As a typical politician, Barney Frank in the Maine Sunday Telegram (“Reactions to terror attacks weren’t always so political,” June 16; “Immigration a good problem to have,” May 19) has addressed some of the recent gaffes committed by bureaucrats who are distancing themselves from them or blaming somebody else. He agreed that there were some blunders, but said we should sweep them under the rug and just move on.

Yes, he spanked the Internal Revenue Service, but most maligned taxpayers agreed with him. The illegality of profiling and politicizing deserves just a pat on the wrist, he said.

He should realize that Congress should clean up the mess. Taking the Fifth and going on paid leave should not be an option for the people who did the profiling. They should be fired.

Yes, the White House cannot be blamed tor the casualties at Benghazi, but four Americans perished. No attempted rescue was put into motion because help would not have arrived on time. Do we really know?

On that famous Sunday, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice walked the walk and talked the talk on national television, parroting the administration’s mantra: Benghazi was a spontaneous uprising — not a terrorist attack.

All the evidence pointed toward the truth. But Ms. Rice was stuck becoming the sacrificial lamb. After all, there was an impending presidential election. And our president would have had to recant his claim that we were winning the war on terrorism.

As a reward, Ms. Rice has been promoted from protecting our overseas embassies to ensuring the safety of the United States. My confidence is not at a historic high level.

Nick Pappas is a resident of Scarborough.