This is one of those defining moments in a presidency, that little story that says so much. Dubya here told the world that his people, his men come first, and won't be denied. Watch headlines tomorrow in Chile and the world over: they'll be upset at the President for "interfering" with Chilean security, or whatever.
Know that the USSS is a burden upon visited countries. Brazil flipped out over SS demands over Clintoon's presence at some summit in Rio in the late 90s... you know, American arrogance, and all that. But the SS was just doing its job, and damned well. Sadly, Clintoon didn't stand down the criticism, or uphold his agents. (Those agents I've met have trouble hiding their disdain for the Clintons). There is a necessary in-your-face Americanism to the SS mission to protect the President. The difference here is that the President made no apologies for it; he didn't shy from it.
With this simple, sincere and plain act, the President said it all.
Awesome!
The more I think about it, the more impressed I am.
Know that the USSS is a burden upon visited countries. Brazil flipped out over SS demands over Clintoon's presence at some summit in Rio in the late 90s... you know, American arrogance, and all that. But the SS was just doing its job, and damned well. Sadly, Clintoon didn't stand down the criticism, or uphold his agents. (Those agents I've met have trouble hiding their disdain for the Clintons). There is a necessary in-your-face Americanism to the SS mission to protect the President. The difference here is that the President made no apologies for it; he didn't shy from it.The Secret Service is focused on this one task and is relentless about it, meaning they do it well and take no feces. The only time I was pizt at Ken Starr was when he tried to subpoena them. Even though none of them liked Clinton, they were not about to do such a thing.
Of course, one of the main reasons Lew Merletti quit was because Bildo even put them in such a position.
-Eric
And Jim Angle just told the "rest of the story" on FNC at about 4:35 EDT. He said that the Chilean President wanted to hold a dinner tonight to honor the President with 200 guests and the SS said that all 200 guests had to go through metal detectors, so the Chilean President is having dinner with just the President and Laura. Jim Angle mentioned something about "a lot of leftovers" because the 200 invited guests have been uninvited.
I'm sure the Chilean press and other MSM will make much ado over the SS wanting to put 200 guests through metal detectors but hey, we are in WW4 - and I'm glad they are insisting on this kind of protection for our President and First Lady. Tough if they don't like it!