Monday, January 04, 2010

Infiltration Scandal, Part 2

Yes, yes, I know the day of the president of the republic being more or less a flesh-and-blood human being like the rest of us is long past. Yes, I know that it is vitally necessary for the Person of the Exalted to be absolutely secure against all threats, real and imagined (especially imagined), in order that the order of the heavens be serene and undisturbed. Yes, I get it.

What I don't get is this. If the praetorians of the Secret Service are supposed to be concerned about anybody potentially being able to ventilate El Presidente Supremo, surely the least important thing about the persons to be screened is whether they're on the "guest list." Isn't it more a matter of the presence or absence of guns, knives, razors, icepicks, bazookas, RPGs, "lasers," panty-bombs, tanks, helicopter gunships, jet fighters, death drones, attack submarines, undercooked chicken, howitzers, tactical nukes, strategic nukes, unsterilized needles, and the like? I mean, given this:
The Secret Service says someone traveling with the Indian delegation was allowed in. The service says this person was screened at the hotel with the rest of the Indian delegation who attended the state dinner.
it seems to me that, if the screened person is harmless, shouldn't the matter of whether they're on the guest list be of concern only to the Imperial Social Secretary or somebody? And if the person is carrying a platoon's worth of arms, does he or she become acceptable because of an invitation?

Eh, whatever. As long as the Son of Heaven is safe, all's right with the universe, I suppose.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, my friend, I think you've missed the point here. The Secret Service doesn't care if the President dies. They only care if they're blamed for his death. An invited guest who pulls the trigger lets them blame the social secretary.

Just a little lesson in CYA from your cynical buddy in New York.

Robert Enders said...

Goering managed to smuggle cyanide into his own cell. Fortunately, he only used it on himself. But you can see why certain people are not allowed into the White House.