Rod Rosenstein and His Dirty Tricks Squad [2021)

https://t.me/linwoodspeakstruth/165

This is not James Clapper.

https://rumble.com/vdf4nn-james-clapper-interrogation-2.html

And this film review covers not only the first link (which Lin Wood first posted to Telegram on January 24, 2021), but all other snippets of the same sessions which Lin Wood has posted to date on Telegram.

I admit.

It sounds a hell of a lot like James Clapper.

At first, when I heard of this clip circulating, I thought, “There’s no way in hell that James Clapper is being ‘interrogated.'”

And that is likely true.

Because this isn’t James Clapper.

But as I listened to the Rumble clip (which purports that the voice speaking is that of James Clapper) I started to believe it was (or could be) him.

I will say this:  both Clapper and the voice speaking have very similar audible mannerisms…particularly the vocal cadence they share.

This is what led me on a hunt to find the truth.

My verdict is this:  for one reason or another (whether nefarious or otherwise), someone has misled people to think that these interviews are of James Clapper.

How did they mislead?

Well, first of all, they slyly edited out all clips which have details that would contradict Clapper’s biography.

For good measure, they also sped up the audio (for some inexplicable reason).

If for nefarious purposes, a person or persons may be trying to set the groundwork to undercut the information in the future (by planting the false notion that the messenger was Clapper).

If for productive purposes (in a vein similar to QAnon), shock value may have been used to capture the imagination of the populace and FORCE THEM TO DIG.

Whatever the purpose (and whoever the authors of this deception), it has caused me to dig.

And the information is important.

So I am going to parse it for you in executive summary.

What we almost certainly have here is a federal agent (whistleblower).

Is that Lin Wood interviewing him?

I think not.

Lin’s Georgia accent sounds nothing like the interviewer.

So let’s get down to the facts (and assertions of this whistleblower).

First of all, let’s get our sourcing and timeline straight.

Lin Wood began dropping these video clips on January 19, 2021:  the day before the inauguration.

The first video covers:

Epstein.

Supreme Court Justice Roberts.

Epstein “helped” Roberts with his adopted children.

Children from Wales.

Channeled through Ireland.

Epstein then facilitated adoption.

Children as a commodity.

Compromising people.

“Children are the payment and the dirt and the control.”

The FBI has copies of the videos.

Rod Rosenstein.

Shawn Henry (FBI).

Shaun Bridges (Secret Service).

The second video covers:

Pence and his two lovers (and his younger ones).

Surveillance of Roberts’ children.

The abuse of Roberts’ children.

The children were “loaned out” for these different groups.

And it was surveilled.

Plots to murder judges.

Set up by FBI.

False-flag.

They were going to use a “sovereign citizen” group.

“Obama didn’t want any terrorism unless it was white terrorism.”

FBI had infiltrated and armed and instigated.

Divorced fathers with a grudge against the court system.

Plot.

Attacks on the Supreme Court.

Roberts was aware.

Explosives.

Automatic weapons.

Rocket launchers.

Lisa Monaco was a target.

Video three covers:

Supreme Court was target.

Homeland Security were overwhelmed.

Called in FBI.

DoJ picked up whistleblower.

Martha Coakley.

Groups to assassinate federal judges:  1/3 of group made up of “sovereign citizen” patsies and 2/3 made up of FBI.

Whistleblower and his wife were going to be killed.

Plan foiled.

Plans written out.

Maps.

Would have been in the first year of Hillary’s Presidency.

She was not supposed to lose.

Roberts was helping.

He wanted to pick new judges (for those assassinated).

Purpose was to ban firearms and pack Supreme Court.

Antonin Scalia

Video four covers:

Scalia was biggest threat.

Scalia found out about plans and went to White House.

Scalia was taken out.

Cibolo Ranch.

Temp worker.

Servants.

Group there hunting.

DMSO.

Poison.

Dimethyl sulfoxide.

Fairly inert chemical.

Mix with poison.

Why found with pillow over face.

Struggling to breathe.

Can be mixed with fentanyl, etc.

Goes directly into skin.

Eric Holder as replacement.

Hillary and Obama knew about it.

Rod has an intense hatred of Hillary.

He’s only fond of himself.

Running The Hammer system through Baltimore.

Which brings us to our title film.

It covers:

how the whistleblower started working directly with Rod Rosenstein in Baltimore.

