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Fix the Secret Service, Dammit
Townhall.com ^ | April 24, 2015 | Mona Charen

Posted on 04/24/2015 9:28:03 AM PDT by Kaslin

We learned this week that the Secret Service dawdled for an entire year before fixing a broken security system at the home of former President George H. W. Bush.

The Secret Service itself is looking pretty broken these days. A few weeks ago, two drunken agents returning from a party drove right through an active bomb investigation outside the White House. They didn't notice that their colleagues were examining a suspicious package.

In 2012, a number of agents were found to have engaged prostitutes in Cartagena, Colombia, during a presidential trip. At least one of the prostitutes had links to a major drug cartel, according to investigators.

In 2014, the Secret Service somehow permitted an armed man with an arrest record to ride in an elevator with the president during a visit to Atlanta. In 2011, it reportedly took the agency four days to learn that seven shots had been fired at the White House while one of the president's daughters was inside.

There have been at least 16 cases of attempted fence jumping at the White House in the past five years. Last September, Omar J. Gonzalez scaled the fence on the Pennsylvania Avenue side of the compound, raced about 70 feet across the lawn without being stopped, and got inside the unlocked door of the North Portico.

Only days later did we learn that the intruder, armed with a knife, had moved through the main entrance, making a left at the red-carpeted center hall (the one President Obama likes to use as a backdrop for televised speeches), ducked into the Green Room and eventually reached the East Room. It was there that he was tackled by an off-duty Secret Service officer. Off-duty, mind you. What were the on-duty agents doing?

It takes little imagination to consider what horror might have been possible that day. Gonzalez had only a knife. What if he'd had a suicide vest? What if several jumpers had come simultaneously?

The Secret Service uses Belgian Malinois guard dogs, chosen because they are "faster, leaner and meaner" than German Shepherds, according to The Washington Post. But the dogs were not released on the intruder.

The continuing failures of the Secret Service would be a serious worry under any administration, but they are particularly dangerous under this one. This is a delicate matter, and I will try to be as clear as I can to avoid misunderstanding. It is a tragedy when any president of the United States is assassinated, but if the first black president of the United States were to be killed, it would be a calamity of unimaginable proportions.

Many, even among those who disagreed with Barack Obama's politics, hoped that the advent of the first black president would improve race relations in the United States. That has been one of the many disappointments of his disastrous presidency. A December 2014 Bloomberg poll found that 53 percent of Americans believe race relations have gotten worse during the Obama presidency. That included 56 percent of whites and 45 percent of blacks.

The president has chosen divisiveness on racial issues, taking sides in the Skip Gates and Trayvon Martin cases and granting legitimacy to racial provocateurs like Al Sharpton. Sharpton became the face of the White House during the Ferguson imbroglio. His specialty -- pouring gasoline on racial fires -- did its intended damage in the wake of Michael Brown's death, spreading the "hands up, don't shoot" falsehood worldwide.

But even if Obama had been Lincolnesque -- appealing to the better angels of our nature -- his death at the hands of an assassin could still well be more pain and stress than our republic could stand. It's a good bet that close to 100 percent of blacks and a good percentage of others would believe that a demonic conspiracy brought him down.

I have no reason to think such a conspiracy exists. It is clear, though, from the record of threats and fence jumpers and general mayhem in our society, that quite a few crazed killers might like to hurt the president. So fix the Secret Service -- and do it fast!

The agency has announced that it is installing pikes on top of the fence surrounding the White House. Good. It also has asked for $8 million to build a full-scale replica of the White House in suburban Maryland -- the better to train agents. Please. They don't need more money. They need accountability. And that must start with the man who hires and fires the Secret Service chief: Barack Obama.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Government
KEYWORDS: georgehwbush; secretservice; secretservicescandal

1 posted on 04/24/2015 9:28:03 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

The Secret Service is a government agency. Expecting that it can be fixed is an outlook more appropriate to “progressives”.


