Most of us are probably thinking that a road paved with prostitutes probably won’t lead anywhere good. And we’re seeing just that as more and more information is found out about the brewing Secret Service scandal in Colombia.
We know that at least eleven Secret Service agents (some outlets are reporting as many as twenty) were involved in some sort of activity with prostitution in the country where the practice is legal. More information has come out today about the nature of the events, including as ABC news reports, that the eleven members partied at the “Pley Club” a Colombian brothel wherein they allegedly bragged, “we work for Obama” and “we’re here to protect him.” Reportedly they also spent money on whiskey and enlisted the services of the prostitutes who charged upwards of $200.
Here then is where things went awry, well, if you consider hanging out in a brothel while in Colombia to protect the POTUS, not part of things going awry. The men paid for the prostitutes’ services in advance, but when it was time to settle up, there was a dispute over the charges. The New York Post further reports that in addition to the regular fee, a fee is also owed to the women directly as is custom.
“The agent was supposed to pay her a [bar] fine on top of the pay rate for her sexual services, but he didn’t,” he said, referring to the local practice of paying a fee to the red-light district hot spot Pley Club to take one of its “dancers” out on a date, and then another fee directly to the woman.”
When this was little factoid was discovered the men then became belligerent and the police were called. As many as twenty women were involved, and the Post also says that along with the whiskey found in the room, there are rumors of white powder (cocaine) also found therein. But we’ll take that with a grain of salt given the source.
Amid the controversy, the Pentagon is now also investigating members of the military who may have also been involved in the partying.
What the current news hints at is the possibility of long term affiliations of this type amongst the Secret Service and similar agencies who have always been held to a high standard of discipline and professionalism. Republicans are already questioning whether or not the actions of the men could have threatened national security by citing something out of a Mata Hari movie where planting bugs, disabling weapons, and basically threatening the safety of the president were commonplace. Not only does it suggest a possible problem with the culture of the Secret Service, but with the election season in full swing, it raises the question of how it will affect President Obama.
For his part, House Speaker John Boehner skirted answering the question directly when posed to him today about the president’s responsibility or whether there will be Congressional hearings, opting only to say that the facts of the case should be found out first.
But this looks a bit like a freight train coming full tilt toward the campaign. Despite Romney’s comments about the situation where he said he’d “clean house” one can only imagine the sound bites Romney is arming himself with, especially if Congress gets involved and a full scale investigation of various agencies takes place. He also noted that a lack of leadership led to the scandal, but didn’t elaborate further on that point, only to say that he has confidence in Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan.
“The right thing to do is to remove people who have violated the public trust and have put their play time and their personal interests ahead of the interests of the nation.”
Not sure how to take the “play time” part of his comment. Sounds a bit creepy, but nonetheless fair reader, do you think this will prove to be damaging to President Obama? Impropriety of this nature is not a new thing, but when it’s so close to the President, does it take on a new role and become a stain or somehow reflect negatively on his leadership decisions? You can bet these are the questions Romney and possibly old campaign shoe, Newt Gingrich, are asking.
