Anyone who travels overseas, including your jaunts to Mexico, is a U.S. ambassador. In Mexico, you are the window through which people see and realize the United States. This is not a philosophical rendering, but a federal policy. This is also something every member of the United States militaries is briefed on.

And, regardless of personal feelings on the matter, Carter is, in his travels and as a former president of the United States of America, an "official" Ambassador of the United States of America.

Also, there is not a single "national security issue" that would warrant this type of shoddy briefing to a former president of the United States of America.

It's simply a fact that he will have access to national security information. The resulting news frenzy going on about it now is hard evidence that an error was made with the current administration in the matter of Carter's departure briefing. He asked the right questions, but was given misleading information.

Dan