Daily Times

“I wish you spent the time protecting the White House that you spent protecting your reputation here today,” said Congressman Stephen Lynch of Massachusetts to former Secret Service Director Julia Pierson during her congressional hearing. Since this quote was made, US Secret Service Director Julia Pierson has resigned.

On September 19, 2014, a man jumped over the fence of the White House and entered the main floor, with a folding knife. Up to this point he was completely undetected. This is the White House we are talking about, the residence of the president of the US. It would be another 10 whole days until The Post would report that the White House intruder, Omar Gonzalez, had made it that far into the executive mansion. Furthermore, he was finally noticed and tackled by an off-duty secret service agent. The obvious question that comes to mind: where was all the on-duty security staff?

Shockingly, this was not the first security failure during President Obama’s terms in office. The first threat to President Obama and his family came from bullets fired by Oscar Ortega Hernandez, hitting the private quarters of the White House on November 11, 2011. It took an entire four days for the secret service to “realise that a gunman had fired at least seven bullets” targeting the White House.

Yet another incident demonstrating the failure of the secret service to execute its functions properly occurred on September 16, 2014, in Atlanta during the president’s visit to the Centres for Disease Control. Against all safety protocols, an armed (yes, armed) security contractor with a criminal record shared the elevator with the president. Once again, where was the secret service and why did they once again fail to carry out their duties?

All of these security breaches are, needless to say, absolutely terrifying. Furthermore, what adds to the insanity is that, apparently, President Obama was not told about the lapse in his security in the elevator in Atlanta. Former Secret Service Director Julia Pierson’s predecessor did not tell the Obamas about the 2011 shooting incident either. Having said that, the secret service did not know about the White House being hit until a housekeeper noticed broken glass and cement on the floor of one of the balconies.

What makes matters even worse is the incapability of White House officials to tell the truth and to insist that the president has “faith” and “confidence” in the secret service. These are the people he and his family depend on for the safety of their lives. Such breaches of security are not only incomprehensible but also utterly unacceptable. The only positive outcome of these incidents is this: for perhaps the first time during the Obama administration, there is bipartisan agreement and outrage between Democrats and Republicans at these security breaches that pose such grave threats to the lives of the president and his family. This problem is neither seen as a Democratic problem nor as a Republican problem. It is seen as a US problem.

The secret service has long been regarded as the US’s most elite force, ready to take a bullet for a US president if such a situation should present itself. Therefore, such lapses and the complete negligence that they have demonstrated in recent times go completely against the purpose it is engaged to serve. Some lawmakers have stated that perhaps there has been a possible shift in culture that has eroded faith in the service even as First Lady Michelle Obama has spoken publicly about fearing for the safety of her family because of the colour of their skin. Could this potentially be the reason for the lowering of the guard of the president’s security forces? This assumption has no doubt entered the minds of many. Do the embarrassing, negligent, outrageous and unacceptable breaches of security with regards to President Obama simply boil down to race and the colour of his skin? If so, how utterly senseless and truly abominable is that?

Granted, Congress interrogated former Secret Service Director Pierson thoroughly, after which she thankfully resigned. However, regardless of who the next secret service director may be, the broader and much more serious issues and questions lie in the possible race factor. That would take these problematic issues to a much more disturbing level. If it is a question of simply the secret service not doing its job correctly, that poses an almost equally disturbing problem. Perhaps it is a combination of the two factors at play here. In both cases, the security breaches are unacceptable.

The writer is an English and French professor and columnist residing in the US and France. She can be reached at scballand@gmail.com