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[commedieu]

Embattled U.S. Secret Service Director Julia Pierson, the first woman to lead the agency in charge of protecting the president, resigned amid criticism over a series of security lapses.

Pierson stepped down just 18 months after President Barack Obama selected her to take over a law enforcement agency that already had been tarnished by misconduct by agents.

“I think it’s in the best interest of the Secret Service and the American public if I step down,” Pierson said in an interview with Bloomberg News after her resignation was announced by the Department of Homeland Security. “Congress has lost confidence in my ability to run the agency. The media has made it clear that this is what they expected.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-...chief-pierson-resigns-amid-security-gaps.html

While on one hand... but on the other... seems like the right thing to do. I'd still like to congratulate the SS for not shooting and killing immediately, some how.

Collect them all if old.

 

[Guevara]

Lately it's like they're trying to drum up business, so to speak.

 

[Escape Goat]

Mrs Angry Sad Face

Good. She ran her agency with spectacular incompetence.

 

[Toki767]

That face about says it all.

 

[AstroNut325]

Great news. Hopefully someone more competent takes the role.

 

[Trouble]

Nice, blame the media. How dare they report how badly your agency has been fucking up lately.

 

[kirblar]

Wow, that face.

No way this wasn't going to happen in the wake of perhaps the first issue the GOP and Dems have been on the same side of in years.

 

[BrokenEchelon]

As she should. Gross incompetence is pretty unacceptable for that particilar branch.

 

[xxracerxx]

 

[ReturnOfTheRAT]

Gaps or gaffes?

 

[Pristine_Condition]

Good. She ran her agency with spectacular incompetence.

Really, this post (especially the last two words of this post,) says it all.

 

[studyguy]

Recall hearing her on NPR not too long ago saying it was an unfortunate issue and she promised to do better in the future. Some dude making it past the fence doesn't seem too bad. The other was someone shooting at the white house right?

 

[Rich!]

Just hire The Rock and Henry Rollins to stand guard at all times

Sorted

 

[antonz]

Recall hearing her on NPR not too long ago saying it was an unfortunate issue and she promised to do better in the future. Some dude making it past the fence doesn't seem too bad. The other was someone shooting at the white house right?

It turned out they covered up how severe the intrusion was. Guy got all the way inside the white house not just over the fence. If he had been a suicide bomber that would have been the end of the white house. They couldn't unleash the dogs on him because they screwed up and agents got between him and where the dogs are and they are trained to attack the first person they come across when released from their holders so they would have attacked agents.

 

[CrazyDude]

It turned out they covered up how severe the intrusion was. Guy got all the way inside the white house not just over the fence. If he had been a suicide bomber that would have been the end of the white house

Not only that but they let Obama ride and elevator next to and armed man with a criminal record.

 

[CrankyJay]

Not really surprised at this. The things that happened were pretty egregious.

 

[studyguy]

Ah, well that's just enough to warrant that face.

 

[davepoobond]

him not being shot and killed is being seen as a negative, it seems like.

 

[studyguy]

him not being shot and killed is being seen as a negative, it seems like.

Stack it right up there along with no Ebola outbreak yet. Thanks Obama, we wanted armageddon. The press is nutty.

 

[SliceSabre]

Secret Service has become way too lax. We pay their asses to make sure this kinda crap doesn't happen. Some fucker just running deep into the White House like that? I'm against gun violence and all but I fucking expect the Secret Service to blow a guy into fucking next week if they do some shit like that. Not to mention he actually was armed and over-powered someone.

Almost like they don't care that the president could be killed.

 

[ICKE]

I believe this is the correct decision. Why are they using female agents in such situations?

What if the man had carried an explosive device and detonated it? And then there was the other story how the White House was hit with bullet fire and the secret service was unaware it even happened. I don't know what is going on in the intelligence community - there is an attitude problem. Unaware of foreign threats like ISIS, collecting naked pictures of Americans and not able to even keep the White House secure.

 

[Boke1879]

him not being shot and killed is being seen as a negative, it seems like.

The fact that he wasn't even shot AT speaks volumes. He was running towards the White House and made it closer than people were told.

He easily could have been wired with bombs.

 

[PhoenixDark]

The chief isn't the only person who needs to be shitcanned. This is just window dressing, the entire department needs to be looked at.

 

[Tesseract]

 

[Wthermans]

him not being shot and killed is being seen as a negative, it seems like.

I think it's more that no outer patrols stopped him. The front door of the White House was unlocked. No one was guarding the Presidential Quarters. Etc.

Given that he made it through multiple layers of security and breached the home without so much as an alarm is a problem.

