Lawrence O'Donnell does it.

[MohRokTah]

Just called for Julia Piersen to be removed as director of the Secret Service in the first moments of his show.

I agree with him.

[elleng]

1. and he just said 'that was darrell issa being perfectly reasonable!'

[Ilsa]

2. Question: Is part of the problem funding?

And wouldn't the head of Homeland Security have to answer for the low staffing levels in the Secret Service?

[JI7]

3. the incident in the elevator doesn't seem to have anything to do with funding

[GP6971]

7. Agree

Has to be incompetence and lack of awareness of the surroundings. They let a person get on an elevator with the President without a basic screening? Unbelievable.

The director and all involved need to have their asses fired......not reassigned. And then they need a hard assed security type take over (and not Allen West as a thread here earlier addressed).

[Ilsa]

15. True. That sounds like lack of experience and

poor communication, perhaps due to staffing constraints, among other things.

I employees need to feel valuable in their jobs, not overrun and exhausted. They sound like they are burned out.

[femmocrat]

6. That is what they were saying in the hearing.

Eleanor Holmes Norton blamed it on sequestration. Pierson said they were "borrowing" agents from other agencies so the SS could take vacation time.

I assume those are just some of the issues they need to investigate and remedy.

[mopinko]

18. when someone is off taking care of the directors girlfriend instead of on the fence

it's got nuthin to do with staffin.

[femmocrat]

4. I do too.

He said fire all those responsible for letting the fence jumper get through and that supervisor from the 11/11/11 shooting. He said there are 6500 jobs in the SS and anyone who cannot adequately protect the president should be reassigned.

Toss those agents from the elevator incident into the same unemployment pool!

[MohRokTah]

8. The Secret Service MUST be removed from the DHS, too.

Make them a stand alone organization that works with ALL government agencies but are separate from ALL government agencies to cease the political bullshit that goes with any federal bureaucracy of the size of DHS.

[femmocrat]

9. They used to be part of Treasury.

Some talking head said today that these problems worsened when it was moved to DHS.

[mountain grammy]

21. Yes, and FEMA too. This happened after 9/11 during W's reign.

Breaking good government one agency at a time.

[moondust]

5. Is she being sabotaged by the troops?

Who don't like the first woman director coming in and "changing the culture"?

I think some female agents should be interviewed about what's going on down in the ranks before anybody loses their job.

[underthematrix]

11. that may be a possibility. hopefully

we will get some evidence soon if the case

[Control-Z]

13. I hate to admit

that was my first thought. However, if it is the case then she should have reported it.

[moondust]

14. True, provided she had some evidence

and not just vague suspicions of some sort of conspiracy against her that could make her seem paranoid or something. I don't know how that would work.

[Control-Z]

23. I agree with everything you wrote.

Maybe just confiding in a (very) close friend. In writing and email.

Somehow I have trouble accepting this as just accidental.

[apples and oranges]

17. Maybe, but the President's safety comes first. She has to go.

They can investigate the WHYs later. In the meantime, get a qualified and-or effective team in place.

[moondust]

20. It shouldn't take long

to interview a few people and determine if there is anything that smells of a conspiracy. Punishing the wrong people is unjust and won't fix the problem. They can bring in some Marines if they need them.

[apples and oranges]

24. Actually, that would take a while

because if a conspiracy were found, then you'd have to investigate further into the who, what, where, when, how. A qualified team needs to come in NOW to protect the president. Fair or not, her job security should take a backseat right now.

[underthematrix]

10. sorry to say i have to agree

[flamingdem]

12. Lawrence is correct. Also it would be a sign to any wannabe

intruders that things have changed.

[Mass]

16. May be, but they also have to create a commission to study the problems

Piersen is the second Secret Service Director under which the Secret Service has been dysfunctional, so this is more than just a question of leadership. They need to study the other factors (being part of DHS, lack of credits, loss of qualified agents going to the private sector because they are better paid), ...).

[mopinko]

19. no, not she should resign- she should have tendered her resignation already.

i agree. and it is a sign of the complete lack of honor in OUR house.
in.the.fucking.white.house.

[Cleita]

22. What about the Marines who are trained to protect embassies?

Shouldn't they be moved in to protect the President and the White House as an emergency measure while the SS is reorganized from the top down? Or am I being naive?