This from the Mississippi Sun Herald:
There was a whirlwind of activity in the days prior to President Bush's arrival at a home on the beach in Gautier last week, with government officials and Secret Service scouting a location and checking the neighborhood where Bush would stop.
The reason for all the fuss was kept a secret even from the family that received Bush. They didn't know it was prelude to a presidential visit until the day Bush arrived.
But one part of the preparation for the President's arrival involved two government agents posing as journalists.
More below the fold...
Jerry Atkins, whose home was damaged by Hurricane Katrina, was the lucky so-and-so who received President Bush for an unannounced photo-op.
The two agents identified themselves as reporters from a Fox News affiliate in Houston, Texas. Days after the visit, however, the agents returned and told Mr. Atkins who they really were, even "brandishing blue porcelain lapel pins bearing the Presidential seal."
But a spokesman for Secret Service, under Homeland Security, said posing as a journalist is not something the agents typically do. He did suggest they might have been with the White House staff or a branch of the military, based on the description of the pins.
The article concludes:
Akins said he saw no problem with what happened and the government agents laughed about their fooling him. In the long run, he said, he'd rather have had a visit from the president than be on a segment of Fox News, anyway.
There is a priceless quote in there, and I dare all of you to read the article and see if you can find it.
But on a more serious note, while I'm sure this kind of thing happens more than we realize, it doesn't make it any more palatable. I want to know what you think of this. Thanks.
