Do you trust the Secret Service to protect Kerry?

[Feanorcurufinwe]

[Shoeempress]

1. I've met them at a Kerry Event and although I had passed

a background clearance, they were rather intimidating to everyone. I'm not exactly a terrorist look-a-like nor much of a menace presence, but make no mistake, I and everyone else were kept at bay.

[Morning Dew]

2. Ohhhhhh yeah !

These people do their job without regard to party affiliation.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

3. Losing the person you are protecting...

Is the single worst thing that can happen to an SS agent. Period. They may not agree with his political stance, but they know why they are there: To keep him safe. That is their job and they take it very seriously.

A family acquaintance was an SS agent. I discussed his job with him at some length. They are proud men and women and they know why they are there.

[rogerashton]

4. The evidence is that Huey Long was shot by one of his bodyguards,

although it was probably an accident. And there is that report that after he was shot, Mr. Reagan didn't trust the Presidential Bodyguard to protect him in the hospital.

[seabeyond]

5. yes n/t

[Lovecrafty]

6. The Secret Service have a tradition and honor to uphold..they'll do it!

The Secret Service was founded in 1865 and they have a long tradition to uphold. I'm proud to say I have an Uncle who was a member of the Secret Service during the 90's and protected Clinton at the White House! He even got me an autographed picture of THE BIG DOG himself signed to me personally! It is one of my most cherished and beloved possessions!

[Feanorcurufinwe]

9. I agree 100%

and I was sure happy when they started protecting Kerry.

That's cool about your uncle, and the pic...

[depakid]

7. I doubt that the secret Service has any love for Bush

or his family. Honestly, how do you think they're treated? like the rest of the help, I suspect. My guess that the agents, long with the rest of the whitehouse staff will be glad to be rid of them.

[progressivebydesign]

8. Absolutely!!!!

I watched them at the midnight rally in Ohio. on CSPAN the other night. He had a swarm of them, and they never, never blinked. It made me feel so good to see how well they were protecting him. One guy held up a bunched up t-shirt for Kerry to sign, and the Secret Service agent grabbed it for a moment, to make sure it was only a t-shirt.. they were really on the job. I totally trust them.

[ms.smiler]

11. The only reason I have doubt is because of Booker Elementary.

Why didn't they do their job at the Booker Elementary School and pull Bush from that classroom? Are there Secret Service teams that are "special" Bush teams? Who gave them their orders that morning? Why did they leave him sitting in that classroom?

[blondeatlast]

19. Agents take their command from above.

Someone above them effed up. Like maybe, Bunnypants?

[Senior citizen]

10. No way!

They were all getting drunk in The Cellar the night before Kennedy was assassinated. I'm not saying that the people planning the assassination took the Secret Service out and got them drunk the night before, just that they certainly could have because that's where they were.

I believe the only reason Clinton wasn't assassinated was that he went along to get along with free trade and the media monopolies. Although Clear Channel recently started airing AAR, I've been 15 years behind a right-wing media iron curtain, during which time I've watched jobs exported and wages declining. I like Clinton and wish him well, but I think that eroding democracy was the price he had to pay to stay alive. I could be wrong.

Maybe he's just a trilateralist who wanted to see our economy destroyed and our free speech wiped out. But from his book and his record, I tend to doubt it.

I trust Kerry to take care of Kerry. I think his people will vet the Secret Service details carefully. But having watched the effectiveness of the Secret Service during the John F. Kennedy assassination and the Bobby Kennedy assassination, which was exactly nil, I am truly amazed that anyone thinks I might trust them. They're probably good for conventions, but if I were a presidential candidate or a president, I'd hire my own private security to keep an eye on the Secret Service. That way, if they all went out and got drunk one night, I'd know enough to stay home the next day.

[Lovecrafty]

12. In the words of General "Buck" Turgidson from Dr. Strangelove:

"Well, I, uh, don't think it's quite fair to condemn a whole program because of a single slip-up, sir." HAHAHAHAHA!!!

[blondeatlast]

20. Citation? Link?

I've never heard this.

I'm a librarian; it's my job to know where the 411 comes from...

[Lefty48197]

13. Yes. They're hardcore.

.

[Spiffarino]

14. I saw and talked to them at a rally. Absolutely they will.

After watching them in action at a rally in Charlotte, I have no doubt about their willingness to lay down their lives for anyone under their protection. They were professional, powerful, even polite at times. But they were all business.

Releax people. John is in good hands.

[EmperorHasNoClothes]

15. Absolutely

They will protect whomever they are assigned to without regard to party or politics. The secret service is one facet of the government that I DO still have faith in.

[PopSixSquish]

16. Yes, Absolutely!

The Secret Service had a flipping fit when Darth Vader (Ken Starr) tried to get Clinton's "body man" to testify about anything he'd seen or heard. Hell, even Poppy Bush came out and said that was a bad idea.

The "body man" for those who don't know, is the agent who is always closest to the President. It's his job to stop the bullet regardless.

The former agent (Jerry something?) who pushed Reagan into the car and landed on top of him was on several talk shows at the time and basically said "this is the stupidest thing ever". The Secret Service cannot protect the President if he/she keeps them away fearful that they will be called to testify in court.

These folks take their jobs very seriously and would never do anything to harm a protectee. Talk to some former agents and they will tell you that even though Reagan survived the assassination attempt, the fact that he even was shot weighs heavily on them.

There was a great documentary on TV a few years back about the Secret Service and their training and methods. These folks are hard-core.

[zach]

17. I'm sorry, but

This has to be the stupidest thread I have ever seen posted here on DU. Do you honestly think these men and women are so sick, they wish to see somebody die? The SS is comprised of men and women whom are filled with honor and dignity, and to assume otherwise is not only foolish on your part, it's downright sick. The people of the SS are good people, doing their jobs regardless of political ideology.

This makes me sick.

- zach

[blondeatlast]

21. Read through the posts. Prevailing attitude here is that they are

consummate professionals.

Welcome to DU; with a bit of advice--as a newbie, read through many posts before replying to the original.

DU is about debate, and we do it well here.

[blondeatlast]

18. Indeed I do. A fairly close friend is a Secert Service agent

who takes his job very seriously. He has been assigned more than once to protect President Bush.

Off the job, he makes no secret of his feelings about political issues. On the job, he's a solid professional.

As it should be.

[Senior citizen]

22. Where do you think they were?

It has been fully documented that the Secret Service detail were at the Cellar getting drunk the night before the JFK assassination.

But where were they when the assassination occurred? Off duty? On another assignment?

Or were they there, all present and accounted for, and completely ineffective?

The fact is that President John F. Kennedy was protected by the Secret Service, and the fact is that he was assassinated.

I don't care how proud and dedicated the Secret Service people are. There was a bloody coup in this country and they were either in on it or, at a minimum, failed to do anything about it.

I believe that Bobby Kennedy, as a Presidential candidate, also had Secret Service protection. Was he shot in that hotel kitchen, or is he still around and in hiding somewhere? I'd like to hear the conspiracy theory that says the Secret Service was effective and that Bobby Kennedy wasn't assassinated.

That's only two, of course. Perhaps I should wait for a third assassination before I begin to doubt their competence? If that's your advice, here's my born-in-Brooklyn response: Fugeddaboudit!

[Feanorcurufinwe]

23. RFK didn't have SS protection nt