Washington Free Beacon Spook Operation
The New York Times has reported that the anonymous Republican original funder of the
Fusion GPS opposition research operation that was later passed on to the
Democratic National Committee was the ÒconservativeÓ online publication The
Washington Free Beacon. The Democrats then provided the funds for
the fraudulent, salacious Ògolden showersÓ dossier about Donald TrumpÕs
supposed carrying on in Russia. We
had an article in April of 2014 that one hardly has to read between the lines
to see that this publication is nothing but a thinly disguised intelligence
front operation, most likely the CIA, but possibly the Mossad. Here is a key paragraph:
The
editor-in-chief of The Washington Free Beacon
is the son-in-law of neocon William Kristol, the
editor of the Weekly Standard,
another ÒconservativeÓ publication that has never paid its way and has
therefore needed a sugar daddy to lend his name for ownership and money-losing
purposes, Rupert Murdoch in this case.
Yes, indeed, I do think I see a pattern developing. To complete the picture blending spook
propaganda and reporting on odd spook deaths, do an Internet search for ÒIrving
Kristol CIAÓ and see what comes pouring forth. Irving was WilliamÕs father and virtual
godfather of the neoconservative movement.
Maybe you should save that search until after youÕve finished this
article. ItÕs all so interesting
and educational that you might never get back to what youÕre reading here.
Now The Times is telling us that The Free BeaconÕs sugar daddy is hedge fund billionaire, Paul Singer. Yeah, right.
The entire
earlier revealing article is below.
David
Martin
October
27, 2017
Anonymous CIA Official Dies Violently
What has this noble experiment of a supposed
self-governed people come to? A
little less than a year ago a member of our secret police, the FBI, fatally gunned down a witness in the extremely high
profile Boston bombing case in a fusillade of bullets after hours of questioning. Completely predictably it was recently
announced that the killer will not be punished for shooting Ibragim Todashev to death in his
own apartment. Not only will the
FBI agent enjoy immunity from prosecution, but he (assuming itÕs a man) apparently
will also enjoy immunity from identification. We have never even been told the
killerÕs name, and our wonderful Fourth Estate seems to be perfectly okay with
that. I have yet to see the first
peep of protest about the blatant government secrecy, much less about the
extrajudicial execution.
More recently, Capitol Police officers and
Secret Service agents gunned down a woman driving a car in
Washington, DC, with her 1-year-old daughter in the car with her. She was killed with one shot to the
head, three to the back, and one to the arm. None of the shooters has been
identified, but they have all been on leave for their actions since October 3
of last year when the shooting occurred.
Now theyÕve ratcheted up the secrecy another
notch. This time itÕs the victim himself, one of the members of their own
clandestine community, who will apparently not be identified. The headline was ÒCIA Official Dies in
Apparent Suicide,Ó
with the sub-headline of ÒDeath did not take place at CIA headquarters.Ó The writer was Bill Gertz
on a web site known as The Washington Free Beacon.
We have seen and reported upon this sort of muted
and delayed reporting upon the suspicious death of a person with intelligence
connections before. First, back in
2000, it was John Millis, the staff director of
the House Intelligence Committee, who they said shot
himself to death in a motel room in Fairfax. Then there was Gus Weiss in 2003, security adviser to several
presidents, who reportedly jumped to his death from a balcony of the Watergate
apartments where he lived.
The reporting on the Millis death was so strange
and spook-like itself that it prompted us to write an article called ÒReading
between the Washington Lines,Ó which we reproduce below. This new death report is so similar that
we have decided to give it the same sort of treatment:
Reading between the Washington Lines II
CIA Official Dies in
Apparent Suicide
Death did not take place
at CIA headquarters
Washington Free Beacon, April 4, 2014, 11:46 pm,
Bill Gertz
A
senior CIA official has died in an apparent suicide this week from injuries
sustained after jumping off a building in northern Virginia, according to
sources close to the CIA.
WHATEVER
HAPPENED TO THE BASIC JOURNALISTIC QUESTIONS? WHO WAS IT? WHERE DID IT HAPPEN? WHEN, EXACTLY, DID IT HAPPEN? DID THE POLICE RULE THAT IT WAS A
SUICIDE? IF SO, ON WHAT BASIS DID
THEY DO SO?
CIA
spokesman Christopher White confirmed the death and said the incident did not
take place at CIA headquarters in McLean, Va.
