People have a greatly exaggerated notion of how hard it is to get lower-level security clearances.
For an “entry level government job” (presumably a SECRET or CONFIDENTIAL) thre’s no investigation interviewing people that know you, for most of the questions the time frame only goes 7 years back, and the relevant question on the clearance application only concerns whether the applicant PERSONALLY has been a member of an organization dedicated to the overthrow of the US government.
What about passport information? No questions on whether you have EVER held a foreign passport? Or passport numbers even if expired?
If you are CIC, you are not ‘entry level’...at least not when it comes to security clearance. I also wonder what Valerie Jarrett’s looked like..
Five years ago, I would have agreed with you, but not now. I changed jobs and only needed a Secret clearance, vice the Top Secret I had at my former job. The recent background check for my Secret clearance was every bit as thorough as the check for my Top Secret: formal interview, interviewed neighbors, etc... . I was pretty impressed. But remember, no spy has been caught through a background check.
Its been 20 years since I got a Secret clearance.
I just filled out the form (I remember one of the questions had to do with whether or not I had engaged in homosexual acts - I bet that’s been removed from the form by now). And, it took several months, but I got my clearance.
However, it was not so simple for everyone. One woman in particular, Dina, had a mother who was not a U.S citizen. Her peers were absolutely interviewed.
A few other guys had spent some time living outside of the U.S.....and their peers were also interviewed.
Obama would have both of these situations, so his peers would be interviewed. And by peers I mean homosexual Pakistanis at Occidental College, or maybe the Marxist Davis, heck maybe even Jeremiah Wright or his Choom Gang drug dealer. So, it would be, lets say, a time consuming process for Barry to get a Secret clearance.