Secret Service Director Julia Pierson (click here) resigned her post under pressure on Wednesday, but the agency’s most important protectee has been notably reserved in his response to the flood of details about incidents that could have threatened him....
This is the first time the general population of the country was exposed to details about the operation of the Secret Service. We always think of them as invincible members of the government that can protect the President from anything. That is not true. They do excellent job, but, their performance has not been met with 100% success.
There is validity in the statement, "No one was injured."
Protecting the President is not necessarily as structured as it might seem. The reason there are Secret Service at all is testimony to that fact. If there were prescribed methods that would protect the President 100% of the time the country would be doing it. But, the President of the USA is a person with human frailties no different than anyone else. In protecting the President the Secret Service are body guards.
We always here how the President can disrupt "The Commons" by simply traveling to a rally or meeting. It is a very big deal and while it seems as though the USA can make guarantees to it's citizens about the safety of the First Family, the truth is there is no fail safe.
Body guards react to 'the circumstance.' They go through training, prove to be able to carry out 'the job' AND the most important thing is that they are thinking people who react to the moment. The President engages the public on a regular basis by making speeches, walking rope lines and occasionally simply taking a walk to talk to the folks.
BY:
July 18, 2014 5:00 am
“The bear is loose!” (click here) President Obama has been saying, whenever he leaves the White House to visit Starbucks, or sandwich shops, or burger joints, or BBQ shacks, or neighborhood diners, in his increasingly rote and pathetic attempts to “connect” with “real people.”...
Some of the security pitfalls of the events reported are concerning of course, but, at the same time, "The President was not hurt." There have to be times when the security staff at the White House simply takes a deep breath and relaxes a bit when the President or First Family are gone for whatever reason. That is legal. It might be surprising to the public, but, there isn't anything that occurred on any of these occasions. In that might be the problem itself.
Perhaps, the Secret Service should never feel confident enough to let down their guard. That might be what comes out of all this. And if that is what the country wants for their President, the First Family and their residence, then it should be so. It will no doubt require more funding and personnel, but, if the country demands a much tighter control over the people that serve this country then so be it. The country should, by obligation, insure the complete safety of the First Family. They are serving the country when others are not. They should return to a private life or their choosing when their service is finished.
But, the statement "The President was not hurt." is a very valid statement simply because protecting him is not a science so much as artful.