2 posted on 04/24/2015 9:31:45 AM PDT by all the best
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To: Kaslin
Every part of the government during the Obama Administration is corrupt, incompetent and dysfunctional.

Fix the IRS, the Veterans Administration, Homeland Security, the Justice Department, the State Department and the rest of the Federal Government.

Then you can worry about the Secret Service.

3 posted on 04/24/2015 9:32:31 AM PDT by detective
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To: detective

Trickle down corruption.


4 posted on 04/24/2015 9:34:58 AM PDT by FreedomStar3028 (Somebody has to step forward and do what is right because it is right, otherwise no one will follow.)
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To: Kaslin

0bama is president and RINOs control the senate. Nothing is going to get fixed.


5 posted on 04/24/2015 9:35:28 AM PDT by TigersEye (STONE COLD ZOMBIE SCOURGE)
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To: Kaslin

Better Idea: Instead of “fixing” it, just eliminate it.

Sell Air Force One. Eliminate all Presidential travel. Problem solved.


6 posted on 04/24/2015 9:37:38 AM PDT by Arthur McGowan
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To: detective

They’re all corrupt because all the leadership is corrupt, the people that normally would walk a straight line, aren’t. Because they know they can now get away with it.


7 posted on 04/24/2015 9:38:18 AM PDT by FreedomStar3028 (Somebody has to step forward and do what is right because it is right, otherwise no one will follow.)
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To: Kaslin

When the presidency was an office worthy of respect, the Secret Service rose to the level demanded of them. These days, sensible people put more value on Bo the dog than on certain people the Secret Service is supposed to take a bullet to protect. It’s no wonder they no longer attract professionals given the minimal importance of their current mission.


8 posted on 04/24/2015 9:40:07 AM PDT by Pollster1 ("Shall not be infringed" is unambiguous.)
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To: FreedomStar3028

Trickle down corruption and trickle up affirmative action. Ideology over competence.


9 posted on 04/24/2015 9:46:39 AM PDT by Organic Panic
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To: Kaslin

“Fix the Secret Service, Dammit”

Aw come on, the entire government and much of the country is all screwed up, why should they be any different? Actually the exploits of the SS (especially while the messiah is the central figure) is a hoot ‘animal house”, it’s a laugh a minute.


10 posted on 04/24/2015 10:02:39 AM PDT by kenmcg
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To: Kaslin

The Secret Service should never help Traitors Destroy the US


11 posted on 04/24/2015 10:47:22 AM PDT by molson209 (Blank)
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To: Arthur McGowan

AF1 is probably worn out or thrashed so may have to sell fleet for scrap.


12 posted on 04/24/2015 10:58:31 AM PDT by mcshot (I pray someone comes forth with the strength, fortitude and burning desire to save our Republic)
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To: All
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13 posted on 04/24/2015 11:03:34 AM PDT by musicman (Until I see the REAL Long Form Vault BC, he's just "PRES__ENT" Obama = Without "ID")
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To: Kaslin

Eliminate the Secret Service. Get rid of the separation that allows elected officials move about separated from the public they are trying to rule, like royalty. Start making our elected officials part of our community again.


14 posted on 04/24/2015 11:06:09 AM PDT by Yogafist
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To: Kaslin

Here’s hopin’ they’re as incompetent as they appear...


15 posted on 04/24/2015 11:24:13 AM PDT by afsnco
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To: Kaslin

Yes, yes,,, uhmmm,, fix the secret service. Do it quickly. I stay awake worrying about this,,,,. (said in voice indicating i’m actually thinking I need to rotate my tires)


16 posted on 04/24/2015 12:02:24 PM PDT by DesertRhino (I was standing with a rifle, waiting for soviet paratroopers, but communists just ran for office.)
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To: Kaslin

They should leave Obama AND Biden by themselves for a weekend.


17 posted on 04/24/2015 5:29:06 PM PDT by Impy (They pull a knife, you pull a gun. That's the CHICAGO WAY, and that's how you beat the rats!)
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