HAS “WHEELS UP, RINGS OFF” BECOME A COUNTER CULTURE IN THE SECRET SERVICE??
HAS “WHEELS UP, RINGS OFF” BECOME A COUNTER CULTURE IN THE SECRET SERVICE??
Hello Bloggers/Readers, I hope all of you are staying on top of the news and current events in this country and most importantly communicating.
Today I need to discuss a subject that has become a national news event and has been an incident that will continue to impact my life. I say this because the agency that I spent most of my adult life working for has been brought to its knees. Literally, brought to its knees. I worked for the U.S. Secret Service for 25 years. During this time, I never would have imagined agents of this elite agency would ever lower themselves to a level that would bring so much disgrace to this country, the Secret Service and to the President of the United States!
To say I am very angry would be putting it mildly. How could these guys act in a manner that is not only unprofessional but stupid? I have always believed agents of this agency should be held to a higher standard of ethical conduct. If after an initial investigation, it is determined that the allegations are true, then I think those involved should be fired. (I just recently learned that some of the agents have already been fired or removed; but the damage is already done and the prestige of the agency will forever be tarnished).
Some may say that because prostitution is legal in that country, the agents didn’t do anything criminal. That is not the point!! They were there to provide protection for the President and were representing their country…our country. There were so many bad things that could have occurred that would’ve or could’ve impacted the security mission. The agents had the President’s schedule, persons he was to meet with, places he would be visiting, etc. What if a terrorist group had used the prostitutes as a plant to either gain security information, to perhaps assassinate the President, or harm the agents and security personnel, or embarrass this country?? The President was there to meet with other heads of countries and this incident over-shadowed the entire Presidential conference. The President had to respond to questions regarding this incident while at the conference. Prostitution in this country is mostly illegal; but we have had members of Congress, heads of city government, etc., who have been identified as being customers of prostitutes. They have kept their jobs; some have gotten other visible positions. Doesn’t this send a negative signal and give an impression that these acts are excusable and condoned??
I retired from the Secret service in 1990 and I hope the culture of “the Service” hasn’t deteriorated to a point where their protective mission is compromised. The director of “the Service” has to take a thorough look at his agency and make the necessary changes to prevent a re-occurrence of this sort of situation. The people of this country are entitled to expect people in these positions to be beyond reproach. This should be demanded of all government employees… The President, Congress, judges, agency heads, employees, etc. Yes there will be some mistakes… That is human nature; but swift action needs to be taken in incidents of this type or these acts will be repeated.
I still have problems believing this incident and understanding why it happened. I appeared on a local television station this week and discussed my career and what should be done to the agents involved. This is not a “sweep under the rug” situation or a “too big to fail” scenario. The life of a President could be at risk!