The "Dropped Ball" award goes to the Secret Service, as a couple slipped into the BHO state dinner Wed. and schmoozed and was even photographed with the V.P. They were not on the list, and many are relieved they were not there for another reason.
Pretty damn slick though...
http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/obama_salahi_state_dinner/2009/11/25/291180.htmlSecret Service: Couple Crashed Obama DinnerWednesday, November 25, 2009 11:48 PM
A couple auditioning for a reality TV show managed to slip past the U.S. Secret Service Tuesday night and attend the first state dinner given by President Obama honoring the prime minister of India.
Worse yet, the incident only became known Wednesday after the couple, Michaele and Tariq Salahi, publicized the incident on their Facebook page with a picture of them posing with Vice President Joe Biden.
It was not clear Wednesday night how close the Salahis got to Mr. Obama and his wife, Michelle, or to the guests of honor, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of India, and his wife, Gursharan Kaur. The couple are two Virginians who have been auditioning for a possible role in a different housewives TV franchise: “The Real Housewives of Washington,” The New York Times reported.
The lapse is particularly grave given that threats against President Obama are up over 400 percent compared to his predecessor, George W. Bush, according to Newsmax correspondent Ronald Kessler, who first detailed the threat increase in his book, "In the President's Secret Service."
Edwin M. Donovan, a spokesman for the Secret Service, said Wednesday night that “initial findings identified a Secret Service checkpoint which did not follow proper procedures,” allowing the couple to gain access to the festivities, even though their names were not on the invitation list.“It is important to note that these individuals went through magnetometers and other levels of security, as did all guests attending the dinner,” Mr. Donovan said in an e-mail message to the Times.
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Someone's not going to get a bonus this year,...or worse they will be transferred to protecting a "sensitive" VIP in Nome, Alaska...
