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Matt Slocum / AP file
Secret Service agents watch as Air Force One departs Midland International Airport with President Bush and first lady Laura Bush aboard in Midland, Texas, on Oct. 4, 2008.
WASHINGTON -- Secret Service agents are often portrayed in popular culture as disciplined, unflappable, loyal — and male. A spiraling prostitution scandal that has highlighted the dearth of women in the agency that protects the president and dignitaries has many wondering: Would more females in the ranks prevent future dishonor?
Only about a tenth of field agents and uniformed officers are women, a shortage some attribute to travel demands that can be especially taxing on women balancing families and careers. A scandal that risks portraying the agency as unfriendly to women, however, could set back efforts to close the gender gap.
"I can't help but think that there would be some progress if there was more diversity and if there were more women that were there," said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. "When you have a diversity of people there, it brings more accountability. What you see is a lack of accountability in this."
Women make up about 25 percent of the agency's workforce, but only about 11 percent of agents and uniformed officers, said spokesman Ed Donovan. That's significantly lower than the 19 percent of female special agents in the FBI, though higher than the 9.7 percent of special agents who are women in the Drug Enforcement Administration. The Secret Service does not provide gender breakdowns on the agents assigned to presidential details, though women have been included on those assignments for years.
In the wake of the scandal shaking up the ranks of the president's security detail, the Secret Service is reminding agents about the rules concerning off-duty drinking and fraternizing. NBC's Mike Viqueira reports.
The agency has aggressively recruited women, targeting female-oriented career fairs and sending brochures to colleges.
"We all recognize that we want to get more women into the Secret Service," Donovan said.
But that wasn't easy even before the prostitution embarrassment in Colombia, which unfolded two weeks ago when a dispute over payment between a prostitute and Secret Service officer spilled into a hotel hallway. A dozen Secret Service employees and a dozen enlisted military personnel have been implicated. Although Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said it appeared to be isolated, the agency has since confirmed it's investigating if employees hired prostitutes and strippers ahead of President Barack Obama's visit to El Salvador last year. The agency on Friday also announced stricter measures, including assigning chaperones on some trips to enforce new rules of conduct for agents and employees.
Paige Pinson, 45, spent 15 years with the agency and her father, W. Ralph Basham, is a former director. She said it wasn't the culture that encouraged her to forego her agent's position. After all, male agents were loyal to each other and fiercely protective of her. She'd drink alongside them at bars and laughed at the "groupies" who fawned over their status. It was, instead, the birth of her first child that inspired her to seek a less travel-intensive analyst's position. She left the agency in 2009.
"You do miss birthdays, you do miss Christmas, and you miss piano recitals," Pinson said, "and maybe women are just more sensitive to that than men can be."
The agency enjoys vaunted prestige in American popular culture, but the rigors of a protective detail — jet-setting the globe at a moment's notice to protect a dignitary, being on-call around the clock — isn't for everyone. It's the type of full-bore commitment that leads to canceled vacations and blown-off family obligations, an occasional workaday drudgery that, former agents say, can distinguish the Secret Service from other law enforcement agencies.
"I know they work hard and long hours too, but at the end of the day, they go home at night," said Barbara Riggs, who spent 31 years with the agency, serving on presidential protective details for Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush — ascending to the role of a supervisor — before retiring as deputy director in 2006. "You can't say the same for being a Secret Service agent."
Cavorting with prostitutes on the job isn't all that different from holding a business meeting in a topless joint: Both are hyper-sexualized activities that some men may condone but are bound to make women uncomfortable, said Donna Milgram, executive director of the National Institute for Women in Trades, Technology and Science.
"Whenever you have a culture in which it's accepted that sexual activity as has been described is part of that culture — i.e. using local prostitutes — that is not going to be a culture in which women are going to be want to be in," said Milgram, who has advised law enforcement agencies on recruiting and retaining women. "Those are generally not cultures that want to have women."
Other incidents over the past 15 years haven't helped the Secret Service come off as welcoming to women. Emails filed as part of a race discrimination lawsuit show workers sharing racially and sexually inappropriate jokes. An alcohol-soaked bar brawl involving off-duty agents in 2002 involved allegations that an agent had bitten off part of a man's ear — though no charges were brought and a jury sided with the agent in a civil trial. A 2002 U.S. News & World Report contained allegations of heavy drinking, pornography viewing at work and security lapses.
