Six agents of the Secret Service were suspended yesterday. “The agency has come under intense scrutiny,” explains Eileen Sullivan of The New York Times, “since a 20-year-old gunman was able to fire several shots at Mr. Trump as he spoke onstage at a campaign rally on July 13, 2024. . . .
“It was the first assassination attempt since 1981 to wound a current or former president — a bullet grazed Mr. Trump’s ear.” Such a close miss! No wonder Trump now suggests he’s on a mission from God.
The Times’s Washington reporter says the agency has, since the shooting, endured “intense” scrutiny, but that’s not what it looks like from here in the bleachers. The Butler, Pennsylvania, assassination attempt was dropped by the media like a hot rock, after the first week or so, receiving very little public scrutiny . . . considering its grave implications. (Pun intended.)
“Multiple inquiries, including from Congress,” the Times goes on, “into the security lapses at Butler had some overlapping conclusions, in particular that there was a significant breakdown in communications between agents themselves, and between Secret Service agents and the local law enforcement helping to secure the rally site.”
By Hanlon’s razor, we are supposed to avoid using malice and conspiracy as explanations for when things go wrong . . . if at all possible. And incompetence — if not exactly Hanlon’s chosen word, stupidity — is indeed the official determination.
And now it has been dealt with. Officially. A few agents were suspended without pay from ten to 42 days.
Is that enough?
Such gross incompetence deserves an outright termination of employment. Everybody knows this.
Is it really that impossible to fire a government employee?
Some will speculate that they were treated lightly to keep their mouths shut.
You know, about a conspiracy.
But the undoubted proliferation of stupidity in government always makes Hanlon’s razor easy to apply.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
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3 replies on “Secret Stupidity?”
The greatest question is of what is keeping shut the mouth of Donald John Trump. What sticks and what carrots get a man to stand-down in a case of this sort.
Ronald Rowe Jr. was the person responsible for all the actual functional operations and that made all the on-the-ground decisions for the personnel in Butler while Cheatle was a DEI figurehead. As a result of his unintended (or intentional) failures, she was canned and he was promoted. Nothing revealed at all from his calculated testimony in front of of Congress.
He was either incompetent, or complicit.
Based on his background, I’m leaning towards the latter
Government employees have unions. So yes, it really is difficult to fire them. Their jobs are guaranteed with six figure pensions.. You didn’t see the man who killed Ashli Babbitt get fired did you? He was promoted, instead. Those who were suspended will probably get promoted, too.