The New Conspiracy

Throughout my life, the JFK Assassination has been the subject of speculation and conspiracies.  Over the years, I have bought into some of the conspiracies, discarded them, accepted the Warren Commission's conclusions, and finally shrugged with apathy.  Of course, that happened before I was born.

The shot at Trump a week ago has already spawned speculation and conspiracies.  There is a claim that there were 2 shooters: Thomas Crooks and a man on the water tower.  The photo of the 'man' on the water tower has the same sharp picture quality of most UFO sightings.  Another fellow states that the rifle reports sound different, indicating different guns and/or different locations.  The plentiful reports that Crooks was observed acting suspiciously before the event and spotted on the roof with a rifle well before he fired looks really bad for the Secret Service.  During one press conference, a police officer admitted that the shooter was confronted on the roof, but the officer retreated when the rifle was aimed at him.  What?!  How did that not lead to the immediate evacuation of President Trump?

Then we have the conspiracies.  Some claim Trump arranged the shooting to gain sympathy.  Really?  Others say his ear was cut by glass from a shattered teleprompter.  There is even a theory that the massive computer crash of yesterday was a CIA op to allow them to wipe out evidence that would show they planned the assassination attempt.  Right.  Any regular reader of this blog is aware that I have a low opinion of government and the following quote probably explains the security blunders from last week.

Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.

Robert J. Hanlon

After hundreds of events over a period of many years, people get lazy.  Nothing ever happens.  Look how often TSA fails.  How long have people claimed that terrorist are flooding over the southern border (I am among them) and yet no big terrorist attacks.  See.  It doesn't make a difference.  Apathy sets in.  A year ago, maybe just one thing was missed before a rally, but now lots of things are overlooked.

Since Trump survived, this incident won't rise to the level of the JFK Assassination, but it will be the focus of conspiracy theories for the next several years.

Security Incompetence

Just over two years ago, someone jumped the White House fence and got into the building.  Last night, someone tried to repeat that.  Where the last fellow had a knife, this one had a backpack that, happily enough, did not contain a bomb (only mace, a laptop, a book by Trump, and a letter for President Trump).  If there is any place in government that one would expect to be secure, the White House is high on the list.  If this 'troubled' fellow could get so close to the White House, imagine what would happen if a professional tried it.  After the 2014 incident, one expected a shakeup with the Secret Service.  Apparently, that didn't happen.

The Secret Service has seen a lot of scandals in recent years and is in desperate need of reform.  Until a few years ago, I had a great deal of respect for the Secret Service.  Indeed, it is hard not to admire men and women who volunteer to take a bullet for those they protect.  I don't know if the agency is actually in decline or a long pattern of bad behavior has finally leaked out.  Perhaps when the Department of Homeland Security is disbanded (wishful thinking, I know), the Secret Service can return to the Treasury Department.

White House Down

Having just watched Olympus Has Fallen, I decided to watch its competitor.  The events are surprisingly similar - not only do we have another president held hostage in the White House, we have a Speaker of the House become President.  However, this one is extremely political.  Whereas I did not know the party affiliation of the characters in Olympus, that is not the case here.  President Sawyer (Jamie Foxx) is a thinly veiled Barack Obama.  Really, the guy wants to pull troops out of the Middle East and is having high level talks with Iran!  The Speaker of the House is a wicked evil traitor who is in the pocket of the military industrial complex; his first order of business is to keep US troops in the Middle East.  Of course, President Sawyer's plan to withdraw all US forces from the Middle East is declared a success in the film's epilogue, with both Iran and Israel jumping eagerly at the opportunity.  All you need to do is give peace a chance.

Thanks to high-level traitors in the government, this White House take-over comes across as less ludicrous.  Agent Walker (James Woods), head of the Secret Service in the White House, would have the best chance of sneaking a special ops team into the White House.  Such a command position allowed him to undermine a proper response - misdirecting responders - so long as he was still viewed as loyal.  However, it seems highly unlikely that a man whose son was killed on an operation ordered by the president would retain that position.

 

The action was great and it was funny to see the buddy cop vibe between the president and John Cale (Channing Tatum).  There was a surprising amount of comedy in the movie.  The President switching to sneakers in the residence, a villain putting a call on hold, the Vice President's aide hanging up on the president's call, and even the White House Tour Guide was funny: "Tour's over."  If not for the overt political message, I'd have liked this film a lot more.

Security Breach

A man jumped the fence and made it into the White House.  How could that possibly happen?  That is a failure of such a magnitude that I have a hard time believing it.  I would sooner have thought someone had gotten into Fort Knox and run off with a few gold ingots.  With this kind of failure, there had best be a handful of firings at the Secret Service.

This is a timely breech of security.  Access to the White House is controlled to make sure that no one who intends harm to the President is allowed to enter.  By the same reasoning, we have borders and immigration laws.  It has been reported that Middle Easterners have been captured crossing the southern border.  Most likely, those who have been caught - and the inevitable fraction who slipped through - are only seeking a better life.  But we don't know for sure.