Secret Service Shame
Photo Credit: Photo courtesy of AP Images
Daniel Bongino, a former Secret Service agent and U.S. Senate candidate in Maryland, speaks during an interview at the Associated Press on Tuesday, April 17, 2012 in New York. Bongino said that the agents under investigation for hiring prostitutes in Columbia while preparing for President Obama's visit "will pay for this forever." (AP Photo/ Peter Morgan)
Jessica Paradsyz, Staff Writer
April 18, 2012
Filed under Opinion
We all recognize them: the mysterious men dressed in black suits, fancy sunglasses, and an earpiece. They look as suave and sophisticated as European spies, but they are in fact the United States Secret Service.
Yet their cool, dignified persona is nothing more than a joke since it has been tainted by their actions last Wednesday night. Agents were preparing in their own way for the arrival of President Obama in Colombia. He intended to make trade agreements there. Who knew that protecting the President entails drinking and inviting local prostitutes to their hotel suites?
Eleven men are all on leave for their lewd actions at the Hotel Caribe. This incident could have gone down in secrecy if it were not for two men on the Counter-Assault Team engaging in a fight with a woman about money. The police and the U.S. Embassy were notified, and a list of guests signed in by agents was also confiscated.
This kind of behavior is not completely rare yet it should not be tolerated. What the men thought was just a fun, free for all turned into something shameful and disgraceful. The severity of their actions is only heightened because of their positions in government. Now their actions reflect badly on the president and the nation, branding the usually revered agents as untrustworthy.
As agents, the men have the very important and difficult role of protecting the president. These are the men who surround the President when he walks openly in his inauguration, the ones who need to act fast on any attempt to harm the Commander in Chief, the ones who should conduct themselves in a manner commensurate to their status.
Despite the ignominy that now surrounds the secret service and this trip to Cartagena, the most blatant fault is in that Obama could have been put in direct danger. All of the agents had a printed itinerary of Obama’s trip in their procession.
Hopefully the agency can bounce back from this scandal and be careful to learn from this incident so that history does not repeat itself. The nation is in the middle of a fight for the White House and this type of juvenile scandal is not warranted.
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It is a shame that even the presidents men have turned to prostitution. They are suppose to have some of the best jobs in the country. How are children suppose to be inspired to become someone like them when they are doing stuff like this. We can thank German influence for this too. Prostitution is legal in Germany and they say it stimulates their economy. They even tax it. Is this event of our Secret Service men a hint of what Obama wants to do?
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Dylan Almeida Reply:
May 1st, 2012 at 1:21 pm
If you’re going to post ignorant musings, at least put a real name to your words.
It’s a horrible and stupid thing, yes. The secret service were acting in their own interest and not doing their jobs. They got fired.
The President has nothing to do with this. He neither took part in their shenanigans, nor did he order them. Everything that occurs in government during a person’s presidency is not always directly influenced by the president. This isn’t a “mass conspiracy,” it’s just a bunch of, as Obama said, “knuckleheads” being stupid.
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It amazes me how government agencies do not learn, as the D.E.A. (Drug Enforcement Agency) was recently slapped with the same sex scandal charges as these 11 Secret Service men. So, in the interest of cynicism, what agency is next?
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