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Loose Canons

Lost Sense of Duty

By on 4.23.12 @ 6:09AM

If the Secret Service can’t get it back, it might as well merge with the GSA.

The mindless gnomes of the General Services Administration and the highly-trained agents of the United States Secret Service have one thing in common: they are all federal civil servants. But the difference between them, and the import of the scandals now hanging heavily over both agencies, are symptoms of something bigger that we ignore at our peril.

We expect very little from the GSA, and we get it. The GSA culture on display in the planning, execution, and celebration of their infamous $800,000 Las Vegas conference was the inevitable result of the permissive “you’ll die before you can get fired” culture that predominates many federal bureaucracies. The GSA’ers are fat, dumb, and happy in their jobs and have no interest in being responsible stewards of the public purse. Like so many other dysfunctional agencies, GSA should be disbanded entirely, which can be done without much effect on anything else.

The GSA scandal gives the lie to the liberal ideology. More government isn’t better government. More government, and an ever-expanding unaccountable bureaucracy, means more waste, fraud, and misbehavior by civil servants who don’t believe they’ll ever be fired for bad job performance.

But the Secret Service is not the GSA, the Department of Education, or HHS. It’s a law enforcement agency, an intelligence agency and it has close connections to the military. It and the rest of the law enforcement community have a lot in common with the military in terms of culture, mindset and — most importantly — sense of duty.

When a dozen or more Secret Service agents chose to party with hookers at the Hotel Caribe in Cartagena, Colombia, their decision was a deviation from the military-law enforcement culture which needs to be as closely examined as the misbehavior they apparently engaged in. Part of it may be a diminution of character, as Peggy Noonan wrote in the Wall Street Journal.

But it is much more than that. The deviation from Secret Service practice and tradition demonstrated by the hooker party was a knowing and intentional abandonment of their duty.

Duty is a concept little known outside the military and law enforcement communities. Military members and law enforcement officers — including Secret Service agents — take an oath which requires them to perform the duties of their office and obey the lawful orders they are given with the understanding that those duties may cost them their lives. Like the military, the Secret Service people are volunteers. And, like military members, Secret Service agents undertake those risks willingly and by taking their oath, they seek to be a part of something larger than themselves.

Those who seek to be a part of a larger-than-self organization do so because of the pride it instills in them. They dedicate themselves to the training and discipline that is necessary to meet the standards of their cohorts. They work and train when they’re off duty, running on their own time, shooting at public ranges and building the kind of tight-knit teams that can function together quickly and reflexively. Like the military, by that kind of “muscle memory” teamwork, Secret Service agents do what they’re sworn to do, whether it’s thinking about an investigation or throwing themselves over a president to take a bullet.

And in those off-duty times, duty is ever-present. Yes, character is part of it. Men of character don’t carouse with prostitutes wherever they find themselves, they don’t take illicit drugs or hit the booze to an extent that they can’t be at 100% alertness and strength to do their jobs when they report for duty — that word again — the following day.

The sense of duty — a deep commitment — isn’t something a person who is dedicated to their purpose can abandon. It’s ingrained in body and soul, a habit and creed. When people abandon it with malice aforethought, as the suspects in the Cartagena incident apparently did by planning the big party in advance, that act bespeaks of an abandonment of duty that runs too deep for the agency to function. The fact that two Secret Service supervisors are among them tells me that the problem is not something that can be solved by firing a few people. And, if you believe the U.S. News and World Report study of the Secret Service from a decade ago, these problems have been building for too long without anyone taking them on.

The investigation of the Cartagena incident continues, and there are reports that other agents will be fired or retired. Those involved shouldn’t be retired: if accountability has any meaning at all, they should be fired for cause, deprived of their retirements, and cast out as the misfits they are. When that’s over, Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan may have to go.

We don’t — thankfully — know the daily inner workings of the Secret Service, nor should we. We don’t know if its culture has been so damaged that its history of valor and skill has been betrayed completely. I doubt that is the case. But from the obvious failure in Colombia we can see one problem and a solution to it.

One thing we can deduce from the facts we have is that the system of peer pressure, which supports the sense of duty in all within the group, has apparently failed in the Secret Service. Like the military, its people train, practice, and work as a team and it’s the team members who work hard to train to satisfy each other as much as to satisfy the training regs. It’s a matter of pride and sense of duty. If the team feels no need to discipline itself, the sense of duty fails. Without that sense, that common purpose, the Secret Service becomes nothing more than the GSA.

The solution will be found among the youngest and the oldest of the Secret Service cadres. The director, whether it is Sullivan or his successor, needs to go among them himself, taking the time to find a few dozen who not only have the strongest sense of duty but the leadership skills to re-instill it across the agency. That’s the hard part.

The easy part will be for those leaders to take a mandate from the director and restore a culture of duty, honor, and country that must predominate agents’ thinking. The damage done by the Cartagena incident will be deeply felt by every agent worth his salt. The team the director selects will be able to spot the remaining bad apples, and there will be some who have to be sent packing. For the others, a restoration of pride and purpose will come quickly and will last as long as every agent takes it as his personal responsibility to have a sense of duty as his — and his fellow agents’ — purpose in life.

About the Author

Jed Babbin served as a Deputy Undersecretary of Defense under George H.W. Bush. He is the author of several bestselling books including Inside the Asylum and In the Words of Our Enemies. You can follow him on Twitter @jedbabbin.

Letter to the Editor View all comments (148) |

Appleby| 4.23.12 @ 7:25AM

Just as Aldouis Huxley laid out in "Brave New World," all you have to do to get a culture like this one is reduce everybody to the status of "teenager" and keep them there -- plenty of drugs, sex, and entertainment, and the world reduced to a Party School, and then the puppet masters can go about the business of running the world without interference.

If any of these guys are your children, you need to trace back to where this truck went off the road and start pointing it out to people for whom it may yet be not too late.

Jack in Wi.| 4.23.12 @ 8:07AM

The Secret Service who pimped for Kennedy and covered for Clinton, has never been much of a moral organization. I personally had quite an experience with them, by the way.

In 1964 I was a student at a Milwaukee university. It was 3 days before the presidential election and LBJ was coming to town for a campaign appearence. I was walking in the student union when I saw a group of young Republicans with some campaign signs. They told me they were going to demonstrate against Johnson. I wasn't a member but got a couple signs and said I would join them. The sign I chose for myself said Barry is better.

I went and got a friend who owned a small business and headed for the park. The park was in an old Polish neighborhood and heavily Democrat.
We parked far away and were walking with some people headed for the rally. All of a sudden it was a madhouse and everyone was running around. I looked around and saw that Johnson was sitting on the steps of a house right where I was standing. He was no more then 25 feet from me sitting, with an old Polish grandmother.

Johnson had seen the woman, stoped his car, jumped his security, and had gone and sat down with the old lady and was talking to her. I had this sign Barry is better. I decided it would be fun to go up to him and stand next to him with the sign over his head. Nobody stopped me and that is just what I did. I held the sign right over his head for at least 30 seconds, then sanity returned, and I went down to the sidewalk, and marched in front of the house with the sign. I guy finally came up to me and told we to get the hell away from there. I told him to go to hell it was a public sidewalk. He pulled the sign from my hands and pushed me to sidewalk. I was sure lucky they didn't arrest me. My friend told me I had been covered with submachine guns while they figured what to do. One false move and you wouldn't have dear old Jack here spilling his vast wealth of wisdom and knowledge.

Now we kept going to the park and joined up with the young Republicans. We were a small, loud group. We gave old LBJ the worst heckling he had ever had in his political career. Everytime he told another whopper we hooted and laughed. The old boy was flumoxed and told the Democrat governor Reynolds. ' You sure have some nice people here. '

The newspapers all over the country the next day had pictures of Johnson with the old lady. Those were taken after I left. The press was just coming up as I left. I remember Dan Rather walking toward me from the bus. The heckling Johnson got also was a huge aprt of the story. In many stories they mentioned how good humored we were and how Johnson didn't handle it well. I rememeber looking down on Johson's head and that he had very thin hair.