FBI would come for corroboration.

Undercover nature.

Terrorist.

Domestic terrorism.

Whistleblower was fairly well concealed.

Dirty Tricks Squad.

Baltimore.

“This is where they were using Hammer, Sunrise, Sunset, things like that.”

To illegally spy on people.

Attempt to corrupt judges.

They concentrated on corrupting people.

Under the guise of a CCIPS (DoJ) operation.

Run out of Fort Washington, Maryland.

[McInerney marker]

Illegally compromise people.

Illegally wiretap.

Break into computers.

Plant, reverse, change information.

Change emails.

Things of that nature.

Judges, Roberts, Pence.

Whistleblower squashed.

Went to DHS.

With pile of evidence.

Made its way back to FBI/DoJ.

Contacted Devin Nunes.

Whistleblower tried to warn Trump about Rod Rosenstein.

Rod, Pence, Paul Ryan.

Core of group.

Rod was “brilliant legal mind”.

Operational name at beginning was Run Silent Run Deep.

[1958 film with Lancaster and Gable about being passed up for promotion]

Pence hated Trump.

Had taken his slot.

Mitt Romney was also involved.

Trump was outsider.

Had not paid dues.

Pence was their mole inside.

Leverage.

Surveillance from way back.

2013 range.

FISA warrants.

Rod wanted VP slot.

Paul Ryan also wanted it.

So did Romney.

Vice Presidential slot under Pence.

With Trump removed under 25th Amendment.

Leverage.

Pence homosexual.

Many adults.

Throughout his time in Congress.

As Governor, felt more free.

One 20 years his junior.

One half his age.

Would introduce others.

Younger and younger people.

15 year olds.

13 year olds.

Rod and Roberts were able to get FISA warrants because.

Younger people supplied by Epstein.

Because Epstein was an intelligence asset.

When he was in USA, FISA warrant used.

FBI would not save the child.

Was more important for them to have the leverage.

Operation directed by Rosenstein.

Dirty Tricks Squad.

Nickname.

Rod.

Shawn Henry (FBI).

Shaun Wesley Bridges (Secret Service).

Joseph Rosati (DEA).

Al Borshack ? (ATF).

Greg Utz (DEA).

Another group in Fort Washington.

[McInerney marker]

For the real illegal stuff.

Illegal communications, hacking, phone tapping.

Main focus: Federal judges.

Compromising people.

Planting information.

Planting child porn.

Leverage.

100s of cases.

Plead to lesser charge.

Forfeit money.

Percentage skimmed.

Shaun Bridges.

His speciality.

#1 expert on computer forensics.

Secret Service.

Hacked Obama’s BlackBerry for fun.

Hacked Obama daughters’ phones.

A violent person.

Drinker.

Arrogant.

All about the money.

Hack people.

Steal info.

Sell intel.

Bridges and Bitcoin.

In prison.

Holds several passports.

Will disappear to Argentina or Colombia.

Al Borshack?

ATF.

Retired.

A nasty piece of work.

Illegal gun running for Fast and Furious.

Made sure paperwork stayed clean.

Serial numbers.

Gun dealer.

Lots of disposable money.

Lots of cash.

Lives very well.

Borshack and Rosati both divorce their wives.

As Rosenstein started falling out of favor as DAG.

Paid off house.

Borshack.

Gave wife 600k.

Custom van with road race bikes.

Has watercraft and cars.

Never has a problem finding cash.

Helped supply the firearm for Seth Rich.

Joseph Rosati.

DEA.

Steroid freak.

Violent, nasty, lying person.

Cases where he added drugs.

Always the cowboy.

Had to swoop in with the big bust.

Sued many times.

Over and over again.

From defendants and agents.

Borshack involved in Seth Rich.

Rosati brought in MS-13.

Rosati also brought in Kevin Doherty?

Wannabe.

USMC.

Gopher.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/disgruntled-ex-employee-of-conspiracy-theorist-admits-shooting-him/2018/12/03/e5df4478-f719-11e8-8c9a-860ce2a8148f_story.html

Jack Burkman.

Borshack and Rosati.

“Fishing”.

Local version of Fast and Furious.

Like a game to them.

Thought it was funny.

Rosati poisons.

Hot shots.

Pure drugs.

Done to informants.

Bragged.

Pills.

Pharmaceutical.

Pharmacy fraud.

As DEA agent.

