It’s Monday and the proverbial ‘morning after’ for the 11 Secret Service agents sent home over “allegations” of misconduct involving a prostitute in Cartagena, Colombia.
In this story that strutted over the Internet on tall stilts all weekend long, five members of the US military were tossed into the sexual fray for good measure.
The conduct of the Secret Service agents was “alleged”, but before investigations even begin, they were thrown to the ravening wolves in the public square as irresponsible, drunken party revelers consorting with prostitutes.
The entire scandal dragging the name of the Secret Service and five military personnel hinges on a single Cartagena hooker, who refused to leave the hotel room occupied by a secret Service agent until she was paid, according to U.S. Representative Peter King, who heads the House Homeland Security Committee.
Arriving in Colombia before Barack Obama as part of an advance security team, the 11 agents, whether proven guilty or innocent, will go through the rest of their lives wearing the well touted disgrace laid on them by a hyperventilating media.
While the image of Secret Service agents drunk and consorting with prostitutes was heralded in headlines over the Internet and in mainstream press, and while the subject of the Secret Service sunk by hookers was the big joke in Bogota bars, the White House had no official comment to make.
At a Sunday press conference, Obama finally said the investigation into the agents’ actions is ongoing, “and I expect that investigation to be thorough and I expect it to be rigorous.” (Bloomberg, April 16, 2012).
Was it because Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos was standing beside him, that Obama did not mention even once that the Secret Service agents have yet to be proven guilty as charged?
Or is it because Obama, who has made it clear he would like a private security force that answers only to him “as well trained and equipped as the U.S. military” saw the sex scandal as a ready made opportunity to purge the Secret Service?
Incredibly, standing up for the employees who put their lives on the line for U.S presidents took a backseat to Obama’s coming vacation plans.
Obama also told a panel at the Summit of Americas that part of his job there was to scout out locations for a future vacation with First Lady Michelle Obama.
“Obama was speaking on a panel with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff when he made the remarks. The panel was moderated by Chris Matthews of MSNBC. (CNSNews.com, April 15, 2012).
“I want to thank President Santos and the people of Colombia for the extraordinary hospitality in the beautiful city of Cartagena,” said Obama. “We’re having a wonderful time. And usually when I take these summit trips, part of my job is to scout out where I may want to bring Michelle back later for vacation. So we’ll make sure to come back sometime in the future.”
Obama is no stranger to Colombia. Dead terrorist Paul Reyes had information on a confiscated laptop computer that FARC was meeting “gringos” about Obama back in March of 2008. (“This document was posted at Martha Colmenares [in Spanish] and Free Republic, Gateway Pundit, March 5, 2008.) “The FARC terrorists were hoping and expecting that Barack Obama would win the US elections in November because he was most aligned with the Colombian Marxist group.”
In Colombia, Barack and Michelle Obama would be vacationing in a country where the same terrorists still hold hundreds of people in cruel jungle captivity.
The Secret Service has been made to look lascivious and corrupt, and made to look that way worldwide.
Meanwhile, even Rep. Darrell Issa believes the Secret Service agency must go through “soul-searching” in light of their embarrassing allegations.
“Things like this don’t happen once, if they didn’t happen before,” Issa told Face the Nation Sunday, April 15.
In November of 2009, just about one year after Obama was elected, the Secret Service was publicly blamed for its first security lapse when aspiring reality television stars Tareq and Michaele Salahi crashed a White House State dinner.
Someone is working hard to trash the good name of the Secret Service and the US military.
Heads up to Rep. Issa: And it’s happened before.
Judi McLeod——Bio and Archives
-- Judi McLeod, Founder, Owner and Editor of Canada Free Press, is an award-winning journalist with more than 30 years’ experience in the print and online media. A former Toronto Sun columnist, she also worked for the Kingston Whig Standard. Her work has appeared throughout the ‘Net, including on Rush Limbaugh and Fox News.