Boar Hunter| 4.23.12 @ 9:42AM

One wonders how you could reach the age you claim and still be such a shinning example of idiocy concerning so many subjects.

Having spent your life divorced from truth and reason, you have become so emotionally attached to the fantasy life you have created that you seemingly cannot find your way back to reality.

Is your decision to live as a bitter, morally bankrupt, pathetic old man the reason your wife left you?

Never encouragement, always focusing your bitter, angry resentment toward some imaginary wrong doing by the Jews or evil conservatives, all while trying to assure everyone your not a racist because you once worked in a black neighborhood.

As an old man, you should be teaching young men how to better themselves. You in fact do teach lessons they need, but it's always through the hateful, cowardliness and vitriol they see embodied in your transparent lies.

Why don't you take a day off from your incessant, unwanted blathering and spend it with your son?

It might be a good opportunity to apologize for the harm you have done to him. I suspect that he may love you and still be a man of some merit, despite, rather than because you mentored him.

JT| 4.23.12 @ 10:18AM

Thank you Boar Hunter, you summed up this clown up perfectly. Post of the Year candidate.

Jack in Wi.| 4.23.12 @ 11:53AM

Go check the newspapers of Friday and Saturtay before the elctions in 1964, especially the Milwaukee Journal. There are plenty of stories about Johnson's visit, The old lady on the porch, and the heckling Johnson got from the young Republicans. I would think more like Forrest Gump then Zelig. Anyhow why do I care if a pig hunter like Boar here believes me or not?

Alan| 4.23.12 @ 1:52PM

Yeah, I can see a self professed coward like you comparing himself with somebody who was a Military Medal of Honor Award winning combat veteran albeit fictionally. Somehow I always throught of Forest Gump as being a Jew hating Antisemite, yeah I can see that now. One thing I can see though, Forest Gump was smarter than you.

Boar Hunter| 4.23.12 @ 3:43PM

For the record, I was commenting on your idiotic statement concerning the Secret Service.

As for the rest of this particular post, I personally could care less about your useless self aggrandizing. Your blathering on and on about some golden moment in the sun from forty years ago probably has as much merit as your claim to have been in bar fights.

You don't care what I think? Well, don't respond to me then. Based on the views and opinions you have previously expressed, what makes you think I care at all about what your perverted and delusional opinion on any topic is?

Since facts are irrelevant to your Jew hating ass, am I to debate you? Am I to vote for Ron Paul because of your persuasive arguments? The less I have in common with you the better.

Oh and by the way, why did your wife leave?

JT| 4.23.12 @ 4:08PM

Hell, if I was his dog I would have left him.

Boar Hunter| 4.23.12 @ 4:24PM

Thanks JT, that made me giggle just a little bit.

Occam's Tool| 4.24.12 @ 5:41PM

I do believe you, Jack. I believe, as well, since Kennedy had been shot in 1963 and you were acting like a loon in 1964 in LBJ's personal space, that shooting you would have been justified.

And then stomping your corpse to make sure it could not move, rolling over it with a bulldozer, covering it with shit, and then lighting it on fire.

And I like Barry Goldwater, by the way.

Doctor Right| 4.23.12 @ 10:03AM

Jack is the Zelig of this forum...or the Walter Mitty.

Take your pick.

Jack in Wi.| 4.23.12 @ 11:59AM

I am one of the only optomists here. I believe in Divine Justice, and heaven and hell. I follow the Prince of Peace and His teachings not the gods of war and mayhem like you 2 birds. Jesus said. " My Kingdom is not of this world. " There will never be heaven on earth. I don't look for an earthly political savior.

Mike Hawk| 4.23.12 @ 1:11PM

Optimist my hairy rearend. You are more a purveyor of doom. Dark clouds follow you like Joe Btfsplk.

Occam's Tool| 4.23.12 @ 3:29PM

"Optimist," you illiterate loon. You do your best to help see millions of Jews murdered. Jesus would spit on your face.

TLP| 4.23.12 @ 3:48PM

The Prince of Peace was a Jew.

IDIOT.

loulou| 4.23.12 @ 12:39PM

Jacksh*t is a crashing bore hanging around Polish neighborhoods.

Jack in Wi.| 4.23.12 @ 1:03PM

Come on loulou Polish girls are cute. I ought to know I went to high school that was about 80% Polish. I have to say at the time I was one of the few kids who wasn't for Kennedy in the 1960 election. I was also one of the non Polish minority.

Nick| 4.23.12 @ 1:37PM

Come on, Jack-boot, Poles are Slavs, and were part of your beloved Hitler's Final Solution.
You anti-Semites will always be in the minority, by the way.

Jack in Wi.| 4.23.12 @ 9:34PM

I like all kinds of women. But I have been faithfully married for many years. I think Nick here is slightly wacky. Maybe he is a little frustrated and needs a good women himself. Anyhow: The only thing I preach around here is peace, truth, tolerance, and love of neighbor.

Alan| 4.23.12 @ 2:48PM

"I have to say at the time I was one of the few kids who wasn't for Kennedy in the 1960 election".

Were aghast, and probably the only one voted for George Lincoln Rockwell as a write in.

Alan Brooks| 4.24.12 @ 1:47AM

"Were aghast, and probably the only one voted for George Lincoln Rockwell as a write in."

Better George Lincoln Rockwell than George Walker Bush!

Nick| 4.23.12 @ 1:34PM

Doctor Right,

Jack-boot is more like Dr. Mengele, in The Boys from Brazil.

Occam's Tool| 4.23.12 @ 3:27PM

Damn. The USSS lost a great chance to aid the public commonweal when they didn't shoot, Jack.

I have had two professional dealings with the USSS. Both times it involved executive branch safety, and both times they were the model of professionalism. This was during the George HW Bush administration.

You are a moron, Jack. I belonged to YAF in 1980, and voted for Reagan. However, as a student at TCU, I didn't behave badly.

Boar Hunter| 4.23.12 @ 4:22PM

As usual, Jack was simply running his mouth and demonstrating himself to once again to be an idiot.

It is not without reason that we call them the "Secret" Service. These men and women are patriots who work quietly behind the scenes. Their sense of honor and selfless devotion to duty surpasses anything Jack can imagine. Having no honor, Jack cannot fathom the existence of those who possess it. As a coward, Jack cannot understand what would motivate someone to put their life in harms way, even if that person were someone they despised.

Do you think every employee of that agency voted for Obama in the last election? Self centered, cowardly and egotistical, Jack simply cannot believe anyone would really willingly choose to place their life on the line for another.

But these, some of our finest hero's, are called to place America's interest above that of their political opinions, their disdain for, or love of any particular president. They have for years done so without scandal or thought to sell scandals concerning any of our presidents and rightfully so.

I understand that they have probably been bound by legal action concerning non-disclosure. I understand also that to most it would not matter. Hopefully the fall of a few will not sully the reputation of these fine men and women.

Jack in Wi.| 4.23.12 @ 9:22PM

Boar hunter is just an ass licker to power and big government. Real conservatives recognize that the military and the police are necessary evils that have to be kept under tight control.

Jack in Wi.| 4.23.12 @ 9:28PM

Occam: Thankfully I never belonged to any political youth groups. I might have turned out as demented and evil as you are. I had 2 meeting with George H.W. Bush and his wife Babs. I think I will write a report of those meetings as well. I have pictures to prove it. The second one was almost as memorable as my meeting with LBJ.

RCV| 4.23.12 @ 5:44PM

It's comforting know that the Secret Service was able to spot a lunatic, even at that young age.