WELL,
AT LEAST WEÕVE RULED OUT ONE PLACE WHEN IT COMES TO THE ÒWHERE.Ó SO THE CIA SPOKESMAN CONFIRMED THE
DEATH, BUT HOW DID THE REPORTER LEARN OF IT, HOW IS IT THAT HE IS THE ONLY
REPORTER WHO SEEMS TO HAVE LEARNED OF IT, WHY THE DELAYED REPORTING, AND WHY
THE SECRECY ABOUT THE PERSONÕS IDENTITY?
ÒWe
can confirm that there was an individual fatally injured at a facility where
agency work is done,Ó White told the Washington Free Beacon. ÒHe was
rushed to a local area hospital where he subsequently died. Due to privacy
reasons and out of respect for the family, we are not releasing additional
information at this time.Ó
THEYÕRE
GETTING WARMER WITH RESPECT TO THE ÒWHERE,Ó BUT BECAUSE THEY HAVE SAID THAT IT
WAS ÒAT A FACILITY WHERE AGENCY WORK IS DONEÓ MEANS THAT THEY WILL NEVER
VOLUNTEER WHERE IT HAPPENED BECAUSE THEY WILL NEVER TELL US WHERE ANY SUCH
FACILITY IS. WHO KNOWS? IT COULD BE THE GANNETT BUILDING OR SOME
OTHER MEDIA WORKPLACE, MAYBE EVEN THE REPORTERÕS OWN HANGOUT.
THE ÒPRIVACY CONCERNSÓ AND THE ÒRESPECT FOR THE FAMILYÓ ARE, OF
COURSE, PURE HOKUM.
MIGHT THIS PERSON NOT HAVE FRIENDS AND RELATIVES WHO WOULD WANT TO PAY
THEIR RESPECTS AT A FUNERAL? HOW
COULD THEY DO THAT IN THE ABSENCE OF A PUBLIC DEATH ANNOUNCEMENT? THEY ALSO USED THIS ÒRESPECT FOR THE
FAMILYÓ GAMBIT TO TRY TO SHAME US AWAY FROM THE VINCE FOSTER CASE, TOO,
PROMPTING ME TO WRITE THE FOLLOWING POEM:
SOLICITUDE
DONÕT YOU THINK THAT THE FAMILY HAS SUFFERED ENOUGH?
WHY MUST YOU STIR UP THIS MESS?
HE WASNÕT CONSTRUCTED OF VERY STRONG STUFF.
HE COULDNÕT PUT UP WITH THE PRESS.
HE COULD NOT HAVE BEEN WHAT HE SEEMED TO BE.
HE COULD NOT HAVE BEEN VERY STABLE.
THAT HE MIGHT HAVE BEEN KILLED FOR HIS HONESTY
IS JUST A ROMANTIC FABLE.
WEÕLL FIGHT FOR HIS RIGHT TO BE OFF IN THE HEAD.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN, WE OFFEND YOU?
IF YOU SHOULD TURN UP MYSTERIOUSLY DEAD,
THIS IS HOW WE WOULD DEFEND YOU.
MAYBE SOMEONE IN THE FAMILY COULD BE LIKE ERIC OLSON, THE SON OF
FRANK OLSON, THE CIA MAN WHO THE CIA SAID JUMPED TO HIS DEATH FROM A BUILDING
IN NEW YORK IN 1953. THE OLSON
FAMILY HAS SINCE PRETTY WELL ESTABLISHED THAT A CONSCIENCE SMITTEN FRANK OLSON
WAS MURDERED BY HIS
EMPLOYERS.
A
source close to the agency said the man who died was a middle manager and the
incident occurred after the man jumped from the fifth floor of a building in
Fairfax County.
WHY
CANÕT THE AGENCY, ITSELF, TELL US THIS?
WHAT, EXACTLY, IS A ÒSOURCE CLOSE TO THE AGENCY,Ó ANYWAY? ONE THING WE CAN SAY IS THAT, LIKE THE
VICTIM, THE SOURCE IS ANONYMOUS. AT
LEAST WE NOW KNOW THAT THE VICTIM WASNÕT A WOMAN AND THAT IT WAS IN FAIRFAX
COUNTY, BUT THAT ÒMIDDLE MANAGERÓ TAG SOUNDS LIKE ITÕS THROWN IN TO SUGGEST
THAT THIS WAS A PERSON OF LITTLE CONSEQUENCE.
