BET Wire: A President and an Armed Ex-Con Get in an Elevator...
The Secret Service is under fire.
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In Case You Missed It - Julia Pierson, the first woman to head the Secret Service, is forced to resign after major White House security lapses and a grilling on Capitol Hill; President Obama says the intelligence community underestimated ISIS; Mitt Romney is still "sad" he's not president – and more. – Joyce Jones (@BETpolitichick)
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Have You Heard of ADT? - "If someone opens a window, or if a window is broken at my house, I have an alarm," Rep. John Mica (R-Florida) said to Secret Service head Julia Pierson at an Oversight Committee hearing on White House security lapses. "Have you ever heard of these guys? This is not very costly. You could subscribe."(Photo: C-Span)
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You Lost - “This is the Secret Service against one individual with mental illness, and you lost. You lost, and you had three shots at this guy – three chances, and he got to the green room of the White House. What happens when you have a sophisticated organization with nefarious intent and resources going up against the Secret Service? What happens then?” Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Massachusetts) asked Pierson. (Photo: C-Span)
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Gone But Never to Be Forgotten - After being grilled by Congress about security lapses and other problems at the Secret Service, director Julia Pierson's fate was sealed and she resigned the next day. “I think it’s in the best interest of the Secret Service and the American public if I step down. Congress has lost confidence in my ability to run the agency. The media has made it clear that this is what they expected,” Pierson said in an interview with Bloomberg News. “I can be pretty stoic about it, but not really. It’s painful to leave as the agency is reeling from a significant security breach.” (Photo: J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)
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Nail in the Coffin - Pierson lost what little White House support she had when she failed to inform the president of a major security lapse that occurred when he visited the Centers for Disease Control on Sept. 16 until moments before it was to be disclosed in the news. A security contractor, armed with a gun and a criminal record, was allowed to board an elevator with the president. Secret Service agents checked his background after he refused their orders to stop recording Obama with his cellphone and were surprised to learn he had been carrying a gun. Pierson did not disclose this information before or after the hearing or in a meeting with the president the week before. (Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo)
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She Had to Go - After hearing Pierson's testimony and a sleepless night over security, Rep. Elijah Cummings said the next day that she "has to go," a sentiment echoed by congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle. “As I told Ms. Pierson in our phone call earlier today, we appreciate her 30 years of service to our nation, to the Secret Service, and to multiple presidents. I absolutely respect her decision, and now we have to ensure that we focus on the difficult work of fully restoring the Secret Service to its rightful status as the most elite protective service in the world," the Maryland lawmaker said in a statement after Pierson stepped down. (Photo: C-Span)
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J'Accuse? - In an interview on 60 Minutes, Obama blamed the intelligence community for underestimating the threat posed by ISIS and "what had been taking place in Syria," prompting a backlash from intelligence experts and lawmakers who believe he has been too slow to act. (Photo: 60 Minutes via CBS)
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Right Back at You - "The same White House that said al Qaeda was decimated is now trying to blame the intelligence community for its own policy failures in Syria and Iraq," said Intelligence Committee member Sen. Dan Coats (R- Indiana) in response to Obama's accusation. "Shifting blame and shirking responsibility is not presidential or beneficial to the American people." (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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Two Small Victories - In a 2-1 ruling, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals suspended provisions of the Republican-backed law that would have eliminated same-day registration during early voting and voided ballots cast on Nov. 4 outside of a person's assigned precinct, the Associated Press Reports. "Whether the number is 30 or 30,000, surely some North Carolina minority voters will be disproportionately adversely affected in the upcoming election," wrote Judge James Wynn. "Once the election occurs, there can be no do-over and no redress." According to AP, the state's new voting law is considered to be one the toughest in the nation. (Photo: Travis Long, The News & Observer/AP Photo)
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A Ghandi Moment - Martin Luther King Jr. was deeply inspired Mohandas Gandhi’s teachings of nonviolence and civil disobedience. So it was only fitting that Obama decided to join India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a tour of the King Memorial. In addition, the gifts Modi presented to the president during his trip to Washington included memorabilia from what the late civil rights icon called "My Visit to the Land of Ghandi," in a 1959 article published in Ebony magazine. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images)
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Still Not Over It - Mitt Romney is still mourning his loss to Obama in 2012. Speaking at a political event in Georgia, the GOP nominee said he won't make another White House bid but he's "just sad I’m not able to be there either. I’d like to be in the White House.” He also took a poke at its current occupant and said that recent foreign crises are "in part the result of a president that just hasn’t been on the job as he needed to be. (Photo: Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)