White House Gate Crashers

Political Correctness: More than consequences-unintended consequences- A Risky Business

We find the alleged penetration of the President’s gathering for the prime minister of India far more serious than what appears in media coverage. The juxtaposition of the event to the Mumbai terrorist attack annual reflection on the lack of security is bothersome. We have been in the healthcare delivery management for decades, which includes physical security. Breaches of security happen more often than in other less accessible work environments. Security has to be balanced with other functions present in daily activities. Other activities are treated with less tolerance. Each time accounts of “wrong-side surgery” surface the first reaction is “how could this happen”? The answer usually rests with the erroneous assumption that everyone in the sequential chain did their job.

We have limited knowledge on the various protocols associated with White House Security. We would speculate that it also has a layered sequential chain of responsibility. The one question, which has yet to be asked is, had the couple’s name been Anglo-Saxon rather than Salahi and given name Tareq would it have happened? Did political correctness influence screener’s behavior along the way?

We will not speculate on the finding of the Army’s investigation of the events which led to the Fort Hood tragedy. We have reviewed the open source information on the life and times of Major Hasan through his military career and find it difficult to understand the acceptance of his behavior without question. Our long military careers include multiple phases of cultural integrations over time. We cannot imagine the acceptance of any degree of such behavior. It is difficult to explain these events outside of “Political Correctness” gone wild.