Many
agency employees are known to work under stressful conditions and high stress
is considered a part of the profession, for the three general types of
employees: Intelligence analysts and support personnel, technical services
operators, and members of the clandestine services, the agencyÕs elite spying
branch.
SHADES
OF THE VINCE FOSTER CHARADE. GERTZ
WANTS US TO BELIEVE THAT THE MAN KILLED HIMSELF ON ACCOUNT OF STRESS, BUT LOTS
OF JOBS ARE STRESSFUL AND PEOPLE DONÕT USUALLY KILL THEMSELVES ON ACCOUNT OF
IT. AND WHEN THEY DO, WE ARE TOLD
WHO THEY ARE.
MAY
WE ASSUME BY A PROCESS OF ELIMINATION THAT SPOOK JOURNALISTS FALL UNDER THE
ÒCLANDESTINE SERVICESÓ CATEGORY?
The
CIA is known to operate or rent space in a number of semi-secret locations in
the country, including at least one high-rise building in Tysons Corner.
REALLY? WHICH ONE IN TYSONS CORNER, THE BOOZ,
ALLEN, HAMILTION BUILDING?
The
agency also operates a number of top-secret facilities used by its clandestine
service officers, including agency safe houses.
A
VERY LARGE NUMBER, I GATHER.
No
other details of the death could be learned.
THATÕS
ALL THE AGENCY IS PUTTING OUT THROUGH ITS MOUTHPIECE, GERTZ.
The
agency is currently engaged in a high profile dispute with the Senate Select
Committee on Intelligence.
Sen.
Diane Feinstein (D., Calif.), chairman of the Senate Select Committee on
Intelligence, has said the CIA has blocked efforts by the committee to
investigate harsh interrogation of terrorists.
Committee
staff members working at a CIA facility in Northern Virginia to investigate
agency interrogation practices also have charged that the CIA covertly searched
the agencyÕs computers that were being used in the investigation.
The
agency subsequently reported that several Senate staff members had improperly
and possibly illegally removed classified material from the CIA. The FBI was
asked to investigate the mishandling of classified information in the case.
The
agency is under pressure from Congress to declassify a 6,000-page report on
agency interrogation techniques, including waterboarding, used to glean
information from al Qaeda terrorists captured after the 2001 attacks on
Washington and New York.
The
agency also this week came under scrutiny from the House Permanent Select
Committee on Intelligence over the agencyÕs role in obscuring the facts
surrounding the Sept. 11, 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound
in Benghazi, Libya.
Former
CIA Deputy Director Michael Morrell told the committee that agency analysts
concluded that a protest took place in advance of the attack that killed four
Americans, including U.S. Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens.
Morrell
testified that Òsubsequent information revealed this judgment to be incorrect.Ó
The
CIA was operating a facility in Benghazi with a large number of agency
personnel whose activities had not been made public.
Speculation about the CIA annex in
Benghazi has focused on the agencyÕs role in supplying weapons to Libyan
militias that in turn were shipping the arms to Islamist rebels in Syria.
ALL OF THE FOREGOING IS
INTERESTING, BUT WHAT IT LIKELY MEANS IS THAT THIS PERSONÕS DEATH HAD NOTHING
TO DO WITH THE SENATEÕS INVESTIGATION OF THE CIAÕS INTERROGATION TACTICS OR THE
HOUSEÕS INQUIRY ABOUT BENGHAZI.
MAYBE ITÕS RELATED TO THE DISAPPEARED MH-130 OR SOME NEW FALSE FLAG
ATTACK THEYÕRE PLANNING TO SPRING ON US?
Going back to that original
ÒBetween the Washington LinesÓ story, the first thing we notice is that the
same reporter, Bill Gertz, wrote both articles in
question. I think I see a pattern
developing. Back then he was
working for the ÒconservativeÓ Washington
Times, ostensibly owned and handsomely subsidized by the Reverend Sun Myung MoonÕs Unification Church, for some unknown
reason. The newspaper has never
paid its way from the first week of publication. Now Gertz is
somehow gaining a livelihood from a website that has no apparent way of earning
money. A day after Gertz broke the story in The Washington Free Beacon, The Washington Times picked it up, but it added
nothing to it. ItÕs just GertzÕs story with his same byline. The New York Daily News
at least put its own reporterÕs name on the story, but all he
did was to give us a trimmed down version of GertzÕs
report.
