Party Crashers Breach Security at White House Dinner

[Marcia]

I'm surprised no one has posted a link to this story yet. This is really BIG news here. The Washington Post has had articles on it every day since it happened! What is disturbing is that this couple waltzed into the White House without an invititation (they got through at least 2 security check points). They could have been anybody. As one commentator said, they could have had anthrax or some kind of poison they could have released inside. And this was Pres. Obama's first state dinner (for the prime minister of India).

The first 2 links have good videos about this.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/emails-show-salahis-white-house-state-dinner-invite/story?id=9215516


http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/26/dinner.whitehouse.crashers/index.html


http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-11-27-state-dinner-crashers-obama_N.htm

These people are not significant in politics or anything else. They owe lots of money and have lawsuits against them. Why are they even trying to act like they were invited?

Congress is actually going to have a hearing on this since they are taking this breach of security very seriously. I hope charges are pressed against them.

 

[saturneptune]

I'm surprised no one has posted a link to this story yet. This is really BIG news here. The Washington Post has had articles on it every day since it happened! What is disturbing is that this couple waltzed into the White House without an invititation (they got through at least 2 security check points). They could have been anybody. As one commentator said, they could have had anthrax or some kind of poison they could have released inside. And this was Pres. Obama's first state dinner (for the prime minister of India).

The first 2 links have good videos about this.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/emails-show-salahis-white-house-state-dinner-invite/story?id=9215516


http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/26/dinner.whitehouse.crashers/index.html


http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-11-27-state-dinner-crashers-obama_N.htm

These people are not significant in politics or anything else. They owe lots of money and have lawsuits against them. Why are they even trying to act like they were invited?

Congress is actually going to have a hearing on this since they are taking this breach of security very seriously. I hope charges are pressed against them.

Charges need to be pressed, but that is a minor part of the story. What is revealing about this is the ineptness of government operations in general. This is what will be the most damaging about health care reform, not the cost so much, but leadership with this mindset controlling one sixth of our economy.

The last thing we need is for Congress to spend money to investigate the matter. All they are going to accomplish is spending more money.

In an odd sort of way, it is mildly amusing that someone could dress up in really nice clothes, get into the White House, and have pictures taken with the Prez and VP. Sometimes things are so brazen that they go unnoticed. I know several large TVs have been stolen from Walmart by someone putting the TV on a cart and carrying it right out the door in the middle of the day. Everyone around just assumes it has been paid for, just like everyone assumed the couple had the right to be there.

Not only should charges be pressed, someone in security or above needs discipline or removal.

 

[Marcia]

Lying at the security checkpoints about being invited is a felony.

I don't mind money being spent on this - it's appalling that they got in to a state dinner, had photos taken of standing next to Biden (I think Mrs. Salahi had her arm around him), and photos of them shaking hands with the President. This is more than getting into the White House grounds or even the White House itself - it's getting right up next to the President with no valid grounds for being there.

As one expert on Homeland Security said, there are people watching and learning from this.

 

[saturneptune]

Lying at the security checkpoints about being invited is a felony.

I don't mind money being spent on this - it's appalling that they got in to a state dinner, had photos taken of standing next to Biden (I think Mrs. Salahi had her arm around him), and photos of them shaking hands with the President. This is more than getting into the White House grounds or even the White House itself - it's getting right up next to the President with no valid grounds for being there.

As one expert on Homeland Security said, there are people watching and learning from this.

When I was in the Navy, we had a constant game trying to breach each other's security on the different ships. While in port, there was a three man security detail to check IDs at the quarterdeck, where people entered the ship. It would get busy, people coming and going, and sometimes easy to miss an ID. Usually the bogus IDs would have a picture that were obviously not the person. Once, I got caught off guard. The people that breached the ship would look for busy times to zap you.

One night, I had duty on this very detail. The shore patrol were bringing back a drunk to the ship, and my attention was distracted, oh say about midnight. Anyway, someone got aboard with a Mickey Mouse picture because the other person was waving people on and off while I was dealing with this other situation. This person with the Mickey Mouse ID got all the way up to the Captain's cabin. Needless to say, me and the two others on that detail spent some extra time at that task learning to check IDs closer. I can laugh about it now, but it was not amusing at the time.

 

[donnA]

How in the world did these people get through security and with no invintation, which they needed to get in the door? they could havebeen anyone, terrorists or anyone. I certainly hope someone is going to jail.

 

[just-want-peace]

My first thought was whether the security was intentionally lax???

Not really, but the thought DID cross my mind!!:laugh::laugh:

 

[targus]

No doubt there is more here than meets the eye.

Time will tell.

 

[preachinjesus]

While this is a serious matter I think its been completely overblown by the media who apparently have nothing better to talk about...well other than Tiger Woods.

Even when I served on the Hill we had people who would be silly, especially during student rush at the local universities. While I can understand the issue here I just think this is being talked about way too much when we as a nation have far more significant things to mind.

We are going through such a poor time in terms of journalism. I just can't watch the news anymore.

 

[windcatcher]

There's a skunk in the woodpile somewhere.

But I agree that media is giving too much attention to this escapade..... and DHS and the FBI need to shut up and do their investigations.

Regarding something happening to the President.... I fear if anything does happen, it would make little difference regarding who, what, where, or why. The riots would start and blame would be tossed around hap hazardly.

 

[Marcia]

How in the world did these people get through security and with no invintation, which they needed to get in the door? they could havebeen anyone, terrorists or anyone. I certainly hope someone is going to jail.

The White House had admitted that at one checkpoint, they did not do their job. Apparently, these people lied and the security people decided not to check.

