Systems & Secret Service

[H2O Man]

6. Definitely.

It sounds like the new acting director is of the high quality that the position demands. But systems are curious things, and tend to resist "change." Again, if we use the model of a mobile, we see that if one piece moves, all the others have to adjust, in order to maintain balance. Hence, any new "piece" -- especially one at the top -- that seeks to institute change will be met with resistance -- all the other pieces attempt to remain entrenched, to hold the new piece in place.

Everyone who has attempted, on any level, to institute change in a given system has heard, "But we've ALWAYS done it this way." And, from their perspective, that seems true. But the Secret Service clearly cannot continue with business as usual.

If, God forbid, there was an organized attempt to harm this president (or any future one), they would not need to destroy the entire group tasked with protecting him/her. All they need to do is to exploit the weakest link. And it is obvious that there are weak links at several levels. Perhaps the most troubling, in the context of systems, was the purposeful failure to report the screw-up that allowed the freak with the hand gun to be so close to President Obama in the elevator. The incident alone is obviously unacceptable. That supervision would seek to cover it up is just so wrong. And that went right to the top person, including when she faced congressional oversight this week.