Because I have other obligations today and I’m pressed for time, I’m going to do something unusual. Instead of writing a post, I am going to give you the raw material I was going to use to write a post. The basic idea is that the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee is opening an investigation into the Obama administration’s alleged meddling in the Israeli election. The State Department has apparently given grants to organizations that are actively working for Netanyahu’s defeat. The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations is actually going to do the inquiry and the effort has bipartisan support. Now, they can investigate whatever they want, but it’s curious that the Senate would think there’s something out of order for the Executive Branch to intervene in democratic elections in friendly countries.
After all, the first covert operation ever carried out by the CIA was a successful effort to help the Christian Democrats defeats the socialists and communists in the 1948 Italian election. I was going to write about that effort, using the testimony of F. Mark Wyatt, a career CIA officer who played a major role in those Italian elections. You can read Wyatt’s obituary in the New York Times and Washington Post.
Of particular interest in the Wyatt interview are the segments dedicated to Secretary of State George Marshall’s role and opinion about the decision to send the CIA into Italy with millions of dollars in black bags, and how the CIA case officers managed to give away the money without being detected by the media.
So, the idea for the piece was to show what happened in Italy, use some more examples in less detail, and ask when it became naughty to take sides in foreign elections.
Well, really, this is just more sedition by the GOP, isn’t it? They want to weaken the American position in order to strengthen Bibi’s. They are disloyal to country and we should never quit pointing that out.
Thanks to the miracle of dark money, and 527 campaign entities, foreigners can now return the favor.
It’s a small world, after all.
Precisely.
Booman asks the mock-innocent question:
Here is my totally non-innocent answer:
It has always been “naughty” to take sides in foreign elections. Especially to buy sides. (Even worse to kill for it. But that’s beyond the scope of this post. Or…is it, really?)
“Naughty.” What a strange word to use, Booman. Like messing with the lives of millions is equal to a 4 year old busy in the cookie jar.
Please.
Lemme ask you a question, Booman. What do you think would happen here in Omertica if it were to be flat out proven that Chinese, Russian or other countries’ operatives were black-bagging millions into the country and distributing them in ways that did not agree with the wishes and aims of the current Permanent Government in an attempt to ovetrhrow that group or at the very least prevent it from winning its own (fixed) elections?
Please again.
All hell would break loose, that’s what would happen. Bet on it. The U.S. has been financing its true aim of subverting what we now laughingly call “democracy” anywhere and everywhere it raise its dangerous little head…dangerous to unfettered American economic imperialism at the very least…including doing the exact same thing in domestic politics. What? You think the good ol’ American boys with black bags of one form or another are not busy right here, right now? WTFU.
“Realpolitik” you might answer if you were inclined to tell the truth of the matter, but then you would be forced to admit that your “good guys”…the DemRats…and the RatPub bad guys are playing the same game. UH oh!!! Then whatchoo gonna do? Call Spookbusters? “Please” number three. Good guys, bad guys…they are all the same wiseguys under the respectable layers that they don for the media. Mob wars, foreign wars, domestic intelligence ops…same sorts of aims and methods, only the scales are different.
WTFU twice.
If you can live with that truth…and in a manner of speaking none of us has much of a choice except to either live with it as the nature of the human beast or die in the futile attempt to change it…the one choice we do have is to tell the truth about it.
Start now.
You be bettah off in the long run.
The long long run.
Bet on that as well.
Karma’s a bitch, or so they say. Whoever “they” is, of course.
I think they’re onto something, myself. In fact, I know damned well that they’re onto something. In your heart of hearts, you know the same thing. WTFU to it.
Later…
AG
Wasn’t that the charge against one of Gore’s Chinese-American fundraising bundlers? That foreigners were contributing to the Gore campaign? And didn’t that become an obsession for the media in 2000 just like Gary Condit and sharks became an obsession in 2001.
1996 US campaign finance controversy.
Likely just as many, if not more, dodgy foreign money flowing into GOP coffers. But Democrats don’t like doing such investigations during their limited time as the majority.
If Bibi loses, it ain’t gonna matter one whit. The horses that that the administration might be backing might lose too. Isn’t John Brennan too clever by half, here?
On reflection, this could be a tempest in a teapot whinefest created by a former Obama campaign alum getting a gig with one of Bibi’s opponents campaign. Which raises the question of whether folks like Axelrod are sent on missions as covert agents. I suspect that relationship is too close to be used that way because of the risk of exposure.
How soon before this committee realizes that they are opening a whoop-ass can of worms and retreats with “Never mind?”
Would be good for us and the world if this can were smashed into a million little specks. All government funding to all the fake “democracy” foundations/etc. shut off.
Perhaps Israelis would like to note better where Netanyahu’s campaign funds come from
Its always been naughty, but there’s more political hay to be made or rather GOP doesn’t care about the historical record and the democrats are strongly influenced by Israel firsters.
Doesn’t help that Obama made no interference important.
Democracies should be thankful when the US only seeks to “sway” an election with the odd bribe or extortion. Assassinations and coups are more the CIA’s style…
Of course blanket ideological brainwashing often works just as well.
But inviting Netanyahu here to address Congress very shortly before the said election is perfectly okay, apparently.
Fascinating reference in its detail, BooMan. This caught my eye as a ticket to a certain kind of addiction or extortion or blackmail.
I’m struck with the impression that the interview occurred at CIA headquarters and that Wyatt had a minder who occasionally interrupted to prevent some sort of disclosure.
And the Archbishop of Milan that Wyatt refers to was Pope Paul VI. And that makes one wonder about the misfortunes of “pastoral” popes. One of them lasted only 30 days.
And if Bibi does lose will perception of Obama’s power vs Congress tell a story to Iran?