Jack in Wi.| 4.23.12 @ 9:20PM

The Secret Service didn't spot me. I was carrying a big sign that said, ' Barry is better ' and got up and stood next to the President with the sign directly over his head. Well Johnson was always jumping his security. He loved to race over the hill country of Texas in his big Lincoln with a beer can in one hand and try to get away from the Service. He even took reporters along on some of his escapades.

Bob K.| 4.23.12 @ 11:36AM

This is egregious behavior but really not surprising as it comes from an old and very large bureaucracy that has become rotten over time.

It is the nature of bureaucracies as they get older and larger to lose their sense of purpose and their integrity.

Jerry Pournelle stated it best in his "Iron Law of Bureaucracy."

To wit: In any bureaucracy there are two kinds of people: First there are those dedicated to the goals of the organization and then there are those dedicated to the Organization itself. The Iron Law states that those in the second category will always end up running the bureaucracy!

Read more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Pournelle

Alan Brooks| 4.23.12 @ 7:11PM

I like Jack's story, it has the ring of truth to it; such was what the '60s was like-- serendipitous. Jack, my dad ran a political 'newspaper', a little one-page newsletter that only his friends ever read. In '60 he interviewed JFK, an unmemorable interview except that another 'reporter' told him JFK had been with a woman at a hotel the night before. I was so young, I thought the woman was maybe his Grandmother or something.

"how nice", I thought, "he is running for president and he stays with his Grandmother at a hotel."

Jack in Wi.| 4.24.12 @ 12:40AM

Thanks Alan: It's true alright and I am glad nothing happened in my couple minutes of foolishness.

Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 4.23.12 @ 7:32AM

Why would government agents hire hookers unless they learned this behavior at some point in their career?

I suspect that we will find this type of behavior is pervasive and had been engaged in for many years.

I worked in a federal law enforcement agency for 30 years and can tell you that culture change is difficult.

I observed several careers go down the tubes by those who tried to enforce rules in similar situations. Commitment to standards is often dependent on top ranks. On occasion those top rank types are very political, giving lip service to high standards while ignoring bad practices.

While some bad apples will be fired, many more will remain behind because the investigations will be limited and few will come forth with the facts.

benny havens| 4.23.12 @ 7:58AM

Mr.Babbin, what goes along with Duty, Honor, Country is “I will not lie, cheat or steal and will not tolerate anyone who does.” How many agents knew this behavior was going on and didn’t say anything? It is not just supervision that needs to take action; the agents themselves must speak up and force the bad apples from their ranks.

Kenny| 4.23.12 @ 8:13AM

"I suspect that we will find this type of behavior is pervasive and had been engaged in for many years."

Exactamente!

Old Soldier| 4.23.12 @ 10:37AM

"Why would government agents hire hookers?"

Seriously? I don't know, all the other kids are doing it?

Not Special Ops Bill| 4.24.12 @ 10:01AM

Now THERE'S a compelling argument!

Ret. Marine| 4.23.12 @ 7:49AM

The rot starts at the head, and we know who the reflection is, don't we. Obama's bin ly'n. That's all that is needed to be said. As it is proven by him daily, lies all lies and that' it. Who could be trusted to cover up the lies, of course the liars.

I have not lost any respect for those who volunteer service to this Nation, it's just I have never trusted a politician, of course a natural trait of a good politician is a really good liar. Semper Fi.

cali| 4.23.12 @ 8:44AM

I think you are onto something!

Maybe because the rot starting at the top; the constant bashing of military and, that corruption within it upper brass, has something to do with it.

Everything related to government at this time is breaking down, corrupted and, out of control.

I do believe there is more to this story and, involves more than the Secret Service. Most likely it will be covered up as the Fast and Furious or the other scandels - known and unkown - with this current administration.
I also want to add, Hillary's behavior was not exemplar either; sure she has a right to have fun.
That is not my point; the Americana summit was a total failure -unreported by the msm.

Peter Gee| 4.23.12 @ 3:00PM

What was that all about?... is that what people refer to as verbal diarrhoea?

Go back to school and think about how to write a simple but coherent 10 line comment (PLEASE!)

Boar Hunter| 4.23.12 @ 5:13PM

You liberals are so funny!

You spelled diarrhea wrong (even with a spell check function), can't spell the name of your favorite movie, which, by the way, you retard, is spelled Brokeback, not "Brockback" Mountain. You have absolutely no concept of punctuation, but deign to chastise others as lacking schooling?

Like most liberals your stupidity and hypocrisy is boundless.

cali| 4.24.12 @ 2:14PM

Don't be so judgemental - english is my 2nd language; how many languages do read and, write or speak?
I do try my best though!

TLP| 4.23.12 @ 9:20AM

You're absolutely right. The Fish Rots from the head, down......IF you're a Republican President. Then, everything is your fault. Gas Prices, Food Prices, Housing Prices, Unemployment, Crime Rates, War Casualties, Political Scandels.

I think we all know what would be going on over at WAPO, if a Republican President had given a "Get Outta Jail Free Card" to a bunch of White Supremecists who had been wearing Military Fatigues, Brandishing Police type Batons, and assaulting Black Voters as they came up to a Voting Place, in Philadelphia, Mississippi.

I think we all know what the New York Times would do if it was a Republican President who was RUNNING GUNS to Mexican Drug Cartels, without the knowledge of the Mexican Government.

I think we all know what the LA TIMES would be writing, non stop, if a Republican President's ILLEGAL Gun Running Scheme, to Mexican Drug Cartels, had been responsible for over 1,000 Murdered Mexican Men, Women, and Children.

And I think we know what the AP would have done, when they found out that this Republican President had done all of this, and gotten all of those Innocent Brown People KILLED, in an effort to Create a Crisis that he could Exploit for his own Pet Program. In this case: The Leftist's Holy Grail of Gun Control.

I too, have not lost my respect for the Men and Women who serve this Country. Just their Commanders, both in, and out of uniform.

I can't recall this kinda stuff on a Republican's watch.

It seems like very time there's a Soft on Crime, Weak on Defense, Military Hating, U.N. Loving, Blame America First, Democrat in the White House, it goes from "To Protect and to Serve". To "When in Rome".

And, YES, I question these Democrat's Patriotism. Every last one of these MFers.

Ya wanna fight about it?

Boar Hunter| 4.23.12 @ 9:45AM

I do and I will stand proudly at your side.

Peter Gee| 4.23.12 @ 3:04PM

That is so sweet! Is that like the two guys in Brockback Mountain... now I get why the dadt policy was so important for the military. A true confirmation of the love and duty for each other. GO USA USA!

Boar Hunter| 4.23.12 @ 4:36PM

Seriously "Brockback Mountain" That was a laughably impotent attempt to offend.

Regardless of my race, creed, sexual orientation or political views; why would I be offended by what an American hating, skirt wearing liberal that has to squat to pee thinks about anything?

Occam's Tool| 4.23.12 @ 3:31PM

Yes and no, TLP. I want to fight with you, not against you.

Von Mises Jr| 4.23.12 @ 10:01AM

G-d blesses you, Ret. Marine. My thoughts exactly.

The Secret Service takes an Oath to the Constitution of the United States. The Usurper-in-Chief urinates on the Constitution every week. The Congress sits quietly in the back of the room hoping that they will get to stay in the room with the tyrants of the new regime. The Justice Department flouts the law, and the EPA attacks our property.
So why should these well intentioned men risk their lives for these scum?
Boar Hunter references marriage. If your wife turns out to be a whore, would you still love, respect and stand by her? So why should these men risk their lives for a class of political whores?

C Smith| 4.23.12 @ 12:52PM

"The rot starts at the head, and we know who the reflection is, don't we...."

Ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee Sen. Chuck Grassley, questioned the U.S. Secret Service about involvement of White House in the Colombian prostitution scandal:

“Did the Secret Service reserve rooms at the Hotel Caribe or other hotels in Cartagena, Colombia for representatives of the WHCA or the White House Advance Team?... If so, have records for overnight guests for those entities been pulled as part of the investigation conducted by [the Office of Professional Responsibility] or [the Office of the Inspector General]? If not, why not?”