Pharmacy inspections once a month.

Short prescriptions.

Massive amounts of opioids.

Laundering pills.

He’s a piece of crap.

Big bodybuilder.

Cousin with same face.

Bank fraud.

Scams.

Anything for money.

Calling as a phony DEA agent.

Package intercepted.

Drugs.

Drug precursors.

But it you pay a fee, it will never get here.

He was point man for complaints.

If anything came back, it would go to him anyway.

Payphone near work.

Payphone near house.

Burner phone.

People recorded with app.

Real agents shot as a result.

He got his own agents shot.

Maryland mafia.

Conowingo Pizza.

Conowingo.

Route 1.

Maryland.

Little Tony.

Big Tony.

New Jersey.

New York.

Drugs.

Untouchable.

Rosati’s steady supplier.

Heroin for Baltimore and D.C.

Rosati can give them intelligence.

Rosati is always skimming.

They will sell what he skims.

Opioids.

Softball.

Nonprofit.

Shawn Henry (FBI).

He’s just nasty.

Dirty Tricks Squad.

Strzok.

At CrowdStrike now.

Criminal.

John Roberts.

Shawn Henry.

FBI.

False flag people.

Roberts knew.

Provided FISA warrants.

Roberts provided intelligence.

Sharyl Attkisson.

Next video:

The death of Seth Rich.

Rod Rosenstein.

WikiLeaks.

Seth Rich downloaded a lot of info.

Downloaded everything he could.

DNC, Hillary, Bowser, Brazile…

They were worried.

Rod was worried.

Intended to be a robbery.

Ended up being a murder.

DEA.

Gang specialist.

MS-13.

Thumb drive switched.

Convincing, but didn’t expose Rod.

Brazile at hospital before Seth Rich was brought in.

They wanted to recover the thumb drive.

Next video:

Rosenstein.

FBI op.

Ghost Stories.

Heavy surveillance on known Russian assets within the U.S.

Russian Reset.

Hillary.

Obama/Biden.

Cancelled Ghost Stories.

Rod.

Shaun Bridges was taking money.

Bitcoin.

Rod put Sean Wesley Bridges in jail.

[Extortion 17 marker…Tik Tok…]

Terre Haute.


That concludes a brief overview of the videos on Lin Wood’s Telegram account which feature the blurry-faced whistleblower.

Judging by his level of detail and familiarity with certain aspects of his testimony (as well as his passion level rising while recounting certain aspects of the Dirty Tricks Squad), I would guess that the whistleblower was a DEA agent.

God bless him.

It’s not Clapper.

Any connection to Coomer?

Tik Tok mystery man.

“Find out who I am.”

Real name?

Not an Extortion 17 casualty.

Court documents re: Shaun Wesley Bridges and Rod Rosenstein?

Any Coomer connection to Fort Washington facility?

Why did McInerney say that Hammer and Scorecard was at Fort Washington?

Corroboration.

UPDATE. ENTIRE SET OF INTERVIEWS TRANSCRIBED:

FULL-Transcript-of-Whistleblower-Interview

-PD

Luftslottet som sprängdes [2009)

Epstein.

CIA hit.

Ghislaine.

Tighter security.

Fredrik Clinton.

“like the President”.

Sidney Gottlieb.

MKUltra.

Ajax.

Forrestal 19__.

CIA 1947.

Iran 19__.

2009 Obama.

Larsson liberal (socialist).

Premature death.

“a conspiracy, in a particularly sensitive area of government”.

We need “time to identify the players”.

Durham.

The Section.

A portion of the CIA.

SAD/SOG.

Renamed.

Baby carriage.

Potemkin.

Catharsis.

Plague.

Asphyxia.

“nuclear option”.

Force 1:  Brennan.

Force 2:  Comey.

Force 3:  Clapper.

Force 4:  Rice.

Force 5:  Rosenstein.

Who would take down rogue element protected by SAD/SOG CIA?

-Delta Force

-Green Berets

-Navy SEALs

-MARSOC

-AFSOC transport if necessary

Evade compromised FAA, etc.

NORAD cleaned out?

Nakasone.

NSA/CSS.

INSCOM.

Direct.

We own comms.

DHS.

US Marshals.

DEA.

ATF.

CBP.

ICE.

Last chance for corrupt individuals to “flee”.

Look yourselves in the mirror.

