IRRITANT

Ron Kessler writes books about the FBI, the CIA and the Secret Service. He's been on TV a bit since the prostitute scandal involving Service agents while on a Presidential trip.

Two things come through in his TV interviews. First, he'll mention a dated book of his several times. Second, he's particularly peeved with the head of the Secret Service, Mark Sullivan.

Kessler is a neo-con wannabe. He hangs out at CPAC and writes for the right wing website Newsmax.

Kessler wrote an attack piece against then candidate Barack Obama back in March of 2008. The piece was premised on Obama being at a specific church at a specific time. Kessler had his facts wrong. Other publications, including Weekly Standard, issued corrections. Kessler tried to obscure his role in the matter by scrubbing his Wikipedia biography.

Secret Service director Mark Sullivan was appointed by President Bush in 2006 and continues to serve under President Obama. He was awarded the Distinguished Presidential Rank Award by President Bush and again, in 2010, by President Obama.

While Mr. Sullivan clearly has some explaining to do regarding the behavior of his agents in Colombia, Mr. Kessler has gotten his facts garbled before. Furthermore, the tone and content of his sniping makes one surmise that personal pique is afoot, rather than a bona fide professional assessment of Mr. Sullivan's competence.

A plus for Mr. Sullivan is that he continues to enjoy support from significant figures from both parties in Capitol Hill, and most importantly, the President.