Homeland security official Brian Doyle was arrested on charges stemming from computer related sex crimes.

A Polk County Florida detective posing as a 14-year-old girl encountered the deputy press secretary during a sex sting operation. According to reports, from the beginning of the operation, Doyle was under the impression that he was interacting with an underage teen.

And it sounds like there was a fair amount of dirty talk going on, including his immediate bragging about his position at the Office of Homeland Security. From CNN reports:

Doyle also sent photos of himself that were not sexually explicit but said he would send nude photos if the "girl" would buy a Web camera and send him nude photos, according to authorities. In one photo, Doyle's Department of Homeland Security tag is visible, Judd said.

"Many of the conversations he initiated ... are too extraordinary and graphic for public release," a statement from the sheriff's office said.

"I read the transcripts," Judd said. "I wanted to see if this was just as outrageous as the detectives depicted it ... It shocked all of us who have worked vice, narcotics, organized crime, homicides."

I wish I could be shocked, but really, this is part of a larger disconnect in the government's various branches. The Bush Administration can't seem to escape from the same tawdriness and scandal that plagued the Clinton Administration.

For all the talk of morals and standards that the conservatives foist on this country, you would expect a higher set of ethics under a government where conservatives rule the roost.

"Doyle is divorced and has children, Judd said. Authorities believe he could have held similar conversations online with others, the sheriff said, because at some points during online chats he would address the detective by the wrong name.

Before Doyle's arrest Tuesday night at his Silver Spring, Maryland, home, the "girl" had told him of her access to a Web camera and that her mother would be away so "he was eager to rush home from work."

If I am going to have my rights heavily restricted, 30-year-old laws on abortion questioned and my conversations eavesdropped on, the least I should expect is for government officials to keep their hands out of our teenagers' pants.

Depravity, lying, cheating, stealing, assault - is there anything too low for those serving under Bush?

I don't mean to pick on Bush — surely he isn't responsible for every single official within the various branches of government — but the broader question of hypocrisy does begin to rear its ugly head.

Who is the government to preach morality to me, when those who represent the government can't act according to the very laws they are supposed to uphold?

Maybe we should have local detectives pose as terrorists seeking to blow up the U.S. and catch Osama in a terror sting operation? I doubt even he is stupid enough to fall for that; too bad Homeland Security officials aren't.