We're Having A Party!

Happy Thanksgiving to all and I hope you all had a good time getting together with friends and family during thsi holiday weekend. Looks like the Obama family also has been partying with friends and family, hosting a major state dinner last week. Michele and Tareq Salahi were in attendance and appeared to have a great time, getting their picture taken with both the President and the Vice President, pictures that they shared with their friends and family on their Facebook pages, according to an MCT News Service article that was published on November 28, 2009 in the Newark Star Ledger.

Unfortunately, the Salahis were not invited to the state dinner, they crashed it. Somehow they were able to get deep into the White House event, mingle with heads of states, brush shoulders with Cabinet members, and as mentioned above, get their picture taken with Obama and Biden. Fortunately, they were not terrorists, racists, or criminals. Imagine what could have happened if they were. Although they passed through a metal detector and were found to be carrying no metal weapons, the detector would not have detected plastic explosives, plastic knives, biological weapons such as anthrax, or if the party crashers were trained assassins who could have killed someone with their hands. Congressman Peter King of New York has called for a Congressional hearing on the issue.

A few observations:

• If the government and political class cannot even prevent would be assassins from shaking the hand of the President, what makes anyone think they can do anything else effectively in any area of government?
• Congress, of course, wants an investigation AFTER the fact. Why weren't the Congressional committees responsible for this involved beforehand to make sure this incredibly embarrassing event never took place in the first place? Eventually some poor White House staffer will take the blame for the incident but it is someone in Congress and the Secret Service who should really be held responsible.
• If the couple had been African American or Mid Eastern instead of Caucasian and blonde, would they have gotten as far? Could their be some sort of subtle racism going on that says if they are white they must be okay?
• If you cannot protect the President, Vice President, and Cabinet members from an amateur stunt like this, do you really think the political class can protect any of us from terrorists in our own daily lives?

I am very thankful that this was just a stunt and not a assassination attempt. However, it does not make me feel safe or confident that the political class can get anything right. Have a great holiday weekend.