And It Wouldn't Kill You to Walk Faster when You're Out and About

Secret Service supervisors engaged in crude sexual jokes and racially derogatory banter about blacks, and passed around an anecdote about a possible assassination of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, according to internal e-mails disclosed in a federal court filing on Friday by lawyers for black Secret Service agents. …

The e-mails offer a glimpse into the darker recesses of a secretive agency that is known for protecting presidents and other dignitaries but whose culture is regarded as one of the most insular in federal law enforcement.

The disclosure of the e-mails follows an incident last month in which a noose was found in a room used by a black instructor at a Secret Service training center in Maryland. Agency officials said the episode is the subject of an internal investigation. …

In some of the documents, the senders of the e-mails are identified by the jobs they now occupy as well as the rank they held when the messages were sent. For example, an Oct. 9, 2003, e-mail referring to a “Harlem Spelling Bee,” ridiculing black slang, was sent by Daniel Paulson, then assistant director in charge of protective operations…


Clearly, he got the post based on the idea that to catch a thief, you hire a thief; ergo, to prevent a racist from assassinating a black presidential candidate, you hire a racist who wants to assassinate a black presidential candidate. It makes perfect sense.

But just in case, Barry, my brother, every now and then, stop, drop, and roll. Erratic movement is your friend.