You will be arresting your former superiors.

Some salvation on this Earth is possible now for those who turn back.

Apples and oranges.

America will not be destroyed by the corrupt CIA-within-the-CIA.

Tintinnabulation.

“The purpose was to guard the interests of our nation.  Formally, they did not exist.  Their base was a residential building.”

SNUS!

Steam-cured tobacco.

Nicosamides?

Carcinogenic if fire-cured (American tobacco).

Swedish steam-cured.

Norrtälje.

WKYBDYKU?

Cigarettes –> snus.

Vertigo.

Stairs.

Örebro.

-PD

 

The Spy Who Dumped Me [2018)

Texts.

Lessons.

Spying.

Why does our world persist?

Spy spoof in the mode of The Brothers Grimsby.

And while this film is nowhere near as good as Sacha Baron Cohen’s underrated triumph, it is still quite a good film.

There are some really great action sequences here which rival the Bond franchise.

Which brings up a point.

As there are very few Bond movies, these spoofs must be what the top talent do when they’re not making a legit Bond film.

Justin Theroux is good when he punches into a wall.

He’s also good at the jukebox.

But he’s not Mulholland Drive good.

More importantly, Mila Kunis apparently works at Trader Joe’s.

Which gets to tiki root strata.

And she’s Ukrainian.

Which is doubly or triply weird.

Interesting van work.

Like WarGames.

Biden.

Similar shootout to Tosca.

Great car sequence with Kunis and Kate McKinnon.

And the methed-up driver.

One of the highlights.

An actual “what if” of spy films invading on the real world.

More actual gagging.

The difficulty of hiding a thumb drive.

Suffused with Ukrainian connections.

Ivanna Sakhno is truly excellent in this film.

Funny as fuck…trying to find two dumb American girls in Europe.

Great scene through scope.

I’m really tired of seeing Gillian Anderson in these kind of roles.

What the fuck.

Johnny English Reborn (good film…bad role) and How To Lose Friends & Alienate People.

The bit with Snowden is pretty genius.

Ska!

McKinnon in Cirque du Soleil is a little retarded.

Scene in Tokyo also excessive (literally) and pointless (likewise).

But I really enjoyed this film.

Sam Heughan is decent.

The writing is good.

Good job by director Susanna Fogel.

 

-PD

Murderers’ Row [1966)

Why do we watch bad movies?

Why do some films relax us?

What makes a flick watchable, yet vacuous [or vice versa]?

Panic in D.C.

World government as bogeyman.

Rightly so.

And sovereignty reasserts as to be valued.

Though we are still trying to get to the bottom of 9/11, we ask again:  is #QAnon real?

You only live thrice.

And solar terror.

Karl Malden plays the bad guy.

 

-PD

The Silencers [1966)

If you wanna know why Austin Powers was a “photographer” (strange bit of dilettantism that), then look no further than the beginning of the four-film spy-spoof series starring Dean Martin.

Matt Helm (Martin) is very much in the Derek Flint vein.

A couple of interesting possibilities exist in these films.

First, Martin’s parent agency in the spooky, alphabet soup world of espionage is ICE:  Intelligence and Counter-Espionage.

Second, the SPECTRE-like organization he fights is called The Big O.

obama.png

bigO

bigO2

Which brings us to #QAnon.

Sleeper.

…all of a sudden.

Hussein.

Tung-Tse might drink egg foo yung out of a can–might be a Dr. No knockoff, but it brings up the question:

Is QAnon real?

Fortunately, we have Stella Stevens to reassure us.

Just as magical as she was in the Jerry Lewis masterpiece The Nutty Professor.

But even hotter here.

Heat among friends.

Furnace.

Learn our comms.

Cyd Charisse drops in…festooned with pasties.

Twirling like an Amish stripper.

Now comes the pain.

Panic in DC.

 

-PD

bowie

The Brothers Grimsby [2016)

This one approaches masterpiece.

Spy spoof.

But falls off in the second half.

And yet, it is a real treat.

In the vein of Ali G.

Sacha Baron Cohen is the most important comedian working.

Aside from my other hero, Donald Trump.

There will never be another Peter Sellers.

Never another Andy Kaufman.

But we have Cohen and Trump.

As you were, lads.

 

-PD

J. Edgar [2011)

“I read the news today, oh boy…”

Ever since John Lennon sang those words on Sgt. Pepper‘s (and likely long before that) the news has had the power to depress us.

