The recent resignation of Secret Service director Kim Cheatle has shaken Washington. I think it's about time some accountability was taken for the shocking security failure in Trump's rally at Pennsylvania. How a shooter got close enough to graze the former president's ear is beyond one's imagination. How does something like that even happen with all the intense security measures that are supposed to be in place?
I have always had a lot of respect for the Secret Service and the very demanding job they do, but this incident has changed my mind somewhat and made me wonder whether they have indeed become complacent or if there are even deeper problems we don't know about.
What's frustrating, too, is why we're still not getting clear answers on how that shooter got onto that rooftop or why Trump was allowed on stage when there were reports of the suspicious person.
Her testimony to Congress did very little to instill confidence. I watched parts of that hearing; she seemed to be ducking most of the hard questions. When you're heading some agency guilty of a massive security breach, you have to be straight up and forthright. The refusal to give details made the whole situation appear worse than it really was.
I'm just glad she finally resigned. There can be no room for "operational failures" when you are tasked with the protection of current and former presidents. Literally, lives are at stake here.
The acting directorship appointment of Ronald Rowe, with his many years of service to the agency, seems to be a sound decision. I think that whoever takes permanent charge is going to have their work cut out for them. He has to rebuild trust, not with the public alone, but with those very people whom they've been protecting.
I'll be very interested to see the result of that independent review Biden mentioned. Hopefully, that will put light on what exactly has gone wrong and how changes are to be made. Other than this incident, the Secret Service does have a fine tradition, and I wouldn't like its reputation permanently tarred by this.
It's worth noting that protecting politicians in the current climate must be incredibly challenging.
With the country so divided and tensions running high at political events, agents have to be on high alert constantly. But that's precisely why we need leadership that can rise to those challenges.