C Smith| 4.23.12 @ 1:02PM

Lieberman is joining Senate colleagues like Republican Chuck Grassley in calling for a broader investigation of whether White House staffers were involved.

Peter Gee| 4.23.12 @ 2:52PM

No Ret Marine,
the rot starts from within the military establishment. Look at the numerous attrocities committed by the Marines, Army et al. What a bunch of morally bankrupt organizations and individuals. And all this garbage about "DUTY". What a croc of s##t! You guys only want to go off and commit these attrocities under the protection of the flag of the USA and the bogus war time agreements.
BTW I am sure you accused GWB II of being responsible for the murder at Haditha; innocent children and women in their homes - really?

Drunken Sailor| 4.23.12 @ 5:12PM

Just from your drivel I can tell you never served. The military has it's crude, juvenile idiots, just like the rest of society (where in the hell do you think they come from?). But to judge them all that way is a sad interpretation on your part. I have stood next to many a duty bound, honorable, Marine, Army, Navy, Airforce and Coast Guard member and would gladly do so again.

You? I wouldn't piss down your neck if your ass was on fire.

Boar Hunter| 4.23.12 @ 5:54PM

Drunken Sailor, I would beg you to reconsider such a hard line stance on sharing your urine with a liberal.

I humbly submit that as I have gotten older, I have learned that if copious amounts of alcohol have been consumed just prior to the encounter, the idea of urinating on a liberal engulfed in flames becomes not just emotionally rewarding, the addition of alcohol to the conflagration serves a valuable function.

Only in cases where there is an absence of alcohol would I agree that urinating on a burning liberal is without merit.

However, with that being said, I would submit to you, that even absent sufficient alcohol to motivate me to share my urine, I would still gleefully beat one until the fire was out so as to ensure the liberal did not endanger any American's or human being's in the future.

Drunken Sailor| 4.23.12 @ 6:04PM

I stand corrected sir!
But as anyone who has manned a buring outhouse pot can tell you, do not beat the fire. Burning shit when stuck forcefully will splatter and cause a fire hazard. Best bet is to suffocate the fire.

Boar Hunter| 4.23.12 @ 7:31PM

Ahhh yes, I see now!

But suffocating the fire would result in the loss of assets, such as a blanket, with a value far outweighing the worth of the liberal.

Perhaps your original assessment is correct. It may certainly be better to let the fire burn out on it's own unhindered.

On further examination, perhaps it is I, rather than you, who stands corrected. Unlike a liberal I am always willing to learn from my betters and I am always willing to admit my mistakes.

Brian Astby| 4.23.12 @ 9:40PM

You're just upset because the military refused to let the mutants in. You should be happy now.

martin j smith| 4.23.12 @ 8:03AM

The Obama adminsitration and its culture of curruption runs deep and wide--in fact it one big fat currpt and sinister regime. The whole thing must go.
In fact there appear to be more and more reasons why Obama might be a good candidate for impeachment.

Kenny| 4.23.12 @ 8:17AM

The threshold for firing a government employ at state, local or federal level should be low.

These prima donnas like to promote themselves as public servants while they work night and day to game every aspect of the system to their selfish advantage -- usually with their unions taking the lead.

Disgusted in NH| 4.23.12 @ 8:33AM

Remember 'it depends on the definition of 'is'' and 'boxers or briefs' and 'numerous pardons bought and paid for' - the cultural rot aided and abetted by the mainstream press. hollyweird, assorted A- to D-list 'entertainers' - the list goes on. On any day of the week at any hour there is some culture rotting show mocking, ridiculing, undermining and diminishing everything from religion to the deepest traditions on this country. You reap what you sow.

Boar Hunter| 4.23.12 @ 11:21AM

I know it's off topic, but I am currently visiting New Hampshire with two of my three sons and their families. The purpose of our visit was to determine if moving here from California would be a viable or desirable option for us. We have and it is.

One surprising factor was my dialog with several "kid's" working fast food counters. The fact I felt comfortable initiating a conversation, beyond that required to receive my food was in itself significant. To receive not only information, but well reasoned advice left me awestruck.

There is no comparison between the young adult residents of New Hampshire and those in California. I have never encountered people so genuinely polite and courteous. This shared respect for their fellow man and neighbors is evident from every age group and in every aspect of their lives.

No one in California would find merit in inquiring about something so mundane as the new menu item, much less venture to query any of the tattooed, face pierced, culturally diverse, drug addled malcontents at McDonald's about any substantive matter. Well I guess that's wrong, after all they would certainly know where and how to obtain a Marijuana card.

While patronizing a barber shop in the Portsmouth area, after we explained the purpose of our visit and where we were from, the Barbers told us "Welcome to America."

It is a crying shame that I feel like I have been out of country for many years now and have finally come back home to America.

When I move in a year or two, should I ever feel homesick for crime, filthy streets, graffiti, gangs and angry liberals, I will simply visit Massachusetts.

For twelve consecutive days in New Hampshire I did not see anyone act or speak in a rude or vulgar manner. Drivers were courteous. The children I saw were with their parents and behaved as children under their parents supervision should. As evidence of the continued influence of the family, New Hampshire has the third(?) lowest teen pregnancy rate in the nation.

On the other hand, I wasn't out of the car for one hour in Salem before, well why expect a liberal to act like anything other than the nasty vermin they are?

Thank You New Hampshire! From the bottom of my heart, I Thank everyone of you for making my visit so enjoyable and restoring my faith in humanity and America, I'll be home soon!

Joellen| 4.23.12 @ 11:59AM

Boar Hunter - I know exactly what you mean. I have been blessed to go down to the Carolina's recently. I had never heard these polite people utter one curse word. I actually was holding my breath on my last day (7) because I didnt want the streak to be ruined and it wasnt. There is a culture out there that is good and decent. However, it is not in the "elite" cities such as NY, LA, etc. Good luck in your move and may your leaving CA wake up those who remain there, that there must be an uprising of decency and goodness if we are to survive.

Occam's Tool| 4.23.12 @ 3:35PM

Yup, Joellen. Has to do with the fact that Evangelical Christians believe in the Bible and Israel. They bless the Lo-d, and are blessed in return.

Peter Gee| 4.23.12 @ 2:52PM

God you are such a blow hard!

Occam's Tool| 4.23.12 @ 3:33PM

Boar: when I was leaving UCLA, a friend told me that California was not America. I told him I certainly hoped that was true. But I gotta tell you, if you think NH is nice, try Fargo,ND or Grand Forks, ND, or Brainerd MN. The winters keep the riff-raff out. Welcome home.

Boar Hunter| 4.23.12 @ 4:52PM

Thank you sir!

Yes, we have heard rumors about the snow. I believe the consensus is that we will enjoy the snow, as it will make us appreciate the warm weather when it comes. I must admit, I will miss hunting wild Russian boar with a spear, but maybe my sons and I will move up the food chain and confront the black bears?

I'm claiming dibs on Bear Hunter, so if you see any future postings under that name you'll know I was successful. If you don't see any postings from either Boar or Bear hunter...well I tried LOL.

As far as the snow, I for one will appreciate being able to spend more time on American Spectator, beginning at an earlier hour, humbly hoping that I can become a true bane to the liberals and idiots (sorry, same difference) who post here.

WillyP | 4.23.12 @ 6:13PM

You are welcome... From New Hampshire.

PattyMor| 4.23.12 @ 8:35AM

Start the house cleaning process by eliminating the employee unions. They already have civil service protections, they don't need a union. Unions make it darned near impossible to get rid of bad workers and slackers.

