By JENNA JOHNSON<\/p>\n
Recent antics of the U.S. Secret Service are no longer so secret \u2026.<\/p>\n
Three agents from the Secret Service were sent home from Amsterdam after one was found passed out drunk in a hotel hallway. And their activities have become international news.<\/p>\n
An investigation is underway and the agents are blamed with \u201cnot doing more to prevent another embarrassment\u201d for the Secret Service, as two years ago they suffered a scandal in which agents brought prostitutes back to their hotel rooms in Cartagena.<\/p>\n
Among protecting high profile figures such as the president, the secret service also investigates crimes like counterfeit and credit card fraud.<\/p>\n
White House Spokesperson Jay Carney said, \u201cGenerally, the President believes \u2026 that everybody representing the United States of American overseas needs to hold himself or herself to the highest standards.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thus, the three Secret Service agents were sent home as a disciplinary measure. Rightfully so, since their actions were somewhat shameful to the country.<\/p>\n
However, isn\u2019t it also a tad shameful for the news media to blatantly broadcast the incident? If America is really concerned with protecting the reputation of the Secret Service, it seems to me that they would like to keep the disciplinary measures \u201con the down-low.\u201d<\/p>\n
The federal government and president could\u2019ve likely dealt with the three agents privately in order to avoid drawing attention to the scandal (that is, if one could call it a scandal compared to the one in Cartagena).<\/p>\n
Of course, journalists are all for exposing the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so it doesn\u2019t surprise me that this story came out. That being said, I do think that exposing the weakness in a prestigious government agency might be unwise in a climate of international political unrest. It is suspected that the recent disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines flight may have been an act of terrorism.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve usually leaned towards abridging some rights when safety is involved, but I realize how fine that line is.<\/p>\n
Perhaps exposing the scandal will force the Secret Service to clean up their act. Freedom of press can often have a \u201cwatch dog\u201d effect on the government.<\/p>\n
And now that I think of it, I don\u2019t want a sloppy Secret Service.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By JENNA JOHNSON Recent antics of the U.S. Secret Service are no longer so secret \u2026. Three agents from the Secret Service were sent home from Amsterdam after one was found passed out drunk in a hotel hallway. And their … Continue reading