"We Let the Boss Down"

A couple of weekends ago, two subjects which are near and dear to me have been the objects of scrutiny. First subject is the Obama administration. Anyone who knows me, or my politics, know that I am an unapologetic Barack Obama supporter.  I have been since he accepted the Democratic Party nomination in 2008.So anything that affects his presidency, especially in a negative light, immediately grabs my attention. The second subject is the country of Colombia.  I am witness to the fact that it is a beautiful country, which is very often misunderstood. It is  also the homeland of my wife and the home of my father in law, who resides on the majestic island of San Andres. Somehow,these two unrelated factors of my life became uncomfortably intertwined a couple of weeks ago. The Secret Service and members of the military (I am a retired soldier also, so I guess that makes three aspects of my life), were involved in a prostitution scandal before our president arrived for the Summit of the Americas  in Cartagena, Colombia.  The whole affair is not only an embarrassment to the Obama administration, but an embarrassment to the United States.It is also an embarassment to the country of Colombia and to the beautiful city of Cartagena. No matter what your politics are, you must admit that our president has represented the country well whenever he travels abroad. This affair just has the stench of neglect, misjudgment and “no discipline” all over it.  Although, the elite team who protect the president were allegedly not involved, it still makes me wonder, was our commander- in chief’s safety ever compromised?  If I were a betting man, I would wager that this is not an isolated incident. I’m certain that these agents and troops like to have a good time wherever  they travel.  To a certain extent there is nothing wrong with that. But, as demonstrated by this incident, it only takes one “knucklehead” (or in this case 11 knuckleheads) to compromise the whole mission. In the words of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, “We let the boss down”.  With the ongoing investigation, we’ll all know how badly the boss was let down.