The Dumbing Down Of Presidential Security

The New York Times is reporting that the Secret Service is permitting volunteers with neither official clearance nor training to be a part of Presidential motorcades. The reason appears to be that there is a lack of resources to properly equip these motorcades. This begs the questions: 1). Are there just too many motorcades; and/or, 2). Are the local law enforcement support services unwilling to support the current President.

Regardless of the reasons, after having had two assignments with the United States Secret Service, both involving motorcades for Vice President Dick Cheney and President George W. Bush, I feel that allowing civilians to be the drivers in these motorcades is a BAD idea.