The ‘Ugly American’ Is Under Attack

American cultural and economic dominance is supposed to afford one certain privileges abroad. Like getting ugly-drunk into the wee hours of the night in an irrelevant European nation.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s bodyguard was allegedly denied this privilege by staff at Hotel Amigo in Brussels, where he was reportedly arrested last Monday following conflict with hotel staff which escalated into an altercation with responding police officers. He was released from custody later that day following intervention from the U.S. Embassy in Brussels, according to reports. (RELATED: ‘Just Don’t Get It’: Rubio Tears Into Stephanopoulos Over Russia Claims, Says Sooner Everyone ‘Grows Up’ The Better | The Daily Caller) 

These reports come courtesy of anonymous sources with direct knowledge of the arrest, according to the Washington Examiner. They allege the unnamed Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) agent exhibited erratic behavior, growing furious with Hotel Amigo staff when they declined to reopen the bar after hours. 

The hotel’s Bar Magritte is open until midnight Sunday through Wednesday. 

Truly an example of the unbridgeable cultural gulf between Americans and our continental cousins. When, if ever, will Europeans learn to appreciate our talent for functional alcoholism? 

Sources declined to blame the Belgians for the incident, instead criticizing the State Department’s treatment of agents. 

“Shift supervisors [on Rubio’s detail] have an incomprehensible workload. They are responsible for all the agents under them, scheduling, evaluations and a preposterous amount of admin work [as well as] performing the actual shift work,” an anonymous State Department employee told the Washington Examiner. “They work 6 to 7 days a week. I truly believe this [incident] was the result of incomprehensible strain [the agent] was placed under and, at the very least, [Diplomatic Security Service] owes [the agent] a very fair evaluation of these circumstances in their totality – looking deep into [DSS’s] own role [in what happened].”

Sure. Just don’t forget that this whole hassle could have been avoided if the Belgians had given the man a White Claw.