The power to shock.

The power to put our day into a tailspin.

But can we avoid the news?

And, perhaps more importantly, what is news?

As for avoidance.

Sometimes it is recommended.

To unplug.  To disconnect.

We all hit our saturation points concerning the dissemination of details.

Just what is deemed newsworthy accounts for much of our discomfort in keeping ourselves  abreast.

Even as private citizens.

We want to know the goings-on of the world.

Out of a sense of self-preservation.  To protect our families.

To be prepared.  Informed.  Able to make better decisions (we hope).

Today I made the mistake of digging a little deeper than recently.

And I came across several pieces on the ongoing pizzagate controversy.

I must start by saying that I have not followed this story much since the election.

Indeed, if the allegations are true, it is unfathomably revolting.

But there comes a time when waffling has its benefits.

I will just say that I don’t know what the truth is concerning pizzagate.

I’ve seen the pictures.  I’ve read the names.  I’ve connected the dots.

And now the ball is (back) in the FBI’s court.

[And perhaps that of the NYPD as well]

But it is germane to discuss a parallel matter which bears upon pizzagate.

And that is the coup which Dr. Steve Pieczenik described as having been undertaken by Hillary Clinton and her cabal around the first of November.

Just what was this coup?

Dr. Pieczenik was scant on details.

But perhaps it was the absolving statement of FBI Director James Comey.

And, if we give Mr. Comey the benefit of the doubt (which I’m not sure he deserves), then we might assume that the Clinton coup was largely activated from within the Department of Justice.  In essence, Comey’s boss (Loretta Lynch) could very well have compelled the Director to issue that statement at that particular time.

That would, in some ways, be a significant manifestation of a coup in progress.

Contrary to this was the countercoup of which Dr. Pieczenik spoke.

As I have written previously, this countercoup appears to have been initiated by other branches of the U.S. government (particularly the 16 intelligence agencies).  Dr. Pieczenik seemed to intimate that it was military intelligence in particular which was taking a lead on countering Clinton’s attempted coup.

Beyond these details (and they are vague), I know not much.

But we should return to pizzagate.

We should consider it as a phenomenon which might have several explanations.

Putting all our cards on the table, it is not out of the question that pizzagate was in itself the countercoup.

Which is not to say the allegations are false.

Indeed, it appears that the instigators of the countercoup were working closely with WikiLeaks to prevent Hillary Clinton from stealing an election by leveraging the Department of Justice (and other parts of the executive branch) improperly.

But there is a further possibility.

And I will pose it as a question.

Have we been the targets of a very sophisticated psychological operation?

And even muddier…did this operation save our country?

Investigating a child kidnapping Satanic ritualistic murder pedophile ring is certainly the purview of federal authorities.

The FBI.

But how much has the FBI been compromised?

Any American with at least two brain cells to rub together lost immense confidence in the Bureau in the years following 9/11.

And so history keeps repeating itself.

Sham investigations.  Issues too big to cover.

JFK.  9/11.  A litany forwards and backwards.

But I am beating around the bush.

I want to apologize if I have been less-than-stellar in citing my sources in the practice of my film criticism.

This is not an academic site.

I do not seek peer review.

But I do not lie.

I may jump to conclusions.

And yet, I would fancy myself a fairly astute observer.

Apologizing further, I do not seek to defame anyone.

That would be something too horrible to do (especially with the gravity of the pizzagate allegations).

But information will organically find its level as long as law enforcement is neutered by insiders.

Which brings us to a wonderful film by director Clint Eastwood.

This film covers just what we are talking about.

What is right.  What is wrong.

What methods are appropriate.  What methods are effective.

But at the heart of this controversial film (about a controversial personage) is the idea of serving one’s country.

However, we encounter much here which could fall into the “noble lie” category.

All of that aside, the idea of government service is put in its proper light.

A dirty game, sometimes.  But a noble pursuit.

And so this is less a review of the film J. Edgar and more a letter of THANK YOU to the men and women of the FBI.

Thank you for taking upon yourselves the stress of seeing unspeakable atrocities.

Thank you for taking upon yourselves the stress of following every lead.

But we thank you one further:

thank you for remaining humans.

You know the right thing to do.

Do the right thing.

And we will too.

From the depths of our hearts,

we salute you.

A bit late for all your thankless tasks gone by.