Melivn| 4.23.12 @ 8:56AM

After retiring from the Marine Corps I had a moment of insanity of wanting to become an attorney.
I was speaking with a JAG Officer who was a friend and he told me, during one of the many conversations that being attorney is all about credibility, and if an attorney should lose this credibility, they are never able to regain it.
This brings me back to being a Marine. A Marine could do nineteen years, eleven months, and twenty-nine days of being what the public perception of him or her is, and the very last day screw it all up.
The public isn't going to remember the nineteen years, eleven months and twenty-nine days. The public is going to remember that last day when the Marine screwed up.
This is the situation with the Secret Service. They lost their credibility with the American public. No matter how many times the Secret Service saves a President and his family, they've lost their credibility, never to be regained.
The American public will always remember of what happened in Columbia, and nothing else.

albert constantine jr.| 4.23.12 @ 9:23AM

Melvin;

Yes and no. You may recall the scandal in the late 1980s with the Marine Security Guard (MSG)detachment at the embassy in Moscow and Clayton Lonetree charged with espionage. Few others do, now, it would seem, as the performance of the Corps and other branches in Panama and Desert Shield/ Storm seemed to have washed away the stain on the institution by the early 1990s.

Should the Secret Service bust up an assassination plot or lose a few agents who perform bravely in the line of duty, the negative will be offset for many. The individual agents involved will likely continue to have their participation in this incident mar them forever, for unlike politicians (e.g. Spitzer or Clinton), credibility and integrity are important for law enforcement and military leaders, and once it is considered lost it is rarely considered recovered.

Semper Fi.

Mike 3/505| 4.23.12 @ 9:31AM

Mel,

Actually, it goes until the day you die. How many times have you read in the paper, "Joe Schmoe, former Marine did such and such...."

Regards,

Mike

Daniel Hall| 4.23.12 @ 12:39PM

No such thing as a former Marine.....

Occam's Tool| 4.23.12 @ 3:35PM

Except the guy who shot Jack Kennedy. He's a former Marine.

GKPAL| 4.23.12 @ 9:41AM

As the old saying goes "the fish rots from the head". That head is Obama. He is the CEO of this enterprise we call US government. As such he must be held accountable for all the scandals of his administration such as Fast and furious, Solyndra, GSA, Secret Service and the list goes on. But with the MSM totally unintersted in exposing these scandals to the American people and demand change nothing much will change soon if ever. All great empires collapsed from within. We're well in our way there.

Old Soldier| 4.23.12 @ 9:37AM

Here are my very mixed thoughts:
1. I don't really care if they hired hookers, particularly where it is legal. Did they compromise operational security or otherwise fail at their duties? I don't know.

2. The Secret Service has been very good body guards through the years. I've never seen a faster / braver man than Tim McCarthy when we spread himself in front of Reagan (without body armor) like a bullet sponge.

3. All the armed federal agencies (FBI, ATF, DEA, and the Secret Service) seem to have become more militaristic and thuggish over the past decade. Their new military equipment and thuggish attitude are directed not just at terrorists - but all of us.

4. Presidential security has gone way overboard. A visit by even the VP will mean a major shutdown in traffic in the surrounding area. New Yorkers cringe when hear they are getting a visit. There is a happy medium somewhere, we passed it a long time ago.

Ed from Ohio| 4.23.12 @ 12:50PM

Perhaps the problem with the Secret Service is that they were moved from the Department of the Treasury to the Department of Homeland Security. After ten years, we now can see that the establishment of DHS was a mistake. We should send the agencies involved back to their original departments.

Old Soldier| 4.23.12 @ 1:15PM

I forgot all about that - the DHS probably changed the whole tone and culture of the Secret Service.

Not Special Ops Bill| 4.23.12 @ 10:05AM

"Men of character don't carouse with prostitutes."

Period. Thank you.

Publius | 4.23.12 @ 10:55AM

Yes, hiring prostitutes is forbidden by federal law.
And apparently this has been going on for some time. And, yes, it compromises security.

Old Soldier| 4.23.12 @ 11:55AM

No, prostitution is not against federal - it is forbidden by most states. They were in Columbia where it isn't against the law.

Not Special Ops Bill| 4.23.12 @ 12:52PM

Against the law or not against the law. Patronizing prostitutes is not something a man of character does.

Old Soldier| 4.23.12 @ 1:28PM

Okay Church-Lady. I suggest you take a ride to Fort Bragg, Camp Lejune or any military base that houses a Division. Count the number of "Massage Parlors" you pass on the way through town. Whether you agree with it or not, prostitution happens. It may be better than some of the alternatives.

Not Special Ops Bill| 4.23.12 @ 2:31PM

And the troopers in Fayetteville and whatever town Camp Lejeune, to the extent that they patronize prostitutes, lack character.

The fact that a thing happens is not justification for a person of good character to commit acts of bad character.

Old Soldier| 4.23.12 @ 5:10PM

Take a ride down and let 'em know.

Not Special Ops Bill| 4.24.12 @ 9:56AM

If, as you appear to be claiming, they are men of good character, they already know it, and will come in later days to look upon their consorting with whores as something that was bad.

Brian Astby| 4.23.12 @ 9:49PM

There is nothing in the Constitution, the UCMJ, or any federal rule/regulation where a member of the Armed Forces pledges celebacy.

Not Special Ops Bill| 4.24.12 @ 9:58AM

Let me be sure I understand that statement: because nothing in the relevant regulations mandates celibacy, consorting with whores is an act of good character, is that what you're suggesting?

Skippy| 4.24.12 @ 5:44PM

Does the term "no controlling legal authority" endlessly repeated sound familiar?
It's what scumbags say to defend their unacceptable behavior.

Louis Jenkins| 4.23.12 @ 10:09AM

Duty? A duty to the Constitution? Yes, the Secret Service swore to uphold the Constitution and to protect the man. But considering were the Constitution is now in the scheme of things duty has fallen by the wayside. Obama and his family party like it is 1999, so why shouldn't the men who protect him?

Maddox| 4.23.12 @ 10:43AM

I find this whole situation baffling. While it is deplorable behavior and not one men of honor should display the amount of coverage seems odd. The State Departments involved in the situation should handle the investigations and dismiss accordingly, no question.
I am concerned with the unsustainable federal debt, the fact no budget has been passes for three years even through The Constitution requires it, theft of public funds, destabilization of our national security, and the destruction of our economy and rights by the Obama administration. This "hanky panky" party does not rise to the attention it is receiving in the media when there are problems that actually threaten the survival of America but is is easier to discuss dalliances rather than the serious repercussions we will be facing because of the actions of this administration. That kind of talk wouldn't help Barack's re-election chances.

Jodi| 4.23.12 @ 10:25AM

Please check out, and share, this new fact checking website!

www.VoteFacts.org

nick white| 4.23.12 @ 10:46AM

America itself is sick and most likely beyond repair. The rot is everywhere not in our institutions, they are human constructs,but in the people themselves. Dont blame politicians look in the mirror.

Dr. X| 4.23.12 @ 10:58AM

You know, I'm getting sick of this pervasive attitude among government officials that they can do whatever the hell they want. "Screw you, we're from the government, we get to tote submachine guns and hire prostitutes and YOU don't."

From Eliot Spitzer to Bill Clinton to Barack Obama to Anthony Weiner to John Edwards the government is absolutely shot through with deviants, perverts and sickos who are utterly worthless human beings. They are con artists and ripoff artists doing it all on YOUR dime.

I guess that attitude comes from the fact that government is ripping off 25% of GDP without consequence.

John| 4.23.12 @ 11:00AM

Seriously ??

Did they do anything beyond get laid ?

I had a job back in the early 90's. Driving around the country for 3 years with a 1/2 dozen other guys wiring up buildings for networks and installing servers. We'd roll in to town, spend 12 hours a day(usually 7 days a week cause we got paid by the job) and then we'd roll out of town.

And in our rare free time we drank way too much and hit whatever whore house we could find. What else were we to do. A bunch of young healthy guys going years without sex ? Yea, that will work.

