Shortly after the assassination attempt, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle sent a memo to her agents, praising their work and urging them not to be distracted “by those who were not there and yet still pass judgment.”
What a churlish thing to write. Basically, Ms. Cheatle labeled any critic of the Secret Service for the way it handled the assassination attempt as a Monday morning quarterback.
Later, Cheatle admitted some "failures" in the security arrangements at the Trump rally. Nevertheless, she refused to assign blame or resign from her post.
In fact, the Secret Service’s security arrangements for President Trump were shockingly inadequate. Several commentators have pointed out that Trump's security team should never have allowed a man with a rifle to crawl up on the roof of a building and shoot at the President from a distance of only 140 yards.
I live in Mississippi, where young people begin hunting deer at the age of 12. Anyone who is moderately proficient with a deer rifle will tell you that a standing target only 140 yards away is an easy shot—a can’t-miss shot--especially if the shooter is aided by a rangefinder to help calculate a bullet's trajectory.
I can think of only two explanations for the Secret Service’s failure to secure the building from which the would-be assassin fired his rifle. The agent in charge may have been incompetent. Alternatively, the Secret Service agents may have been indifferent to Trump's safety.
After all, Ms. Cheetle was appointed by President Biden. Perhaps she didn’t think it was important to protect President Trump. If so, Cheatle's attitude toward Trump may have infected her agents.
Regardless of whether the assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, can be explained by incompetence or malice, the people responsible should be fired. Kimberly Cheatle should surrender her office keys and be escorted out of the building carrying a cardboard box containing her personal effects.
No one should feel sorry for Kimberly Cheatle. She has a sociology degree from Eastern Illinois University, which should make her eminently employable. Perhaps she can get her old job back guarding potato chips at Pepsico. I'm sure Jill Biden will write a strong letter of recommendation.
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| Barney Fife: Don't put him on a sloped roof. |