The editor-in-chief of The Washington Free Beacon is the
son-in-law of neocon William Kristol, the editor of
the Weekly Standard, another
ÒconservativeÓ publication that has never paid its way and has therefore needed
a sugar daddy to lend his name for ownership and money-losing purposes, Rupert
Murdoch in this case. Yes, indeed,
I do think I see a pattern developing.
To complete the picture blending spook propaganda and reporting on odd
spook deaths, do an Internet search for ÒIrving Kristol
CIAÓ and see what comes pouring forth.
Irving was WilliamÕs father and virtual godfather of the neoconservative
movement. Maybe you should save
that search until after youÕve finished this article. ItÕs all so interesting and educational
that you might never get back to what youÕre reading here.
Reading
between the Washington Lines
Spy panel director who killed himself was under
a probe
Washington Times, front
page, June 28, 2000, Bill Gertz
The
staff director of the House Intelligence Committee who killed himself June 4
was under investigation by the committee, which oversees the U.S. government's
most sensitive secrets, The Washington
Times has learned.
WATCH
OUT WHEN THEY BEGIN A STORY WITH XYZ NEWS ORGAN "HAS LEARNED." IT
USUALLY MEANS AN OFFICIAL STORY HAS BEEN PLANTED WITH THEM, THOUGH IT
DECEPTIVELY CONJURES UP THE IMAGE OF AN AGGRESSIVE NEWSHOUND FERRETING OUT
SECRETS.
John
Millis, 47, a former CIA operations officer who had been placed on
administrative leave by the committee, was found dead at the Breezeway Motel in
Fairfax City, Va., Police Chief Doug Scott said. Police ruled he died from a
self-inflicted gunshot wound.
IS
THE CHIEF TELLING US THAT MILLIS HAD BEEN PLACED ON ADMINISTRATIVE LEAVE AS THE
PASSAGE IMPLIES, OR IS HE JUST TELLING US THAT HE WAS FOUND DEAD AT THIS CHEAP
HOTEL? GIVEN THE AMBIGUITY HERE, IT IS PROBABLY THE LATTER, WHICH COULD WELL
MEAN THAT THIS STORY IS BEING PLANTED BY THE KILLERS THEMSELVES. DOES THIS REMIND
ANYONE OF THE EARLY STORIES FROM ANONYMOUS SOURCES ABOUT VINCE FOSTER'S
"DEPRESSION?" AND BY THE WAY, WHEN DID THE POLICE MAKE THEIR SUICIDE
RULING IN THIS NEW CASE?
As
committee staff director, Mr. Millis had access to the U.S. intelligence community's
most intimate secrets. He knew about all U.S. covert action operations, which
require written presidential notifications.
HOLY
****!
He
also was privy to the most sensitive information collected by CIA agents,
electronic eavesdropping and photographic satellites.
TALK
ABOUT THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH!
According
to police, Mr. Millis had called a friend and said he was distraught over being
placed on administrative leave with pay by committee Chairman Rep. Porter J.
Goss, Florida Republican. Mr. Millis also said he was facing administrative and
criminal penalties as possible outcomes of the investigation.
NO,
DON'T WRITE A SUICIDE NOTE AND SIGN IT, LEAVING NO DOUBT AS TO WHY YOU PLAN TO
LEAVE A WIDOW AND FIVE ORPHANS. CONVENIENTLY CALL A "FRIEND" WHO
AMOUNTS TO NOTHING MORE THAN AN ANOTHER ANONYMOUS SOURCE. FOR ALL WE KNOW, HE
OR SHE DOESN'T EVEN EXIST. IF THE PERSON DOES EXIST, GIVEN MILLIS'S OCCUPATION,
THE CHANCES ARE THAT THIS PERSON IS, AS THE SAY, IN THE "COMMUNITY,"
WHICH MEANS THAT HE COULD WELL BE IN LEAGUE WITH THE KILLERS OR, AT THE VERY
LEAST, HE OR SHE IS A PROFESSIONAL LIAR AND DECEIVER.
The
friend then dialed *69, the automatic call-back
sequence, and was connected to the Breezeway Motel in Fairfax. The friend
explained to the motel operator that Mr. Millis was threatening to commit
suicide.
DOES
THAT RING TRUE TO YOU? DIDN'T THINK SO. DO YOU THINK THE PUBLIC WILL EVER LEARN
EVEN THE NAME OF THAT HOTEL OPERATOR?
Police
were called and upon arriving found Mr. Millis dead in the bathroom.