And in advance of your excellence…your leading by example…your adherence to the highest ethics…which we know will be evident in your future work.

-PD

Burn After Reading [2008)

This film just goes to show that intelligence work might best be described in the terms of humor.

A very dark humor.

Half of U.S. intelligence agencies fall under the purview of the Department of Defense:

-Twenty-Fifth Air Force (25 AF) [Air Force intelligence]

-Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM) [Army intelligence]

-Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI)

-Marine Corps Intelligence Activity (MCIA)

-Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA)

-National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)

-National Reconnaissance Office (NRO)

and

-National Security Agency (NSA)/Central Security Service (CSS)

Then there are those executive departments which oversee two intel services apiece:

-Department of Homeland Security (Coast Guard Intelligence [CGI] and Office of Intelligence and Analysis [I&A])

and

-Department of Justice (Intelligence Branch [IB] of the Federal Bureau of Investigations [FBI] and Office of National Security Intelligence of the Drug Enforcement Administration [DEA])

In addition to these 12 agencies, there are four “peacocks”:

-Central Intelligence Agency (CIA [an independent entity])

-Office of Intelligence and Counterintelligence (OICI [of the Department of Energy])

-Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR [of the Department of State])

and finally George Clooney’s armory in Burn After Reading:

-Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence (TFI) [of the Department of Treasury]).

But we must remember that the U.S. Secret Service (USSS) was, until 2003, also part of the Department of Treasury.  Clooney’s character Harry Pfarrar speaks of his previous work protecting diplomats as a “PP”.  Personal protection?  Personnel protection?

Nevertheless, we learn something of which even the other D.C. “natives” in our film seem unaware:  that certain Treasury Department employees carry guns.

This, of course, ends up being a big detail in Burn After Reading.

And so the main thing is to understand the CIA analyst played adeptly here by John Malkovich.

The Balkans Desk.

-Joint Base San Antonio, Texas

-Fort Belvoir, Virginia

-Suitland, Maryland

-Suitland, Maryland?  Or Quantico, Virginia?

-Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, Washington, D.C.

-Fort Belvoir, Virginia

-Chantilly Lace and a Pretty Face, Virginia (oh baby that’s 9/11!)

-and Fort Meade, Maryland

[continuing]

-Anacostia? [D.C.]

-DHS Nebraska Avenue Complex, Washington, D.C.

-J. Edgar Hoover Building [D.C.]

-Arlington County, Virginia? [DEA]

-Langley, Virginia

-James V. Forrestal Building (D.C.) [DoE]

-Foggy Bottom (Harry S. Truman Building) [D.C.]

and

-1500 [sic] Pennsylvania Avenue (USA)

All of this is to say that Osbourne Cox (Malkovich) is “a damned good analyst”.

But forget the “PP”.

Georege Clooney is a U.S. Marshal.  And thus under the Department of Justice umbrella.

Right?

All of this makes me sympathize with the witless Linda Litzke (Frances McDormand) and Chad Feldheimer (Brad Pitt).

But the funniest part is the repartee between David Rasche and J.K. Simmons over at Langley.

The implication is that a couple of athletic trainers and an alcoholic former analyst (plus a U.S. Marshal) have spun a web of inexplicable disaster even more boneheaded than the Bay of Pigs invasion.

And so it is priceless to hear these two gentlemen speak in tones of which Leo G. Carroll would no doubt have approved.

“We do nothing.”

When in doubt.

Ah, but Zugzwang?

Nein.

Nichts.

Nothing is scarier than a know-nothing.

Completely transparent.

Like water.

The most terrifying mask.

Princeton pulls the trigger in full-on mental illness.

And with a healthy buzz.

Maybe a bathrobe.

Can’t recall.

But felt very Harry Nilsson (if not Brian Wilson) sartorially speaking.

But the best thing is the CIA in the plastic surgery/philanthropy business.

Slushing the funds.  A little churn.

If only.

The absurdity of it all (for the CIA) most accurately can be explained by the Situationism of Guy Debord.

Like snowflakes.  Overlaid onto life views courtesy NRO.

Photo interpretation.

NGA.  Or even an NGO.

Who knows?

Clap on, clap off, the Clapper.  X X

 

-PD

 

Spies Like Us [1985)

Hulu lost me.

Hello Netflix.

Hulu is like an inept intelligence agency.

They had the goods.