Some former agents acknowledge a close-knit atmosphere where employees travel, dine and socialize together — sometimes in the form of so-called "wheels up" parties held in foreign countries after the departure of a president or other person under protection. But they say the prostitution scandal does not represent a cultural problem or reflect a broader disdain for women.
The Secret Service began adding women in the early 1970s, a time when returning Vietnam War veterans signed up in bunches. Just as they do now, agents prided themselves on being physically strong and on a strict selection process for the presidential detail, said Joseph Petro, who joined in 1971 and a co-author of "Standing Next to History: An Agent's Life Inside the Secret Service." New recruits were expected to prove themselves.
"We wanted to look at them — see what kind of shape they were in, how they fit, what their manner was. That goes on — and it should," said Petro, who after Vietnam spent 23 years with the agency as an agent and manager, helping protect Reagan.
Some women had it tough in the early years, he recalled, bumping up against "hard-headed" men who had never worked with women. But some found niches through special skills, like horseback riding, and the atmosphere was genteel and respectable enough that Petro said he always felt comfortable bringing his wife and daughter on trips to Reagan's ranch in Santa Barbara.
"There were a couple of guys who brought their wives and kids," Petro said. "That puts the brake on a lot of things."
In the latest debacle, the Secret Service has forced eight employees from their jobs and was seeking to revoke the security clearance of another employee, which would effectively force him to resign. Three others have been cleared of serious wrongdoing. How much it sets back efforts to recruit women may depend on the pervasiveness of inappropriate behavior, Milgram said.
"It's a way of operating," she said, "that I think most of us would consider a way that was left behind 30 years ago."
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Leave a Comment:
I know one thing - if the Secret Service truly had a diverse workforce, this crap wouldn't be happening. You all know this cannot be the first incident of hard drinking and prostitutes. It is the first time they got caught! Psych 101 group/herd mentality...the leadership and culture needs to change.
Oh...and I wonder how many strip club nights got covered on agent's expense reports...come on Secret Service...you had to know this type of behavior was being tolerated. Shame on you.
Our military is a "diverse workforce" & it doesn't stop our troops from getting prostitutes. I'm all for diversity, but the problem is in the lack of rigid supervision
People get lax, it's human nature, but it's no excuse for violating the standards they are trained by
If you truly believe that forcing diversity into the workplace will somehow change human behavior, I've got some land in Florida for you.
Congress has a "diverse work force" & it certainly doesn't stop Congressmen from getting prostitutes or the voters sticking up for them when they do, i.e. Congressman David Vitter
Betty Gordon,
"I know one thing - if the Secret Service truly had a diverse workforce, this crap wouldn't be happening".
And exactly how do you KNOW that.
Betty
Male Escorts??? Lesbian Prostitutes???
Do you really think that having more women in the Seceret Service will stop men from acting like A- holes. Just look at what is happening to our women who join the Armed Froces they get raped all the time and by their own service men . Then they get shamed into not taking any action or are belittled by their leaders. I can almost guarantee that that this would happen even if half were women. Gust think what our President said about the scandel he blamed it on the actions of two nuckel heads. As a father of three girls and three grand daughters I would not recomend any of them joining either organization.
Yes, I 100% agree the secret service should have more women! But the idea that changes things is sexist. Men and women who are international security pros will, in general, have a few failed relationships in the states, and after a couple years in that line of work, take equally casual or transactional approach to relations with the opposite sex. Not falling in love will make them better at what they do.
if more women were in the secret service the only difference would be is the males wouldn't have to hire prostitutes.
Why would woman want to join the Secret Service or CIA? The republicans would only "out them" like they did a few years back under Bush Jr. As his father President Bush SR. said, that was treason! Pretty bad when your own father calls you a traitor.
I just figured it out! If there is ever a scandle in the government liberals make sh*t up and the liberals are so lemming like they eat it right up. When there is a scandle politicians push that agency into agreeing to stupid ideas that the politician has in her or his head, or else she wont stop the investigation or stop media attention.
Betty Gordon. Very intelligent. And what makes you all knowing?
Well Betty Gordon, it would seem that you (and the writer of this article) seem to think that having more women in the Secret Service would have prevented this scandal. The only way that more women "agents" could have helped would have been if they themselves were prostitutes and they provided the services "in house". That is sure what it sounds like to me ....
The "Semen Service" is a Governmental "Taxpayer" funded group of "narcissistic, elitist" law enforcement personnel who believe that they are above the law......adding women to this corrupt gang of male chauvinistic pigs is just serving lambs to the lions.......next year if they add more women to the SS, there will be sexual assault charges filed"....... once a hound-dog always a hound-dog.........and "cheetah's" cannot change their spots, but you can dye the hair but it's still a "cheater"...... :)
"All the time"? Really? Of course you have special knowledge of this that is somehow swept under the rug so only you know about it, right?
So we lac women in the Secret Service. That had absolutely nothing to do with what happened. If there is one organization that needs to "hire the most qualified person available" it is the Secret Service! Hiring quotas are just plain stupid anywhere, in the Secret Service, doing so would jeopardize the safety of the president and national security. If two people have exactly the same qualifications, flip a coin. As for the outrageous behavior of the agents, this screams for a full investigation, many more heads need to role, all the way to the director. There is no doubt that leadership in the agency is for crap. We cannot compromise this organization so some women can feel good about themselves.
Well... this is shocking news. I've been watching TV shows like MI-5 and others and they all show the women as equals and perfectly able to handle themselves, not just with guns, but hand to hand combat with their fancy kicks and punches. They show that it doesn't matter if the women only weigh 110 lbs. and they're fighting 210 lb thugs. The women are leaders too. So, what's all this bs about women not being a big part of the secret service?
What makes anyone think having some women in the secret service would change anything? Would the women be chaperones for the male agents and follow them everywhere? I guarantee that soon after women are recruited into the ranks, there will be accusations of discrimination and harassment.
This is just another opportunity for political correctness to rear its ugly head once again.
Those agents were guilty of behavior that women don't approve of. I guess they figure that if women agents are present, they will rat them out. That should be good for camaraderie and esprit de corps. Watch all the men trying to avoid having snitches on their details.
And?
Have you perhaps compared your statistics to the number of qualified women making application to the agency?
Goodness, if the media can't provoke a race war, they go about trying to provoke a sex war.
Have you perhaps compared your statistics to the number of qualified women making application to the agency?
Goodness, if the media can't provoke a race war, they go about trying to provoke a sex war.
The LIB SPIN to attempt to attract more women voters. Unless these women Agents are assigned as chaperons for a few @!$%#s, why would this make a bit of difference? The idea that the ape-men will "behave" if "Mommy" is around is sexist in itself. Change policy, fire the ones caught.
Hire any woman that is qualified, but not because they will somehow solve an issue that SOME low-life men have; needing to subjugate women.
betty wrote "I know one thing - if the Secret Service truly had a diverse workforce, this crap wouldn't be happening. "
By diverse, of course, you don't mean men of all races. Do you think that adding more black, hispanic, Iranian and Indonesion would result in less mayhem ? No one believes the virtuous woman myth. Adding women would result in more sex among the ranks, and more massages, beauty treatments and higher lodging and food costs on Uncle Sam's tab. Women in the regular work force take more sick days, so should we expect that Secret Service women will be different?
Adding more colored men will change exactly nothing. Adding women of any race will cost much more because for surroundings and the work environment to be suitable to a woman, a higher standard of living is needed. And typically, having female agents to handle the routine "beat" jobs will route men into the dangerous jobs with a genuine risk of bodily harm and death. In that case, we are talking about "diworsification."
The high level question is : how would the Secret Service benefit from more women? Would women bring a special, genticall-based six-sense that is unknown to men? And how do we deal the rejection of male candidates that are able to pass the female physical fitness requirements but fall below the men's fitness requirements? Isn't that sexual discrimination?
I don't think anyone is saying that the presence of female agents would curtail the behavior of the male agents, I think they're saying that female agents wouldn't be visting prostitutes and binge drinking on the job. The best, most professional and capable people should get the job, regardless of their gender. Obviously, the crop of agents they had in there were not qualified.
Vincent,
Sources, citations, anything to back up all your claims. I will, without a doubt say, that females don't visit protitutes as much as men do.
Is the article implying that if more women were in the Secret Service there would be no need for prostitutes?
Bwahahaha
Awesome.
JaneEco ... so you don't think the KGB, GRU, and such engage the use of prostitutes and such? Have you reached puberty yet?? That is about the only reason one could have for making such a statement! I'm going to be polite and just say ... such naivety can only be found in pre-school as a general rule.
Making a generalization here Jane, but a jaded burnout who uses prostitutes is probably much better at keeping secrets than a guy who has honest, emotionally-connected relationships with women. In theory a prostitute could slip a guy something and rummage through his stuff while he's passed out, so that's a potential risk. But guys who fall in love (thankfully, I'm in this group!) tend to feel the need to tell their significant others things they shouldn't. I'm not defending the moral rightness of this behavior, simply stating that it doesn't bother me one bit from a security perspective.
wow, you are SO clever Gil!
Betty Gordon: My comment was inspired by, shall we say, the rather poor writing and editing of the article: To Wit:
"A spiraling prostitution scandal that has highlighted the dearth of women in the agency that protects the president and dignitaries has many wondering: Would more females in the ranks prevent future dishonor?"
P.S. Betty Gordon: You apparently didn't read the Headline as well: To Wit:
"SECRET SERVICE PROSTITUTE SCANDAL HIGHLIGHTS LACK OF WOMEN IN AGENCY"
Male agents have family and some of them have children. The one who argued with the prostitute in Columbia has married with two children. They should hire more female agents and train them.
Taking care of the family is not just a woman's job, as traditional thinking, but also a man's job as practical and family-friendly thinking.
Accept more female students in law enforcement and military. Train them and offer them as agents. They should seek more alternatives to protect those women who serve in uniform, either local uniform or federal uniform. What if 95% of a military class is women, then see how it changes the nature. Then the next class is doing the same, 95% women . . . continues to see how they can adjust and solve the problem, till the percentage to those who wear uniform will be at least in 40% of women across the board.
Change the stereotype, the old way of life, as a learning lesson for this obvious man's failure to embarrassing his family, friends, organization,and nation.
Billie, well said. The transition won't happen in my lifetime, but the women that started the revolution by entering the military academies are truly admirable. To this day, the academies let RAPISTS become officers. Until the military brass decides to get serious about date rape and such at the academies...we will still see this type of entitled behavior in our military and federal police services.
The lesson being women should not be in military, police force or fire dept.. Something that should have been known before the great social engineering experiment
Ya great idea. Then the secret service men and women can just screw each other. I can't think of a better way to complicate the situation than that
They would probably hire some women that resemble Sotomayor, Napolitano or Kagan.
there is nothing stopping women from applying for jobs in law enforcement or the military; they are never turned away from their sex as long as they can pass the test (which is always lower for females compared to males).
this is the dumbest news article ever bc of course all of you that dont work in law enforcement or the military doesnt understand anything about it... you think bc more males serve in these duties is bc we are against females which is totally false, just most females do not want that type of job and dont apply; very simple to understand. I serve with plenty of females in the military and most are great workers just like most males; makes no differance to anyone if they are willing to accept the military life just like me.
and dennis is an idiot. bet most military or law enforcement females would be able to teach that fool a lesson of respect easily.
Betty, as someone who attended one of those academies, they don't allow rapists to become officers. The other male students would have beat the living daylights out of a male they thought raped a girl, and the leadership is eager to charge accused males with rape to take the heat off themselves and look like they are doing something.
What happens is, a young lady in an incredibly stressful situation may be facing dis-enrollment from the academy for repeated misconduct (say, getting drunk in the dorms, grades, whatever). There is intense pressure from family, friends, classmates, everyone who will look at her like she "couldn't hack it" or "failed" if she gets kicked out. If she claims her problems are the result of sexual assault, she may perceive this pressure lifting.
These girls have given one side of the story. The accused males in these situations can't defend themselves, but the accusations met the same type of process the civilian justice system would use (some would say tilted in favor of the accuser, since the leadership desperately wants this stigma they are protecting someone to go away) and the accuser lacks the evidence to try the case.
Period. Vent further anger regarding this at (a) the terribly stressful environment of a military academy, and negative stigma at academies over getting kicked out (the idea failing the academy means failing at life). (b) The course of justice and due process which determines the outcome of these cases.
PS-there are come cases of rape that will never receive justice, and I resolutely hope that karma destroys the perpetrators who slipped through the system. I'm referring to the sensational cases you are hearing about on tv.
Why is there only a push for diversity in certain fields?
Where is the push for male dental hygienists?? I think that they exist, but I have never seen one.
Billy wrote "Taking care of the family is not just a woman's job, as traditional thinking, but also a man's job as practical and family-friendly thinking."
Awww, cute. Paying for sex isn't just a man's job, as traditional thinking, but also a woman's job. I'd like to know why women live an average of 5 yrs longer than a man yet retire earlier.
Women with sunglasses in the secret service?
COOL....
cheap sunglasses...oh yeah...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mxkPyQuPBM
So, female agents are not susceptible to temptations of sex? That's funny! But even if that were true - different stokes for different folks, with female agents (and I do not say they should not have more of them - they should) other challenges would arise, literally :)
You are such an ass...women just don't behave badly as men do. Check it out. More men than women are pedophiles...more men than women are rapists...more men than women are murderers...I think you get my point.
And women have a higher crime rate of prostitution ... your point?
Betty- you must be playing blogger police for this one. Point blank, male Secret Service agents are for the most part, in their 20's and 30's, strong and fit. There are aspects of the job I don't think women can do unless she is some body builder. I'm not saying there shouldn't be female SS agents. I'm just saying the typical female couldn't perform certain duties, leaving a weak link in the chain. Also women are more emotional and that could play out badly at times.
I give up and won't argue with you white dudes...onermaillliw..you are WRONG in your stats....and Dennis honey your point is totally stupid. I will entertain onermailliw...and exactly WHAT ASPECT of a protection detail agent does that excludes women???? Have you looked at the protection agents lately? Are they all body builders??? Good God I hope not! The protection detail supposedly uses their brains...and from the looks of it...their brains were in their crotch.
Betty Gordon,
Really, WHITE DUDES?
My fantasy is to walk in a bar where a female Secret Service Agent reads my F*$K Obama shirt, then beats my a s s and rides my face until i appologize ... which would never happen.
betty woman can act far worst then a given male can. not saying they always will, but they can. know a few stationed at my command that have slept with more guys then anyone can even keep track of when they are married... dont think women are better then men when it comes the to any aurge. only shows foolishness on your part.
Ahh, so Betty, you're sexist AND racist? Now we know what fool we're dealing with. Would you like to go for three and insult Christians next?
Call me sexist, Betty, but if I were the president, I'd rather have a bunch of body builders protecting me than a bunch wimpy women. The Secret Service is a very selective organization, they should be able to find enough "Terminators" with brains too. I really don't think there are that many women out there who are physically capable of fending off a male attacker, without resorting to deadly force.
Hey people back off, Betty has a point. Right on the top of her head.
Do the women in the Secret Service, or any similar capacity, have to meet the same physical requirements that men do? If they want to be treated equally they should absolutely have to.
@ Betty- ok I'll bite. How about pulling down some amped up 6'4'' 250 lb loon and detaining him for one. My money is on the wallocker with a head on it. Grabbing the President a forcing him threw a crowd of people to get him to safety. They are generally weaker and slower than there male counterparts. Do you get my point, or do I need to show you more examples to get into your sexist/racist head.
Betty,
Thank you for trying your best to have a meaningful debate with a bunch of knuckledragging, Sunday afternoon neanderthals. inspite of them believing they have somehow proven their point that -
wonen agents would be prostitutes
women agents woud be incompetent
the culture can't change etc. etc. etc.
- they have just demonstrated why the culture has to change, will change, and why the male of the species is extremely competent at making excuses for bad behavior. Women agents will most likely not keep the nasty little secrets that need to be kept, when agents behave like alley cats.
Betty Gordon wrote "You are such an ass...women just don't behave badly as men do. Check it out. More men than women are pedophiles."
Check it out. Women, including biological mothers, are responsible for the bulk of child sexual and otherwise abuse. The definition of pedophilia is about male penetration and thus is a sexist definition. Women do their share of child fondling and petting under the veil of parental love.
...women into a new profession of Secret Service...good...
...but I do hope these women won't become victims of harassment.
They may very well start a new title for female agents .. comfort agents?
...I only have one concern with women in Secret Service...A president like Bill Clinton would have more choices.
Yeah, sure; and when caught sitting on his face, Slick Willie would claim that they were just protecting him!
I can understand the idea that more women in the Secret Service is a good thing. I was around for the period in the military when more women were recruited to make up a larger share of the US military contingent, and I am proud to say that I served with those women. They were every bit as professional and proud to serve as any man I ever knew, and truly, patriotism knows no sexual, racial or religious barriers. A patriot simply IS.
But even with the integration of women into the military ranks, there was ALWAYS an element of men (and women) who took being away from home on a deployment as a license to stray. Men did seek out hookers... women did fall into bed with men outside of their marriage and hit the bars looking for "fun." Just as patriotism knows no barriers to sex, race and religion, neither does indiscretion. If a person is going to give free reign to their baser instincts, they will do so if given the chance. Regulations don't stop fraternization... it just drives it underground. Regulations don't stop drinking... it just drives it underground. Same for any other vice you'd care to mention.
The patriot in me would hope that we could find men and women for whom these were not issues. The pragmatist in me thinks that it's not likely.
Nice platitudes..but in the long run - and is is a fact...men behave badly far more than women do.
Betty, That's not true. Women just hide the badness better than men do. Not to be offensive, but a sexy smile, a wiggle or a low cut blouse & short shorts will hide any badness
God bless you Jim...you must be a senior citizen to spout that crap. Hope your "little woman" is taking care of you just fine.
Yep, I'm a senior citizen & a former 20 year Navy man who's had a girl in every port & more than one in my neighborhood..... I'm divorced & "FREE AT LAST"
Seriously, women can be just as bad as men can be & that you can make bank on
women are just as bad in the military. betty has no clue what she is talking about.
Betty is one clueless, racist, sexist twit. Some guy must have broken her tiny heart.
Betty wrote "and is is a fact...men behave badly far more than women do."
This is only because men are more difficult to control, be it violence or invention. Women leverage feminity for favor and fortune from men. Why don't women "woman up" and pay their share of taxes?
I think that the secret service did an exceptional job.When they found out their were few if any woman on staff they went right out and got some.They should get a medal for innovation.
Despite what you see on TV shows all night long --- there are very very few females capable of top notch hand to hand combat and expert marksmanship as required to become a Secret Service Agent.
They have to be prepared AND CAPABLE of physically defending the person(s) they are guarding.
I don't consider myself chauvinist at all --- it's just a plain fact that few women have the body mass and upper body strength to engage in mortal hand to hand combat.
That's why the Secret Service is ( virtually ) all male.
and you base this on .....what??? And exactly WHEN is the last time a POTUS was attacked by strictly hand ot hand combat???? Hmmn...well Lincoln was SHOT...hmmmn.
And Betty's been watching those silly shows and films Hollywood produces every ten minutes. You know, the ones where a 105 lb. model-type gal slams a 220 lb. white, male criminal against a police car. Yeah, that's funny stuff.
So, what would more women bring to the Secret Service that men don't bring? A female-only 6th sense when attacks would occur? Serendipity?
The issue of strength is social more than physical. Why are men that do not pass the male physical fitness exam rejected even though they are able to pass the female physical fitness exam? Why should internal sexual tubing be justification for an ovary-pass for a slower mile or less of anything?
I wonder when our elected & unelected political whores will stop trying to make this a campaign issue?
When women are equally physically able to pass the Secret Service fit tests and the other training, they can join.
As long as nobody cuts their funding
The fact is that there just aren't that many women interested in being SS agents.
This is because women in general shun jobs that :
1) require 40+ hr work weeks (the average woman in a full-time job logs 36 hrs), odd hours, irregular hours, overtime hours, weekend hours
2) require travel, relocation or even longer commutes
3) risk bodily injury or death
Men are paid because men are cheaper at jobs with the attributes listed.
why yes artic...these guys are obviously the angry white male...upset that a racially and sexually diverse nation is upon them. They just can't handle the truth.
We WHITE MALES have no problem with diversity; just as long as females and minorities don't wave their gender/race cards around to get their foot into doors where 'brains' and 'skill' are supposed to open those doors.
Speaking of "angry", you sound like one of the angry women who think all men are out to get them, Betty. Poor girl.
"Would more females in the ranks prevent future dishonor?"
NO.
What is the dishonor in paying for sex in a country in which paying for sex is legal? How much different is it than dating for a high price in the US?
Just take a look at our economy and our government... primarily run by men. Enough said....
DESCRS - Pelosi, boxer, feinstien, waters and the other idiots people continue to elect. Give me a break...
Miss Gordon, Arizona Willie is correct, why do you think there are no women in combat arms in the military? The main reason is because a man would risk the mission to save a woman before he would a man. And facts are facts, women are not as strong and most of the time their emotions rule what they do, not what would be rational.
I think these men will behave the same way whether women are in the service or not. These men took the attitude that they could do anything they want to without any conquences. They did not seem to think that they were doing anything wrong. That is the problem. They think this behavior was alright.
Putting women in any occupation ALWAYS improves the ethics and morality of that workforce.
How would women prevent future dishonor? Are they going use female agents as watchdogs against the male ones? Making sure the guys don't go out partying? A force of people that are around to protect the president split because one segment is there to rat out the other.
Implying that women don't indulge in any vices that men do is really foolish. I also find it funny that this article wants to put more women in the secret service, not to protect the president, but to keep their male peers in line; I guess that is the ONLY use for a female agent!
"any" is the operative term. as in any sample of humans, there is a range of behavior and all behavior is found if the sample is large enough. i'll lay you dollars to doughnuts that the frequency and intensity of misbehavior in the male group is much larger.
anybody read bret harte's short story "the luck or roaring camp?" similar effect.
ragequitter wrote "Putting women in any occupation ALWAYS improves the ethics and morality of that workforce"
Incorrect. Women increase the cost of doing business and reduce the work ethic. As for morality, only a mangina would make such a comment. What is absolutely wrong with the male ethic?
Women in the Secret Service would divert funds to better lodging, meals and massages by 3rd world workers.
so our women in the SS going to service the guys so they dont stray??? if not this is whats going to happen with some pissed off husbands sounding off...
Thats why Hillary was on the trip!
A word of warning about diversity. I have noticed that whenever diversity and a job comes up, it usually addresses a job that is usually closed to just about everybody or it addresses a job that is highly sought after, the job that usually pays very well with many benefits.
There are many, many jobs that could use more diversity. Most of these jobs are what people would consider a "step down", but if diversity is honestly what is being sought after, why does a particular job matter? Go where no (whatever) has not gone before. Be like Capt. James or Susan Kirk, and board the Enterprise.
This isn't about diversity. You suck.
I think women would be a great addition what I don' t think is good is lowering the standards physically or mentally. Women who meet the entrance criteria, complete the courses as they are now without change to requirements, take them in.. but let us not forget this one word, "CHIPENDALE"
Thank god!!! Have you noticed the policewoman or firewoman lately. Overweight, or so thin they can barely carry the hose. A shotgun is taller than some of the equality hired women. Why not have women on the NFL? Maybe on the Lakers. When they put a woman in office then she can be politically correct and have ALL female SS agents. Even a woman president wouldn't be that stupid. Humm, maybe not, I forgot she would be a politician
Exactly right. I have no problem with any person, regardless of gender or ethnicity serving in the military, law enforcement, firefighting, etc. But, the standards are usually a lot higher for a white male than for women or minorities. This is done, just to fill quotas. Every single person should have to pass the exact same physical and testing requirements as the others. No exceptions. Why do you think that there are no women in the secret service as of now? Whether you like to hear it or not, most women cannot pass the same testing, physically as the males. I did not say all, I said most. It is entirely wrong to change the bar or lower the bar of women and others.
Have you noticed that policewomen only occupy assignments during the day? More policemen are required to protect the policewomen because any confrontation with an adult male reminds women that women on average have the height, weight but not strength or risk-taking attitude of a 12 year-old boy.