Now I'm worried about the president's safety #secretservicewingnuts
by digby
Ok, I'll admit I haven't been as freaked out about the incursion into the White House as some people. But if the fellow who wrote this op-ed for the Washington Post is indicative of the sort of people who are protecting the president, I am now truly afraid for him:
Pierson should be replaced and the next director should come from outside the Secret Service, with the deputy director remaining an agent. In this role, a true leader, not a bureaucrat, is needed. Someone like Florida congressman and retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Allen West would be perfect for the role. West has successfully demonstrated that he possesses the leadership skills of a combat officer as well as managerial and diplomatic skills of a congressman, exactly the traits needed in the next director. Highly competent and beholden to no one in the Secret Service, he would be a superb director.
This means this ex Secret Service (and CIA???) agent is a fringe right wing nutball.
Allen West has said more than once that Generals “have to be very careful about blindly following a commander in chief that really does not have the best intent for our military.” I don't think he'd be an especially reliable person to put in charge of protecting the President he calls a "socialist" and whose voters he thinks should "get out" of the United States.
But that will never happen. Allen West will spend the rest of his days among the Tea Partiers making big money ripping off the sad sacks who like what he has to say. But it is somewhat concerning that right wing extremists would be among the people protecting any president. We already knew about Gary Aldrich, the lunatic FBI agent who made a tidy living after retirement claiming the Clintons put condoms and hash pipes on the White house Christmas tree. And now we have another one.
How many are there?
.