President Bush has been uncharacteristically quiet on the subject of an embarrassing incident involving the Secret Service, which has yet to receive a public attaboy similar to those he gave Michael Brown and Donald Rumsfeld. The reason, perhaps, is that this time, the failure struck close to home. The Guardian writes (November 23):

The US secret service are supposed to take a bullet for those they protect. Just don't expect them to put themselves out for a handbag.

Being surrounded by a phalanx of agents with wires sprouting from their ears did not save Barbara Bush, the president's 24-year-old daughter, from having her bag and mobile phone stolen at a Buenos Aires restaurant, according to an ABC News report yesterday.

George W. Bush's television appearance in which he shed tears on behalf of Dick Cheney's accidental shooting ordeal reminds me of a story I heard years ago that taught a valuable lesson.

The efficient taskmaster of the Nazi Auschwitz death camp was praised by Hitler for his efficiency in carrying out the mass executions mandated in the brutal regime's quest to "purify" society in the important early stages of what was intended by the Fuhrer to be a one thousand year rule.  

At one point the operational function had to be carried out by subordinates as the taskmaster took one week off from duties due to grievance over the death of his pet cat.  The story illustrated what happens when individuals become divorced from reality.  

While it is ordinarily commendable to grieve over a deceased pet, this grieving cat owner thought nothing of gassing scores of helpless individuals who had done nothing to personally displease him.