And I do not think this is being overblown at all. If security is this lax for who gets into to see the President at a state dinner, then how can we trust security for the nation? I think it is a big deal.

 

[targus]

The White House had admitted that at one checkpoint, they did not do their job. Apparently, these people lied and the security people decided not to check.

And I do not think this is being overblown at all. If security is this lax for who gets into to see the President at a state dinner, then how can we trust security for the nation? I think it is a big deal.

How come Obama gets upset about someone sneaking into the White House but not about millions sneaking into the country?

 

[Marcia]

How come Obama gets upset about someone sneaking into the White House but not about millions sneaking into the country?

I read nothing about Obama being upset. It's a security issue - the heads of security and Homeland Security are upset and embarrassed.

 

[abcgrad94]

How come Obama gets upset about someone sneaking into the White House but not about millions sneaking into the country?

Bravo! Targus gets the best post award in this thread!

I think the media needs to stop making this couple out to be heroes for breaking the law to see their beloved president. Gag! There's a huge rat here somewhere and it's probably tied to Obama's gigantic ego.

 

[abcgrad94]

It's a security issue - the heads of security and Homeland Security are upset and embarrassed.

As they should be. This situation reveals just how inept this administration is.

 

[Marcia]

I think the media needs to stop making this couple out to be heroes for breaking the law to see their beloved president. Gag! There's a huge rat here somewhere and it's probably tied to Obama's gigantic ego.

The media here is not making them into heroes but rather showing them as tacky trashy socialites who may have committed a felony.

 

[windcatcher]

The media here is not making them into heroes but rather showing them as tacky trashy socialites who may have committed a felony.

I would agree.....if it just stopped with the news.....
But it is on everything.... news, morning interview, inside edition, night line, entertainment tonight, the johnie carson look alikes (I ususally don't watch t.v..... but had it on low monitor wanting news of the president's speech and bad weather in our area... and kept flipping channels) IOWs it was there all over big time! Tacky and trashy they appear to be.....
But if you want to encourage behavior you give it some reward... and they want attention and they are getting it.
If you want to stop behavior you don't reward it.... and, if necessary, make it shameful showing it to be exactly what it is without window dressing.
The media rewards bad behavior and this couple is no exception!

 

[ReformedBaptist]

I'm surprised no one has posted a link to this story yet. This is really BIG news here. The Washington Post has had articles on it every day since it happened! What is disturbing is that this couple waltzed into the White House without an invititation (they got through at least 2 security check points). They could have been anybody. As one commentator said, they could have had anthrax or some kind of poison they could have released inside. And this was Pres. Obama's first state dinner (for the prime minister of India).

The first 2 links have good videos about this.

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/emails-show-salahis-white-house-state-dinner-invite/story?id=9215516


http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/11/26/dinner.whitehouse.crashers/index.html


http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-11-27-state-dinner-crashers-obama_N.htm

These people are not significant in politics or anything else. They owe lots of money and have lawsuits against them. Why are they even trying to act like they were invited?

Congress is actually going to have a hearing on this since they are taking this breach of security very seriously. I hope charges are pressed against them.

I heard about it and just didn't care.

 

[targus]

I read nothing about Obama being upset. It's a security issue - the heads of security and Homeland Security are upset and embarrassed.

Google this sentence: Interviewed Tuesday on MSNBC, Gibbs said "it's safe to say he was angry. Michelle was angry."

Gibbs is Obama's offical spokesperson.

 

[rbell]

Gibbs is Obama's offical spokesperson.

He's also the double for Peter Griffin in Fox's "Family Guy" cartoon.

 

[Marcia]

The Salahi's charity events, like their much-hyped polo affair, are apparently scams. It looks like they are con artists. They even claimed on the polo website that the President of the U.S. had attended, which is not true.

Tareq and Michaele Salahi's signature social event, the annual Land Rover America's Polo Cup, bills itself as the "world's most prestigious and largest . . . charity polo event," benefiting the Salahi-run charity Journey for the Cure. Its next U.S. gala is scheduled for June on the Mall. The two-day event is to center on a polo match between the United States, for which Tareq Salahi is the captain, and India. General admission tickets start at $25, "Cartier VIP tickets" are $600 to $1,000, and a lifetime membership is on offer for $100,000. The three-year-old polo cup's Web site says it has been "patroned every year by the President of the United States."



But many sponsors listed by America's Cup for 2010 -- including Land Rover, Cartier, the St. Regis Hotel in Washington and the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. -- say they are not sponsors for that event. Many vendors in previous years said in interviews that the Salahis have not paid for their services in the event's three-year history, expenses totaling about $500,000. Many have filed lawsuits, and the couple has countersued often. And there is no record of any president attending any of the polo cups.
Tareq Salahi told The Washington Post last year that the 2007 event raised $250,000 for charity and that he hoped to surpass that amount with the next event.


But the Journey for the Cure Foundation -- the event's beneficiary and a federally approved nonprofit 501(c)(3)-- reported that it received $18,608 in 2007, and donated $15,000 to its stated causes in 2007, state financial disclosure forms show. Amounts that low are not subject to detailed federal tax reporting. There is no documentation of any further donations. The foundation failed to register with state regulators for four years, leading the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to warn earlier this year that contributions "to such an organization could be used for non-charitable purposes." The foundation registered two weeks ago.


Meanwhile, the foundation says on its Web site that it is an "approved charity with Mission Fish," a nonprofit group that helps foundations raise money on eBay. But a Mission Fish vice president said Journey for the Cure was suspended in October over concerns about irregularities with its tax-reporting status.<MORE>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/01/AR2009120104654.html