WONDER
WHAT THE HOTEL PERSONNEL WERE DOING ALL THIS TIME, KNOWING THAT THEY HAD A
SUICIDAL GUY IN THEIR MIDST AND KNOWING THE PRECISE ROOM HE WAS IN? THEY WOULD
AT LEAST HAVE HAD THEIR EARS PERKED UP FOR THE SOUND OF A GUN SHOT, ONE WOULD
THINK.
Mr.
Goss could not be reached for comment. The committee's staff and Mr. Goss'
spokeswoman did not return several telephone calls seeking comment on the
circumstances surrounding Mr. Millis' departure from the committee.
SO
WHAT'S THE HASTE IN RUNNING THE STORY BEFORE IT HAS BEEN CHECKED OUT WITH THE
PRINCIPALS INVOLVED IN IT? IT IS NOT CONNECTED TO ANY TIME-SENSITIVE EVENT LIKE
THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE POLICE'S SUICIDE CONCLUSION. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO
REASON TO RUN IT UNTIL GOSS AND HIS STAFF CAN BE REACHED. WITH CHARGES LIKE
THESE IN HAND REPORTER GERTZ SHOULD HAVE HIED HIMSELF DOWN TO GOSS'S OFFICE, IF
THAT'S WHAT IT TOOK, AND NOT LEFT UNTIL HE HAD SOME DEFINITIVE WORD ON THIS
MATTER.
However,
several U.S. government officials said Mr. Millis was fired and that the investigation was related to improper activities by him.
HERE
WE GO AGAIN, MORE COMPLETELY ANONYMOUS SOURCES. THIS IS AN OUTRAGE! THE U.S.
GOVERNMENT IS VERY LARGE, AND A NUMBER OF ITS EMPLOYEES THINK OF THEMSELVES AS
OFFICIALS. BUT GERTZ COULD JUST BE MAKING THIS UP AND WE'D NEVER BE THE WISER.
Chief
Scott said the investigation into his death was handled with extreme care in
light of the case of White House Deputy Counsel Vincent W. Foster Jr., whose
shooting death in 1993 was ruled a suicide. The investigation into Mr. Foster's
death, however, left many unanswered questions and spawned conspiracy theories.
WELL
THANK YOU, CHIEF SCOTT. ALL ALONG I WAS EXPECTING YOU TO TELL US THAT YOUR BOYS
DID A SLOPPY JOB. SO NOW WOULD YOU PLEASE SHARE WITH US THE INFORMATION YOU
HAVE THAT MAKES YOU SO COMPLETELY SURE THAT WE HAVE NO FOUL PLAY HERE.
Chief
Scott said the detective who investigated Mr. Millis' death made sure there
were no unanswered questions that might indicate a conspiracy, because of his
CIA background and role as the committee staff director.
WE
KNOW THAT JOHN ROLLA, ON HIS FIRST DEATH INVESTIGATION, WAS THE LEAD
INVESTIGATOR IN THE FOSTER CASE. SO WHAT DID THIS ANONYMOUS DETECTIVE DO TO
MAKE SURE THEIR WERE NO UNANSWERED QUESTIONS?
"Our
detective knew that going in," Chief Scott said. "That's why he was
very careful in processing the scene and checking for anything that might be
suspicious."
NOW
THAT'S A RELIEF. FOR A MINUTE THERE I THOUGHT WE MIGHT BE FACED WITH ANOTHER
QUICK IN AND OUT WITH NO QUESTIONING OF THE NEIGHBORS LIKE THIS SAME FORCE DID
WITH TOMMY BURKETT'S MURDER CALLED SUICIDE. SEE THE BURKETTSÕ WEB SITE. GLAD TO
KNOW THEY WERE THOROUGH THIS TIME. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BET DR. JAMES C. BEYER
DID A REALLY CAREFUL JOB ON THE AUTOPSY, TOO?
After
Mr. Millis was found dead, FBI agents and Capitol Police were sent to the motel
to look for classified documents, but found none. Security officials, however,
recovered classified documents from a safe in Mr. Millis' home.
SHADES OF JERRY PARKS OR DANNY CASALARO. MAYBE THEY WERE
LOOKING FOR THE DOCUMENTS THAT INCRIMINATED THE KILLERS.
An
FBI spokesman said the FBI was not investigating Mr. Millis for unauthorized
disclosures.
