I just read the latest diary by Meteor Blades and it motivated me to put something together. I read an article at The Guardian this morning and thought it was a good topic.
Secret Service decries rightwing blame on female agents over Trump shooting
After the shooting I saw where President Biden said he was going to pull all his ads, and he did. I used to see 4-6 ads every night just during the local news and Jeopardy, but this week zero, nada, nothing until last night when I saw a new ad featuring Hadley Duval that was focused on abortion and women’s rights. President Biden has shifted his message and seems right now it is focused on women’s rights and we need to start really hammering that to everyone, it could be a winning topic this year.
We all know how the GOP feels about women’s rights, it’s no secret. It is so bad the GOP is blaming the shot that was taken at their orange jesus on women in the secret service instead of the person who pulled the trigger. How could they possibly blame a white male who is a registered republican, no way he could have done it, it must have been a women!
Amid growing reports of serious security failings, the Secret Service director, Kimberly Cheatle, has come under intense pressure. Subject to calls to resign, even confronted by Republican senators at the GOP convention in Milwaukee, she was served a subpoena for testimony in Congress next week.
The second woman to lead the agency, Cheatle faces rightwing claims she only secured the role thanks to policies to improve diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) which she has previously backed.
They were nice and said Cheatle was “confronted”, I saw the video and it looked more like an ambush. They caught her going through a narrow hallway and then surrounded her demanding answers. She told them she would answer their questions in an appropriate venue, they just kept yelling. It was sickening to watch, none of them demanded answers about Uvalde.
Since the failed Trump assassination, rightwingers have also attacked female agents in the field.
One social media post, by a user described as a “MAGA2024 Ex-con deplorable” and viewed 10m times, shows a male officer carrying a large gun next to a female agent in action at the Trump rally.
Its caption says: “Secret service agents: Before DEI vs After DEI.”
Cory Mills, a Florida congressman, told Fox News: “Look, I’m not sure about who the individuals are on the individual detail, Secret Service, but I can tell you under this Biden administration, the one thing I’ve seen is massive DEI hires.
“And I can tell you when you primarily, when you primarily go after D-E-I, you end up with D-I-E.”
Tim Burchett, of Tennessee, went after Cheatle directly, posting: “I can’t imagine that a DEI hire from Pepsi would be a bad choice as the head of the Secret Service.
And what needs to be said:
“It is an insult to the women of our agency to imply that they are unqualified based on gender,” Anthony Guglielmi, the Secret Service communications chief, told NBC News.
“Such baseless assertions undermine the professionalism, dedication and expertise of our workforce.”
In his statement to NBC, Guglielmi said: “We stand united against any attempt to discredit our personnel and their invaluable contributions to our mission and are appalled by the disparaging and disgusting comments against any of our personnel.
“As an elite law enforcement agency, all of our agents and officers are highly trained and fully capable of performing our missions.”
Kenneth Valentine, a former agent and supervisor, told the same network: “There are some unbelievable female agents. They are very welcome, they are needed, and I can’t imagine my tenure in the Secret Service without that kind of diversity.”
The GOP thinks women can only make babies, cook and clean and that’s all they want them for!
America needs to truly understand this!