It may have been a presumptuous and reprehensible stunt, but perhaps we should be grateful to Michaele and Tareq Salahi for talking their way into a presidential dinner last week. The incident emphasizes the need for better presidential security.
Self-important bluster and the right kind of clothes got them within an arm’s length of President Obama, but the opportunity won’t come again. The Secret Service will closely review its protective policies and quite likely tighten security around the president.
The agency emphasized that there was nothing to fear from this incident, and no one has disagreed. The Salahis, who still claim they were invited guests, apparently hoped only to profit socially and financially from their masquerade as presidential guests. Evidence of their Nov. 24 exploit was quickly posted on Facebook, and they appeared Tuesday morning on NBC’s “Today” show to clear up the regrettable “misunderstanding.”
But terrorists still pray for the opportunity to destroy symbols of democracy. And among those who resent this administration, rage and righteousness is an emerging theme. During the theater of outrage over health care reform this summer, the cameras showed pictures of incoherent fury, and armed “patriots” protesting presidential visits.
The president has been comfortable with the public, and his show of informality is part of his political appeal. But the Nov. 24 lapse signals the need for more intensive security, and it’s likely that the embarrassed commanders of the Secret Service will provide it.
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