You send some soldier or agent off for months or years and he can't have sex now and then ?

Fuck you.

Again, did these men do anything beyond get laid or instill an imaginary Bible thumping threat into all of you maroons ?

Boar Hunter| 4.23.12 @ 11:26AM

Your name is so appropriate

AllantheK| 4.23.12 @ 11:49AM

It is called "self-control", sir. If you lack it, you should get some, of course it may crimp your riotous living standard. How's that for "bible-thumping".

Vpx pop| 4.23.12 @ 12:42PM

Going with a hooker in the district of Columbia may not be a crime. Nor is picking your nose, peeing in the bath, shower or public swimming-pool or, when visiting bookshops, taking books into the toilet to read like George in Seinfeld.

They are just things people with standards don't do.

John| 4.23.12 @ 2:26PM

My "...riotous living standard" ended back in my late 20's when I finally settled down and got married/had a kid.

The fact that you could go 3 years without sex in your 20's(or any age actually) is more a testament to you being asexual, not a testament to my self control.

Skippy| 4.24.12 @ 5:46PM

I'm sure your mother was very proud of the fact that you only hired clean-looking whores.
That made all the difference.

Historian| 4.23.12 @ 11:03AM

Since when don't military men drink and have fun with MaMa Sans? A friend of mine thought that hookers were part of the service.(look up the origen of the term "hooker"). I vaguely remember hearing that the press knew when President Nixon was going to be at San Clemente because the Daughters of Joy were checking in to service the press and Secret Service.

THKrupp| 4.23.12 @ 11:04AM

When have military personel ever been paragons of virtue? Most military guys I know, have all kinds of stories about women of easy virtue. Granted Secret Service personel are held to a much higher standard and if you are on a security detail for the President you would think they would behave a lot better than the average sailor coming off a ship. This certainly shows a lack of common sense on these agents part.

KyMouse| 4.23.12 @ 11:09AM

On a lighter note -- I attended a grade school whose principal was married to a Secret Service agent. Being little girls, my classmates and I always suspected that she could persuade him to make some sort of trouble for us if we acted up too much.

Undoubtedly she knew that we had that impression; for some reason, however, she never tried to convince us otherwise.

LMajito| 4.23.12 @ 11:33AM

this behaviour IS prevalent among all of the federal workers that go overseas in trips that their agency picks up the tab...no matter, dea, faa, ss, fbi and the list goes on...

but the crux here is that these guys, most of them married, see no problem with these activities...

now mind you, it was not the woman who make the big fuzz, all she wanted was her money.

the local police got involved and found enough evidence to alert the american embassy...then somebody called a friend and told him and this friend alerted the washington newspaper...

so this bit of news came to light by accident...

but that gringos working for the government go to latin american and think their young attractive women are only good to clean their pipes is an attitude that is the norm rather than the exception..

that only 12 guys got the spotlight shone on them was their misfortune but it won't take too long to find the same actions in other agencies...

Ted| 4.23.12 @ 11:53AM

What I find ironic about all this is that some of the loudest voices condemning the Secret Service men and servicement involved in this fiasco, are the same ones who said the Bill Clinton's sexcapades were not relevent to his ability to do his job; those sexcapades were a private matter and had no bearing on his professionalism.

Stan Redmond| 4.23.12 @ 11:59AM

Obama, the GSA, and the SEcret Service all are afforded the same level of respect in my eyes. Basically, none. And please. Public servants? The clown in the GSA summed it up nicely in his songs. We mere citizens exist to serve them and nothing more.

When we start electing presidents, senators, and reps worthy of respect maybe the GSA and Secret service can redeem themselves but I don't see that happening any time soon.

James Harris| 4.23.12 @ 12:15PM

I just would like to say this, I was in the Air Force 21 years and I had a job flying around with the offices of President Bush and Clinton. I don’t think it’s a thing of lost duty. This type of after work activities has always been going on. The woman was probably not call girls, but woman that frequent that place all the time, and just so happened to be secret service and my fellow airmen in there relaxing. This to me is another way for the media to be able to discredit President Obama's cabinet again before the election.

Buck Ofama| 4.23.12 @ 12:47PM

>This to me is another way for the media to be able to discredit President Obama's cabinet again before the election.

GOOD.

henry| 4.23.12 @ 12:17PM

The problem is that sometimes the job is much greater than the man, and the fallout does more than bring the individual into a state of disgrace. So when an evangelist is found with a hooker, or a priest fiddles with a little boy, the whole faith is damaged.
When a president is found with his pants down in the Oval Office public respect for the Presidency is irredeemably damaged. This is what underlies the concept of duty. A difficult and old fashioned principle to grasp in these post modern days, but there you have it.

peter vizza| 4.23.12 @ 12:18PM

"Duty is a concept little known outside the military and law enforcement community".

Beg to differ--- It has been my experience that many non-military and non-law enforcement Americans embrace a sense of "duty", everyday, for no other reason than being Americans.

Warren| 4.23.12 @ 7:30PM

Correct, Peter. There seems to be some weird lionizing all the time of those "in uniform."

I have been for a long time in the military, a short period in the civil service, and now a long time in private enterprise. I have personally found the greater sense of duty during these latter chapters of my life.

Daniel Hall| 4.23.12 @ 12:31PM

"...They should be fired for cause, deprived of their retirements, and cast out as the misfits they are."
No, no, no. Really? Is it really possible in our democratic republic to confiscate the property of individuals whom an administration gauges unfit for service? Wouldn't such a precedent open the doors to an administration rooting out career public servants or perhaps even whistleblowers with whom they disagree and punishing them in like manner? They should be fired of course and perhaps serve jail time for dereliction of duty but I cannot accept that the confiscation of their pensions would in any way serve the nation's interests. We need to ask ourselves; would this help recruit a better class of agent?

Sam Vaughn| 4.23.12 @ 12:35PM

Fish rots from the head down. So does the Federal Government

amathonn| 4.23.12 @ 12:40PM

Call me cynical, but I'm guessing this is all a trumped up package of hoo-haw to draw the media spotlight off of Hillary Rosen's ill-chosen words about a stay at home moms who "never worked a day in her life." Anyone but me find it ironic how quickly the story found its way to a receptive press? And how quickly it grew?

In my humble opinion, the Secret Service in this instance didn't "take one" for the president. They took one for the democrat party.

Not a nice way to treat the guys you expect to have the President's back.

Old Soldier| 4.23.12 @ 2:00PM

I think it's funny that Secret Service Agents are being fired for immorality (not breaking the law) - although we will probably never know if they compromised OPSEC for which I think firing would be far too light a punishment.

Meanwhile NOBODY in the ATF has been fired or otherwise punished for breaking the laws they are supposed to enforce. Which, in turn got people in Mexico and the U.S. killed, including U.S. Border Agents. What the Hell?

Pat| 4.23.12 @ 7:22PM

Old Soldier: Good point, and start with the United States Attorney in Phoenix who was point guard on the Fast and Furious cover-up. But making a promise and then failing to live up to that promise isn’t an action usually frowned upon by our government. In fact, Congress, the President and high level government employees make promises constantly which they have no intention of keeping – it’s surprising Congress didn’t see their own faces in the mirror relative to this Secret Service agent. The hooker asked for $800, the agency bodyguard agreed and then next morning offered $30 as final payment – their stories diverge on when the contractual amount was negotiated, what services were involved and for how much. Kinda stupid on the agency bodyguard’s part, but making grandiose promises and then not delivering isn’t all that rare in our government.

Congress in their investigation wants to set an example and go on record that American foreign policy doesn’t sanction appearing to be cheapskates or making insincere promises to foreign sex workers – that’s not how we win their hearts and minds and probably other parts of their anatomy as well. But in the case of Fast and Furious, this was an approved government policy and clandestine initiative which went horribly wrong – and wrong primarily because the media got wind of it and certified minorities were involved. Mexicans were killed, Americans were killed, no one in our government will be blamed.

