Thursday, November 26, 2009

How Did They Get In?

I'm sure many of you have heard about Tereq and Michelle Salahi, the couple that crashed the White House state dinner on Tuesday night. According to Would-be Reality TV Stars Crash Obama Party, the couple was not on the guest list, but still managed to make it through the White House security and mingle in the same room as the other 300 plus guests in attendance. This being said, the couple was screened for weapons before entering, and therefore posed a minimal threat to President Obama and the other guests. 


Earlier this year in a preliminary interview for "The Real Housewives of DC," Michelle Salahi said, "President Obama has made it very accessible for anyone to visit the White House, so that's like a big thing right now." She and her husband proved this to be true on Tuesday night when they crashed the party. 


But I'm left to wonder how the Salahis were able to do this. The White House is one of the most secure places in America; It has to be for the President and his family to safely live there. But if it's one of the most efficiently guarded places in America, how can there be a large enough flaw in security that the Salahis were able to enter without difficulty? Is the President really safe? How does this mistake reflect on our country as a nation?

1 comment:

Lizzy said...

I think that this demonstrates a major problem with our country. We feel as if we have been a superpower for long enough that we can continue to thrive on reputation alone without putting forth as much effort. You said that "The White House is one of the most secure places in America" and yet the blog is about how a couple just walked right in. I think that the lack of security that we have evidence of would disprove the concept that this is a very secure building, but I also will continue to think about it as a safe place. Why? Because of its reputation.