The Criterion Collection.

But as that oeuvre was surreptitiously phased out, Hulu was unable to offer any value whatsoever to the thinking person.

And so perhaps it is ironic that my Netflix relationship (no chilling here) starts with a spy spoof of sorts, but make no mistake (as the woeful Barack Obama is wont to say):  this is a very intelligent film.

It was a childhood favorite of mine.

Perhaps I was a strange child.

[no doubt]

But we all want to be James Bond to a certain extent, right?

Details disappear.

Even Putin had his cinema heroes.

Consider the film Щит и меч from 1968.

iMDB seems to fill in where Wikipedia fails.

Because these details tell so much.

To know one’s opponent.

But Vladimir Putin is not our opponent.

As long as our election stands.

Perhaps the answer is Stanislav Lyubshin.

Or was it Oleg Yankovsky?

The real answer is comedy.

Even spies need a laugh.

Spies are humans too.

Spy lives matter.

And so we get the provenance of the Pentagon basement meme.

A favorite of mine.

And this film.

Integral to who I am.

I had a cousin who worked in the Pentagon.

I don’t think she worked in the basement 🙂

But God rest her soul.

She is no longer with us.

And she was the most kind lady perhaps I ever knew.

She served her country.

I believe she did something in the health care field for veterans.

But yes…I identify extensively with Austin Millbarge.

In my own way.

Dan Aykroyd is stellar here as Mr. Millbarge.

And then there’s Emmett Fitz-Hume.

Chevy Chase is at his best in this film as Mr. Fitz-Hume.

Frank Oz is classic in his role as a test monitor.

Yes, Yoda and Miss Piggy were the same person.

How’s that for a mind fuck?

For young know-nothings like myself, this was a likely first exposure to the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).

And it speaks volumes that the DIA “recently” fielded its own band of covert operatives (in direct competition with the CIA).

There is, it seems, a palpable mistrust between the CIA and the U.S. military.

Different cultures.  Actually, a class difference.

[Not to get all Marx here…]

But it’s real.

I can’t define the parameters other than those intuitive, nebulous sentiments just expressed.

It is (very) interesting to note that Dan Aykroyd’s wife Donna Dixon, who stars in this film, was born in Alexandria, Virginia…

Hmmm…

NoVA.

We get Pamir Mountains.

We get Tajikistan.

But before that, we get Pakistan…and Budweiser…and Old El Paso tortilla chips.

And the intel cutout Ace Tomato Co.

And while we’re on the subject of failed businesses (Hulu), we should note that we definitely shan’t be accepting Indra Nooyi’s invitation (“Why don’t you gentlemen have a Pepsi?”) any time soon.

No…we’d much prefer to look at B.B. King’s Jheri curl blowing in the Nevada breeze…or watch Bob Hope “play through” on the Road to Bali.

But let us get back to that old enigmatic chestnut of our youth:  the road to Dushanbe.

“It’s…’Soul Finger’…by…The Bar-Kays.”

“They must be having trouble getting gigs.”

God damn…best line ever!

“Doctor.  Doctor.  Doctor.  Doctor.  Aaaaand Doctor.  Did we miss anyone?”

So many lines in this film which hit just the right mark.

Rarely do I write about screenwriters (it’s the auteur theorist in me), but Dan Aykroyd and his cowriters Lowell Ganz and Babaloo (!) Mandel deserve major credit for the quality of Spies Like Us.

And yet, the direction of John Landis is fabulous as well!

Landis is no slouch.

I’ve previously written about the timelessness of Trading Places.

And I am sticking with that assessment.

But let’s take a break here…

Is there anything more lovely than seeing Vanessa Angel emerge from that tent?

Well, at least we get the cultural edification of some Lithuanian dancing to a boombox blasting Stax/Volt goodness around a Stolichnaya campfire 🙂

Back to the essential stand-down aspect of the false flag/stand down.

And for this we will always be indebted to Dr. Steve Pieczenik (and to a far lesser extent Roberta Wohlstetter).

We again refer to the FBI’s 1989 raid of Rocky Flats and the heavily-armed DoE agents guarding that facility.

Perhaps some U.S. Army Rangers are in Michael Chertoff’s not-too-distant future (to name but one grand conspirator).

“Ohh…I’m sorry Paul Wolfowitz!  The correct answer is ‘The Girl Can’t Help It’!!!”

 

-PD