Blame leads to taking responsibility and taking responsibility leads to failure of re-election and certain banishment for specific high level government workers. Conversely, cover-up leads to diffusing and eventually burying responsibility and burying responsibility leads to everyone’s peace of mind, keeping your job and regular bowel movements.

loulou| 4.23.12 @ 12:41PM

The Secret Service is just another bloated bureaucracy and needs to be drastically cut back. Why Michelle and her daughters needed 40 agents in Mexico for Spring Break, I have no idea.

Bob S| 4.23.12 @ 1:40PM

Remember, this was also another incident the Obama administration preferred that the media not report. The story appeared everywhere on the internet, and promptly disappeared hours later when the Obama White House demanded a media blackout. And the media, of course, was more than happy to oblige. Corruption enables corruption.

Dr. X| 4.23.12 @ 2:36PM

Why does Michelle need 40 agents? a) because she's better than you and me. We are mere peons whose lot in life is to pay for her trips. And b) because they are unionized Federal employees, and we all know that unions need three times the workers to do the same job that non-union employers need.

Frankly, anyone who will take a bullet for Barack or Michelle gets ZERO respect from me. I certainly do not wish to sacrifice MY life for some dope-smoking, affirmative-action, sham artist no matter how much money they rip off from the taxpayers to offer me.

Anyone dumb enough to join the Secret Service is clearly dumb enough to pay money for the "privilege" of being the 300th guy in the last month to sleep with some crack whore.

They can take their "Imperial Presidency" and shove it. Obama is a public servant. He and his Secret Service agents can get down on their knees and kiss my taxpaying ass.

Buck Ofama| 4.23.12 @ 12:45PM

Maybe the agents simply don't feel that they have a duty to a fake "president".

J House| 4.23.12 @ 1:16PM

Remember, the incident was outed because local law enforcement got involved and did the right thing, not because a USSS whistleblower came forward. That this was the first incident is doubtful.
It could have resulted in a national tragedy of their making.

J House| 4.23.12 @ 1:24PM

I believe the gravity of this situation is being misunderstood, and purposely downplayed by the white house. The U.S. is still at war, has plenty of capable enemies wanting revenge on President Obama for the mission to kill Osama. The capabilities of the advance team could have been assessed, or worse...imagine if the women had paid to poison or overdose all of them, unknowingly?

EN| 4.23.12 @ 7:24PM

Well put, J. House. What a coup it would be for a two-bit dictator, a drug cartel, or a jihadi organziation to exact a real scare on the presidential delegation.

We might not care for the current POTUS but it would be a tremendous blow to our nation if our rehearsed, trained, resourced protection, well equipped, and (by world standards) well-paid services are so easily penetrated.

The men that should fulfill these USSS roles are not to be ones with vices that are so easily manipulated, vices that are such obvious weaknesses.

Rurik| 4.23.12 @ 1:32PM

So what would you do if you were a Secret Service officer on duty and saw your president commiting an unambiguous felony? Would you, could you arrest him? What woulde happen to your career, your family, yourself?

Bob S| 4.23.12 @ 1:38PM

They are symptoms of a systemic lack of integrity throughout the entire Obama Administration. Obama leads by example. He shamelessly attacks those who achieve, and exalts those who indulge on the government dime. His left-hand man, Eric Holder, enables violent groups and persecutes lawful governments. The civil servants in the federal government see this lack of leadership and lose their way. The GSA throws a lavish $800,000 party despite the state of the economy for the average American, and the Secret Service agents in Colombia shirk their duty to the President to indulge in their own immoral desires.

If we get four more years of Obama, who knows to what depths of immorality the entire federal government will sink.

JohnM| 4.23.12 @ 1:39PM

Real men don't pay for sex. Doesn't a person lose their TOP SECRET security clearance for using prostitutes? Shouldn't this be addressed, also?

Old Soldier| 4.23.12 @ 1:54PM

Never heard a thing about prostitutes when getting my clearance.

Drunken Sailor| 4.23.12 @ 5:18PM

Sorry OS, but I'm guessing you either didn't partake or didn't get caught.

Earlier Monday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta announced that the security clearances were suspended for service members allegedly involved, in the first disciplinary action to be announced on the military side.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politic.....z1ster3qga

Old Soldier| 4.23.12 @ 6:10PM

I was in Communications so I had a Secret Clearance. Worked with lots of Intel weenies with higher clearances. If they weren't supposed to meet women of questionable morals, they all forgot.

Drunken Sailor| 4.23.12 @ 6:32PM

Maybe so, but did they do it on the job? And you know as well as I that just because they were "off duty" doesn't mean the were not still on the job. Not saying they should lose their clearance for meeting with prostitutes. But they should lose them simply for their stupidity. What they did, considering their positions was just stupid.

Kent Lyon| 4.23.12 @ 1:48PM

Ah, Jed. Give the poor guys a break. Why would anyone be able to maintain a sense of mission when that mission involves taking a bullet for this misanthropic, mendacious, demagogic, incompetent little twit that treats them like wall paper and has no appreciation whatsoever for what they do. The only reason would be to prevent Biden from becoming President, and that couldn't really be that much worse than Obama, could it.? These guys see their boss partying like there's no tomorrow in the White House, while the country burns, with those agents who interfere with his whims by doing their job getting punished, with nary a concern by Obama for them (indeed only disdain), the military, national security (indeed, he is vitiating that to an extreme). Protect him? I can understand if these professionals lose their focus and say why bother. The job they have would drive any decent professional to drink and brothels. I would say this behavior is an indication of despair in the Secret Service. Imagine spending your whole adult life engaged in a mission to protect the President, and then being tasked with protecting this jerk. It's enough to make anyone despair.

H Abdullah Shabazz| 4.23.12 @ 1:54PM

Obama leads by example?
Men of character don't exploit women?
Agreed.

But how about Reagan?
When he was Commander in Chief, the Navy task forces made routine stops at Thai ports for under-age guess what?

And what percentage of our honorable Annapolis Blowhards have been party to this stuff? Try this number 100%

Sir, our brave navy, out there on the front lines, fighting for our freedom, Sir.

TrueBlue | 4.23.12 @ 2:08PM

Political Correctness and the worry over hurting someone's feelings is the major culprit in all of this, followed closely by public sector unions (which should be illegal IMO, they work for US, they want a raise they can ask US, not threaten a shutdown because they aren't getting what they want).

Ken| 4.23.12 @ 2:18PM

These events do not occur in organizations with a solid command / leadership climate. New leadership, at several echelons, is in order.

JohnK| 4.23.12 @ 2:28PM

The problem arose when one agent attempted to rook the lady out of her fee, offering her $28 when $800 had been agreed. His boorish behaviour has caught him out. Karma reigns.

Derek Leaberry| 4.23.12 @ 2:40PM

We treat our presidents like emperors rather than a president of a republic. Charlesmagne, Genghis Khan and Louis XIV never had such security. It would be best to junk most of the Secret Service bureaucratic apparatus and limit the president's security retinue to 1000 agents.

fsilber| 4.23.12 @ 2:51PM

Author wrote: "When a dozen or more Secret Service agents chose to party with hookers at the Hotel Caribe in Cartagena, Colombia, their decision was a deviation from the military-law enforcement culture which needs to be as closely examined as the misbehavior they apparently engaged in."

I believe this assertion is NOT historically accurate. Their courage and willingness for self-sacrifice notwithstanding, I believe it was never unusual for cops and soldiers away from their wives to visit prostitutes.

In fact, I participate on an online discussion forum hosted by a retiree from the Detroit police department (he served around 1970-1990). Though this man is highly religions and claims to have been a virgin when he married and true to his wife ever since, he admits that this was not the typical behavior among police officers with whom he served, and that sexual immorality -- and not pressure from the job -- is the reason the divorce rate is so high among cops. (Some women apparently are actually cop groupies.)

