Uncommon Sense was a Common Vice
Those with knowledge of the United States Marine Corps will recognize the irony of this title. I
wish its words were not true, but as I write this, I believe they are. Currently, there is an effort to
cull a significant number of career Special Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This
is an unthinkable action that will gravely undermine the security of the nation well beyond what
many of our citizens are aware. For those seeking to raise their awareness, I offer this vignette,
free of political bias or moral judgment. It is not about any one person, but an amalgamation of
multiple FBI Special Agents.
I am the coach of your child’s soccer team. I sit next to you on occasion in religious devotion. I
am a member of the PTA. With friends, you celebrated my birthday. I collected your mail and
took out your trash while you were away from home. I played a round of golf with you. I am a
veteran. I am the average neighbor in your community. This is who you see and know. However,
there is a part of my life that is a mystery to you, and prompts a natural curiosity about my
profession.
This is the quiet side of me that you do not know: I orchestrated a clandestine operation to
secure the release of an allied soldier held captive by the Taliban. I prevented an ISIS terrorist
from boarding a commercial aircraft. I spent 3 months listening to phone intercepts in real time
to gather evidence needed to dismantle a violent drug gang. I recruited a source to provide
critical intelligence on Russian military activities in Africa.
I rescued a citizen being tortured to near death by members of an Outlaw Motorcycle Gang.
I interceded and stopped a juvenile planning to conduct a school shooting. I spent multiple
years monitoring the activities of deep cover foreign intelligence officers, leading to
their arrest and deportation. I endured extensive hardship to infiltrate a global child
trafficking organization. I have been shot in the line of duty.
Something else about me, I was assigned to investigate a potential crime. Like all previous
cases I have investigated, this one met every legal standard of predication and procedure.
Without bias, I upheld my oath to this country and the Constitution and collected the facts.
I collected the facts in a manner to neither prove innocence nor guilt, but to arrive at resolution.
I am now sitting in my home, listening to my children play and laugh in the backyard, oblivious to
the prospect that their father may be fired in a few days. Fired for conducting a legally
authorized investigation. Fired for doing the job that he was hired to do. I have to wonder, when
I am gone, who will do the quiet work that is behind the facade of your average neighbor?
(Author unknown)
- -
| 
