's what I feel are the systemic problems at the core of the recent failures. For decades, the Secret Service has taken an unwelcome, and inappropriate, subordinate role in the decision making process surrounding the movements of the president.
The importance of superficial DC "optics" has become a DC obsession and, sadly, if preserving "optics" at the expense of security is necessary, then it is a sacrifice that too many of the president's "yes-men" are willing to make. When you combine this with a very small number of self-absorbed and vindictive high-ranking Secret Service managers who care more about their next job and their "contacts" rather than the hard-working agents out there in the world's hotspots, actually doing the work, then the recipe for failure is there.
Again, I'm not providing tactical cover for anyone here. The men and women I know at the Secret Service are a proud group and are enraged by these failures, but do you really believe this happened in a bubble? Unless we correctly diagnose the problem, we will see a reemergence of the disorder.
Finally, it's easy to criticize without proposing solutions (an all too common approach in DC), and I refuse to replicate that strategy. Here's an unfiltered approach to fixing these problems. The jurisdictional mess around the White House has to be cleaned up. Between the Secret Service, the US Park Police, DC Metro PD, the National Park Service, and others such as the White House staff and the White House Historical Association, too many cooks have their hands in the security-soup. Also, the Secret Service role in the decision-making chain at the White House has to be at least co-equal with the White House staff. Any manager within the Secret Service who insists on kneeling at the feet of an 18-year-old White House staff member, while throwing his agents under the bus, in order to maintain his "network", needs to move on ASAP. This is too important of a mission for sycophants. In conclusion, this was a devastating failure, but a systemic problem requires a systemic solution. The many successes of the Secret Service, many of which I was proud to be a part of, are all lost with these recent failures. As the IRA said to British security forces after the failed assassination attempt of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, "We only only have to be lucky once, you have to be lucky everyday." We cannot allow anyone to ever get "lucky" again.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/local/files/2014/09/w-secretservice768-v2.jpg
Unless one subscribes to cable TV we can’t get C-Span anymore. I tried the oversite house gov site and I am getting nothing. Is it over with already? If not is there another internet site one can get?
Opening statement by Issa. He’s flanked by counsel to his left and Elijah Cummings to his right and the rest of the committee filling both ends the table.
Witnesses look like Ms. Peirson, and two others: one to her right and one to the left. Can’t tell who they are.
Statement is basically the same info as in the PDF at the top of this thread.
Why is it whenever I see any Gov’t Committee begun on C-SPAN, I feel the need to shower again?
Thanks Textide.
Chaffetz up!
When Baraq assumed office, he declared it is NOW The People’s House.
Then he gets all mad when someone takes him up on that.
Please, please, please.....tighten up on the security. We don’t need either of the following: President Biden or an immortalized, romanticized, martyred Obama in the manner of JFK.
Question for you Mr President:
How does it feel for an intruder to hop a fence and invade your space?
But you have such a nice big space there... formerly occupied by men of honor ...and the intruder was just looking for a better life. Come on, accept him into your space and feed him and give him healthcare just like you have forced the rest of America to do when someone invades this nation.
Why was he arrested? All he did was hop a fence into a space he wasn’t allowed. You mean that is *gasp* illegal?
Julia Pierson seems to be a ‘everything can be solved in a meeting’ type director. She needs to be replaced post haste.
Stephen Lynch is on fire, too. Good questions.
After killing a woman who did not even managed to breach the fence, I expect the administration is terrified of using any force on any intruders. Couple that with disdain for anything related to security, and we have a recipe for disaster.
Sheila Jackson Lee... asking why they weren’t able to stop him when jumping the fence?
UM How about... they didn’t shoot him?
I don’t have cable. Here it is:
