When a dozen or more Secret Service agents chose to party with hookers at the Hotel Caribe in Cartagena, Colombia, their decision was a deviation from the military-law enforcement culture which needs to be as closely examined as the misbehavior they apparently engaged in. Part of it may be a diminution of character, as Peggy Noonan wrote in the Wall Street Journal......
(see my post below)
But it is much more than that. The deviation from Secret Service practice and tradition demonstrated by the hooker party was a knowing and intentional abandonment of their duty.....
And in those off-duty times, duty is ever-present. Yes, character is part of it. Men of character don't carouse with prostitutes wherever they find themselves, they don't take illicit drugs or hit the booze to an extent that they can't be at 100% alertness and strength to do their jobs when they report for duty -- that word again -- the following day.
The sense of duty -- a deep commitment -- isn't something a person who is dedicated to their purpose can abandon. It's ingrained in body and soul, a habit and creed.....
Link to entire column