THIS
SENTENCE IS PUT IN TO PLANT THE IDEA THAT THAT'S WHAT MILLIS WAS GUILTY OF AND
TO GIVE YOU THE IMPRESSION THAT GERTZ ACTUALLY DID SOME LEG WORK ON THIS STORY.
Mr.
Goss said in a statement at the time of Mr. Millis' death that he was stunned
by the loss.
THAT'S
"FORMER" CIA AGENT GOSS, NOW HEAD FOX IN CHARGE OF POLICING THE HEN
HOUSE ON OUR BEHALF. DON'T EXPECT THIS PERSON TO BE REAL STRONG IN THE TRUTH
DEPARTMENT, EITHER.
"It
seems that there are always more 'whys' than there are answers when a tragedy
like this occurs," Mr. Goss said. "It also seems that words alone are
insufficient to alleviate the enormous pain we feel. John will be greatly
missed by members and staff alike."
SOUNDS
FAMILIAR.
The
statement made no mention that Mr. Millis was under investigation.
ALL
THE MORE REASON TO GET A REAL PERSON ON RECORD BEFORE YOU RUN
WITH IT.
CIA
Director George J. Tenet said in a statement that
"we in the intelligence community are shocked and saddened by this tragic
loss. We worked closely with John for many years. He was a tenacious advocate
for a strong national intelligence capability."
HOW
CLOSELY THEY WORKED WE'LL NEVER KNOW.
Mr.
Millis had publicly criticized former CIA Director John Deutch,
calling him the worst director in the agency's history. During a speech at the
Smithsonian Institution Feb. 15, Mr. Millis said Mr. Deutch
inflicted "major damage" to the CIA's espionage branch.
SOUNDS LIKE THE SORT OF MAN WHO MIGHT HAVE HAD AN ENEMY OR TWO.
The
criticism prompted some officials to speculate that Mr. Millis may have
improperly disclosed information about an investigation of Mr. Deutch by the CIA's inspector general.
A
TRULY FITTING END OF A LIKELY PLANTED STORY: A VAGUE REFERENCE TO ANONYMOUS
SOURCES SPECULATING.
David
Martin
June
28, 2000
Reflecting upon these two Gertz reports, the first thing that comes to mind is a
question, ÒWhere are the rest of the news media on these stories?Ó No, letÕs
rephrase that: ÒWhere are all those
publications that are not quite so transparently phony news media?Ó Why havenÕt
they followed up in any way, demanding answers and properly serving as the eyes
and ears of the public? The
question, I am afraid, tends to answer itself.
Noticing the change in the
reporting from Foster to Millis to Weiss to ÒJohn DoeÓ we also see a very
disturbing trend. They keep telling
us less and less. Looking back on it, theyÕre probably
kicking themselves now for even giving out the names of the previous high-level
sufferers of premature death, including Admiral Jeremy Boorda, former CIA head William Colby, and State Department
official John Kokal. If the trend continues, will they even
tell us in the future when someone important has died, suspiciously or
otherwise? Maybe the policy
started back in 2005, or even earlier, and we just didnÕt know about it. It was only in doing research for this article
that we discovered Wayne MadsenÕs report of another
State Department ÒsuicideÓ in 2005 in which the victimÕs name was apparently
never reported.
The growing shutdown of information
is of a piece with the creeping garrison-state appearance of the nationÕs
capital and the increasingly managed nature of Presidential news
conferences. In the former case, it
began with the closing down of
Pennsylvania Avenue in the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing and then got many times
worse all over town, or at least in the places where tourists
visit, after 9/11.
In the latter case, we first
noticed George W. Bush glancing down at a sheet in front of him before calling
on the next member of the press corps for a scripted question. Gone were the days when reporters like
the late Sarah McClendon would
raise their hands, stand up, or even shout to be recognized. We wouldnÕt want our President to be
surprised by a question like, ÒWho was that senior CIA official who died from
the fall from a building last week?Ó from someone he doesnÕt know, would
we? At least, George W. tried to
conceal the fact that he was just going down a predetermined list of names of
people to be called upon, but, characteristically, he did a rather poor job of
it. No more. Now Barack Obama goes straight to the
list without even looking out at the gathered scribes and reads from his paper,
saying such things as, ÒLet me see; whoÕs next here?Ó as he does so.
Already, our children donÕt even
know that things donÕt have to be this way or that they have ever been
different. They donÕt know that we
at least used to put up a pretty good show of being a free country. Now our rulers have found that they can
even dispense with that.
David Martin
April 10, 2014
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