 

[watershed]

Not sure if she is to blame but the secret service has made some serious mistakes. Not only did the most recent intruder make it far into the white house with all the protocol breakdowns involved, but there was also the numerous prostitution issues, the defense contractor with a gun and a criminal background on an elevator with the president, and more.

 

[Slayven]

They ain't been right since they partied with those hookers.

 

[SteveWinwood]

"I'd still like to congratulate the SS for not shooting and killing immediately, some how."

really

really

 

[Kinyou]

I can't be the only one who instantly thinks of nazis when he reads "SS"

 

[Rentahamster]

.

Looks like she's got a case of Spitzer face.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/07/that-look-that-weiner-spitzer-clinton-look/

 

[Heroman]

him not being shot and killed is being seen as a negative, it seems like.

I mean a wild man running through the white house should have been shot ,he could killed a important people.. IMo.

 

[Prinz Eugn]

I can't be the only one who instantly thinks of nazis when he reads "SS"

Nope. The SS is the Schutzstaffel, but actually went by "SS" which is important in this context.

 

[CrazyDude]

I mean a wild man running through the white house should have been shot ,he could killed a important people.. IMo.

At the very least confronted.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

about time.

 

[SteveWinwood]

I can't be the only one who instantly thinks of nazis when he reads "SS"

thats what i was reallying

 

[Scoot McNairy]

If you're planning on running into the White House, you kinda do it on the basis that you'll probably be shot at some point during your journey. So it's not really too much of an issue if someone does get shot, as they've already signed and delivered the implied contract granting their consent to being turned into swiss cheese.

Is the reason they don't shoot a case of the likelyhood of missed shots hitting a member of the public out on the road? In that case, why not use crossbows? Excellent stopping power and short range means theres no danger to the public. There should at least be Raiders of the Lost Ark style automatic darts shooting out.

 

[Plaguefox]

image

Yes!

 

[PeskyToaster]

I actually would expect them to shoot to kill in that type of situation.

 

[Scoot McNairy]

I mean a wild man running through the white house should have been shot ,he could killed a important people.. IMo.

Is killing an important person worse than killing a non-important person? Why is a Kundunese life worth less to you than an American one?

 

[stufte]

Yes!

damnit, beaten!

 

[Heroman]

Is killing an important person worse than killing a non-important person? Why is a Kundunese life worth less to you than an American one?

THese people run the most powerful country on earth so killing anyone of them will major fucking problems so yes they are more important than s Kundunese life

 

[Konka]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-...chief-pierson-resigns-amid-security-gaps.html

While on one hand... but on the other... seems like the right thing to do. I'd still like to congratulate the SS for not shooting and killing immediately, some how.

Collect them all if old.

 

[Mars477]

Mind you the guy taking shots at the White House was back in 2011, before Pierson's tenure as director.

 

[NomarTyme]

Not surprising. This shit is huge embarrassment to a nation like the US.

 

[Kwixotik]

I believe this is the correct decision. Why are they using female agents in such situations?

Huh?

 

[water_wendi]

Even though it might not be her fault directly she needs to fall on the sword for this. Unacceptable.

 

[ICKE]

Huh?

Apparently the intruder broke through after he overpowered a female agent.

There is a reason why females are not used as bouncers in local bars. Same logic should apply when we are discussing about protecting the White House. This dynamic obviously does not apply to Julia Pierson but she had to go regardless.

 

[Mammoth Jones]

Apparently the intruder broke through after he overpowered a female agent.

There is a reason why females are not used as bouncers in local bars. Same logic should apply when we are discussing about protecting the White House. This dynamic obviously does not apply to Julia Pierson but she had to go regardless.

I don't care what gender you are but you should be a certain height and weight and have the ability to tackle an intruder. This is the White House we're talking about.

 

[Mars477]

Apparently the intruder broke through after he overpowered a female agent.

There is a reason why females are not used as bouncers in local bars. Same logic should apply when we are discussing about protecting the White House. This dynamic obviously does not apply to Julia Pierson but she had to go regardless.

She was at the front door when he burst through. There's a security failure there in that she should have locked the door when the perimeter alarms got triggered (the Diane Rehm show this morning talked about this) but a male agent would probably still get taken down by somebody coming at them through a closed door.

 

[RevoDS]

Those of you talking about incompetence, given that Obama is still alive despite having 3 times as many death threats as any other president, she probably didn't do that bad a job, did she?

Yes, there were screwups, but this job looks tough as hell. I wouldn't feel safe calling her incompetent without having the full account of what happened, and how she could have prevented them (which we definitely don't have publicly).