They really do think we’re stupid. Just when you think they couldn’t be any more arrogant, any more condescending, Acting Secret Service (SS) Director Ronald Rowe Jr. comes along.

The contemporary standard was set by former SS Director Kim Cheatle when she, without the slightest glimmer of shame, said she wouldn’t allow her agents to secure the rooftop from which the assassin tried to kill Donald Trump because the roof was too steep! That idiotic lie collapsed almost immediately under the weight of reality, much of it provided by former military snipers who observed they often deployed on mountainsides. Cheatle  was apparently unaware Americans have Internet access. Video and photos of the not-at-all steep rooftop, and law enforcement (LE) snipers on a steeper, nearby rooftop exposed Cheatle’s ridiculous lie. Rational Americans thought the SS couldn’t do worse, but that lasted only a few days until Rowe appeared before Congress.

To his slight credit, Rowe admitted the fault of the SS in their failure to intercept the assassin, but thereafter did little but stonewall. Rowe beat Cheatle’s deception with a novel approach. Keep in mind the SS claimed they never denied Trump’s protection detail anything. That lasted about a day when they were forced to admit they kind of, sort of, maybe did refuse at least some of their requests, though no details were forthcoming.

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Asked by Senator Ted Cruz, who was responsible for denying those reinforcement requests, Rowe hemmed and hawed until Cruz demanded names. Rowe said there isn’t anyone who actually makes decisions, who signs forms or issues orders. There is, you see, “a process” for such things, and unnamed people have “conversations,” but no one makes final decisions or has any responsibility. “It’s not just an absolute yay or nay,” he said with a straight face.

For anyone who has served in the military, law enforcement, or is possessed of common sense, that’s idiotic. The SS is a paramilitary organization with a rigid chain of command. Agents seek promotion for the power those positions grant, the power to make decisions, such as which detail gets support and reinforcement and which—like Trump’s—does not. If no one ever says “yay or nay,” how does anyone know what they’re supposed to do?

Could Rowe be that stupid? Could he actually believe anyone would accept such a blatantly false excuse, or was there another explanation?

LE agencies fear, above all else, appearing to be incompetent. They will say or do almost anything to avoid that public perception. Unless, that is, the alternative is worse. In Rowe’s case, it appears to be worse.

We know because a number of SS whistleblowers are coming forward, and in so doing, not only sinking their careers, but potentially putting themselves and their families in danger.

Now we learn from a whistleblower that the Acting Director of the Secret Service personally pulled resources from the Trump team, including the very people whose job it was to identify and track a potential threat. They weren't there, despite it being a critical resource to deal with precisely this type of threat and standard to provide them. 

Rowe did that and now is in charge of investigating himself. 

I’m sure he’ll do a bang-up job.

Sen. Josh Hawley on Thursday sent a letter to Rowe citing ‘disturbing information’ from at least one whistleblower citing Secret Service planning failures for the Butler, Pennsylvania, campaign event ‘and your own involvement.’ [skip]

‘The whistleblower claims that if personnel from the CSD had been present at the rally, the gunman would have been handcuffed in the parking lot after being spotted with a rangefinder,’ Hawley continued. ‘You acknowledged in your Senate testimony that the American Glass Research complex should have been included in the security perimeter for the Butler event.’

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No wonder Rowe concocted a tale of no one—certainly not him!--in the SS having decision making authority.

I have, until now, been careful to give the SS at least a minimal benefit of the doubt. Not so the FBI; they’ve proven they deserve none. While it’s true we don’t know the facts, we don’t even have a coherent timeline with the names of those involved and what they did or didn’t do. Still, there are significant know facts that lead reasonable Americans to one probability: the government, through design, Trump Derangement Syndrome or incompetence surpassing virtually all previous governmental incompetence, created vulnerabilities any sapient being should have known would result in Trump’s death. 

It’s now up to government to conclusively disprove that reasonable, alarming, inference. Tragically, they’ve willingly and arrogantly thrown away their credibility when they, and America, need it most.

Credit happenstance or God—I prefer the latter—for Trump’s continued existence. The Harris/Biden Administration surely had nothing to do with it.

Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.