It's one of those things you hear about that makes you shake your head and say, "Now ain't that just stupid."

It seems a bunch of Secret Service agents working as an advance team for a presidential visit to Colombia, and not the one in South Carolina, were discovered having cavorted with prostitutes.

Sex scandals in government are nothing new and without them our guvmint would be as boring as the Vatican. Oops, bad example.

Anyway, while it may be troubling that guvmint agents would engage in such conduct the really troubling aspect is how quickly they were discovered.

To let this get out of the bag for folks who are trained in stealth and keeping secrets before the working girls got their shoes back on makes you wonder just how inept the Secret Service may be when it comes to hiring people.

Considering the enormous lack of judgment and inability to keep a low profile in a job where that is a primary requirement makes one think the Secret Service may be recruiting agents from day labor.

This could be, of course, good news considering the unemployment problem because a lot of folks may now be in the running for a job they thought they might not have the qualifications for.

The only thing that could disqualify you would be a felony conviction, unless the charge is for solicitation.
Think of all the out-of-work bouncers from defunct strip clubs. These guys certainly have an eye for talent and that seems to be a serious requirement for employment.

Used car salesmen certainly have experience in double talk and misdirection because they never tell you about the rebuilt transmission.

Sports agents who need work could easily slip into a Secret Service trench coat. Their job is to make a bum sound good and they are honorable people as long as they get their percentage.

Unemployed plumbers could apply but considering the guys that worked for Richard Nixon did such a poor job plumbers may be down the list.

Out-of-work reporters would be perfect because they are accustomed to working the street and will sometimes seek out squalor simply for recreation.

And given the season this may be the perfect time to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and let all those people go to work for the Secret Service, although their experience with the public may be more in line with the services the agents were utilizing.

President Obama said he was disappointed to hear about the incident and noted the investigation will be extensive. It will probably become known as the "Boys Just Wanna Have Fun" report.

While this is an embarrassment in Washington, no doubt officials in Colombia are ready to incorporate this incident into a huge public relations and tourist ploy, announcing Colombia as the place where "Men in Black Come to Play."

The person most disappointed to hear about this incident was probably Newt Gingrich, who is wondering why these guys were not assigned to his security detail.

Naturally there is talk of firings, suspensions and transfers. It may be that simply transferring them to a position where their skills can be better utilized is appropriate and it appears they have all the talents needed to provide protection for former President Bill Clinton.

And now we hear that Congress wants to investigate. Given the history of that institution and some of its members this could be just an elaborate plan to make agents testify in order to get phone numbers.

In the end, this will probably be a few loose lugnuts who went out of their way to be more stupid than God intended for them to be.

And if any of these guys are married, they are in a lot more trouble than Congress could ever give them.

Ric Latarski is a freelance writer who writes on a variety of topics and can be reached at Rlatarski@aol.com.