Bombshell

Have you ever worked for somebody who had a secret life?

America Wants To Know has had that experience a couple of times.

Whether it's a mistress or illegal drug use or a personal life that is different than the image presented in public, an employer's secret life is something that employees learn to keep secret if they don't want to find another job.

And that brings us to the strange case of the Secret Service and the state dinner crashers.

It seems inexplicable that in the post-9/11 environment, anyone would be allowed into the executive mansion without proper authorization.

So if we want to figure out how two aspiring reality TV stars crashed a state dinner at the White House and got this close to the vice president...



And this close to the president...



...we should begin with the assumption that very capable and competent people -- Secret Service checkpoints are not staffed by part-time mall cops -- had a reason to believe that Tareq and Michaela Salahi were expected inside the White House even though their names weren't on any list.

It is probably an indication that people often come into this White House without having their names on the kind of document that can be requested under the Freedom of Information Act.

It might be a clue that the president keeps certain visitors secret from his wife and anyone in the White House social office who is loyal to her.

When you work for someone who has a secret life, you learn quickly that some people cannot be questioned and some questions cannot be asked.

Suppose you worked for the Secret Service during the Hypothetical administration. Suppose President Hypothetical had a series of mistresses who darted into the White House at all hours. Suppose one evening you're working the checkpoint when a pretty young thing shows up for a White House event and says, "The president's expecting me."

Should you: a) Turn her away; or b) Call the White House social office and tell the first lady's staff the young woman's name.

It's a trick question. It's career suicide either way.

The right answer, of course, is: Don't call anybody who's not supposed to know, and don't put anything in writing. Just run the woman through a metal detector and send her in.

We'll probably never know the full story of why the Secret Service allowed the former Redskins cheerleader and her husband into the White House. It's easy for government officials to argue that the details of presidential security can't be publicly disclosed.

But you'll know we've guessed correctly if the Secret Service declines to fire anybody over this incident and instead transfers the responsible employee to another job.

Smart people with secret lives never release disgruntled ex-employees into the wild, where they might be hunted down by TMZ.com or the National Enquirer. They keep them on the payroll in jobs that keep them happy.

Is ambassador to France still open?


Copyright 2009

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