I don't have any reason to believe it is any different among soldiers -- even elite soldiers. Some, for religious reasons, keep their pants zipped; many don't.

So let's not make scapegoats of these men. If they embarrassed the administration by refusing to pay what they promised, that's one thing. But let's not make them scapegoats for not holding to a moral standard that even the previous Democratic President did not keep.

SetOurChildrenFree | 4.23.12 @ 3:05PM

What do you expect? Look who they're hanging with, and yet we expect a sense of duty and honor?

Pat| 4.23.12 @ 3:23PM

Unlike this author, it sounds to me like the Secret Service folks are very typical government employees with standard government employee training. The employee in question promised a lot, delivered very little – that sounds depressingly familiar to most Americans. So, this young “sex worker” was hopeful of making a few bucks off a rich American government employee – and our government employee representing America agreed to pay her $800 according to the story – but then after the work was performed, the government employee welched on the deal but did offer a minimal amount of compensation.

Sounds eerily similar to our typical political campaigns, major promises were made before the election, votes were secured and then after the election, when the prize was won, the powerful government worker simply shrugged off the original promises with a lame excuse – in this government employee’s case, it was: “I was drunk”. And Congress is angrily investigating this swindle? Aren’t those exactly the same tactics they employ when performing their jobs?

And is it really necessary that we pay a great deal of money to protect a temporary government worker? No one wants to see our Chief Executive threatened or injured on the job, but wouldn’t it be easier to just keep him in a well-fortified safe house – maybe someplace like the White House for example?

None of us voters receive this level of government protection, not that we begrudge our beloved President this massive security but couldn’t we pay much less of our hard earned money for an equal amount of peace of mind when it comes to protecting our temporary Chief Administrator? Receiving the “Royal Treatment” is fine for the Maharajah of Bengali but we’re talking about a self-confessed, humble and barefoot Community Organizer who reluctantly went to Washington to fix a mess only he could fix.

I suspect Mrs. Obama would like him spending more evenings at home. Maybe we could cut back on all the road trips, install a bowling alley in the White House basement and B. could invite a few friends over instead of angering our allies in foreign countries, their sex workers and various deserving pimps.

Dave Williams| 4.23.12 @ 3:53PM

America is officially over, folks. Pull up a chair....the next 20 years are going to make the fall of the Roman Empire look like a strawberry social.

Slacker| 4.23.12 @ 5:38PM

Conservatives have an awkward bond with military and law enforcement. They correctly distrust government but, for whatever reason they respect these branches of government. They don’t deserve your respect.

This incident only validates the obvious. People are people and power always corrupts. The secret service is no better than the GSA or anybody else. This is exactly what you should expect from government goons.

You can bet it happens all the time, and it would have gone unseen this time had the agent simply paid his hooker.

Dustoff| 4.23.12 @ 5:41PM

What's the problem. These men were following what both JKF and Clinton had done. (-:

No different then O-dumbers spending and GAO.

Federale | 4.23.12 @ 6:34PM

Jed Babbin confuses dedication to mission and to an organization with a different moral code. Dedication to a mission and an organization can exist along with a party attitude off duty. There is a reason that the areas around our former bases in the Philippines had alot of hookers there. Single alpha males can get out of line, especially when their full time job requires strict disipline. In any event, having worked with many Secret Service agents, they are well known for their party attitude, even the married ones. Combine a job with long hours, paramilitary organization, and strict on-the-job disipline, and it is to be expected. This ain't the FBI of J. Edgar Hoover, who enforced a written and unwritten morals code. Those days are long gone. USSS agents and officers party off duty. And in any event prostitution is legal in that part of Columbia, there is not a problem. In her NYT's interview the girl at the center of the controversy said she did not know they were USSS. So, despite all the hype, there was really nothing to get concerned about. And then there is the fact that the girls involved were apparently not upfront abou their profession. Going to a nightclub and drinking with some guys, then asking for money is dishonest. Especially if she asked for the money after the fact. Which might explain alot.

OSU| 4.23.12 @ 7:16PM

Spectator readership is rather poor. Give or take, only about 10% of the posts at the very top above stayed on topic with the article.

Must be a lot of lonely loons who come here to spout off about nonsense.

This is sort of the website for the homeless and vagabonds?

wren| 4.23.12 @ 7:38PM

If you want to know how common this behavior is for government Yanquis who are down south in places like Bogota, just get a truth-teller to let you in on the State Department and Commerce, etc. insider tidbits on life in Sudamerica. Amazing how the males always really want these assignments. Rio. Sao Paolo. Same for the military attaches. Asia....oh, some "plumb" assignments there. And you work it right, you can get some taxpayer funding for at least portions of the "shenanigans."

danf| 4.23.12 @ 8:34PM

What is the basis for claiming that visiting a prostitute is misbehavior ? It the popular culture today, is there any sexual sin that is considered wrong ? Sex outside of marriage is normal, adultery is "cheating" but not particularly immoral. Gay sex is a lifestyle choice. And what will be the objections to polygamy, beastiality, pedophilia as the lifestyle, sexual preference standard is applied to every category.

Boar Hunter| 4.23.12 @ 9:17PM

Where did all the liberals go?

Brian Astby| 4.23.12 @ 9:27PM

Exactly what was it that the Secret Service agents did wrong?
Please educate me.
Be specific. No generalities.
If you think that the G-Men gave anything away, aparently you know nothing of the logistics of moving 100+ people around into/out of hotels, bars and restaurants everyone who works at the hotel/bar/restaurant and their friends and family know who is coming, when and where. Also all the media tag-alongs, you think they don't tell anyone what they're up to?
So what exactly is wrong for the G-Men to partake in a legal activity in a foreign country?

abprosper| 4.23.12 @ 10:07PM

Since our leaders demonstrate a lack of any sense of duty and probity why should their subordinates be expected to have one. As above so below ...

Or if you like Star Wars, If money is all you want than that is all you shall have

POST American| 4.24.12 @ 2:59AM

-----------------BOTTOMLESS LINE-------------------

IS there anyone out there who's
still respecting the fronts and props
in this, the undeniable 11th hour of
the CFR Globalist--RED China handover,
takedown, TREASON, OCCUPATION
and FINAL EUGENICS OP?

Elsewhere, word seems to be not only
out, but catching fire that capstone
Globalist 'MAY--SIN--Re' is slowly,
patiently, sedulously, carefully
maneuvering ISLAM to be a prime
instrument of takedown of western civ.

"Understand, ALLLLL the rituals of
'the organization' are NOT, and never
were 'christian' or judaic ---but ISLAMIC.
Seems King Philip was dead right when
he accused the Templars, the USURY
heavies of the middle ages, of having, indeed,
converted to ISLAM. Even further, the
gothic cathedrals themselves may very well
be the product of this op. They may very
well be disguised mosques. Remember,
ISLAM attacked the west FIRST. AS our
Rockefeller rotten to the core 'churches'
morally fold ---expect, within the decade
MASS conversions to ISLAM across the
west. This is the plan. Christianity's to
be put out once and for all
ISLAM is to provide the religious
component for the NWO.
The figure of ancient democracy,
Greece, is being humiliated and
occupied. Capstone Nirvana
--EGYPT, is, even now, being empowered
to become radicalized and the seat of
the next caliphate. READ the signs!
--ISLAM is theirs!
It's a slave religion that thrives
in and on prisons.
The very name ISLAM itself means
---surrender."
-Informed online

SO, again, consider--

"Religion IS the KEY to history.
Among the christians, ONLY the
Calvinists had the faculty for self
government. And ONLY the Calvinsists
would fight."
-LORD Acton

CONSIDER with ALLLLL possible speed.

----------------HUAC/ Nuremberg 2012---------------

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