I dont like Nixon, but I still maintain he got fucked over by the CIA. I can’t remember the word for it right now, but they were the ones behind Watergate.
It is kind of my own pet theory, but the Watergate thing was sus and weird. The two guys who planned it apparently took it upon themselves to do it, all out of the blue. One of them was E. Howard Hunt, one of those real sussy sp00ks (why does the filter pick up this word?).
They then get 5 guys to do it, all experienced operatives, but for some reason when these guys broke in they left tape on the door to the hotel room. This was noticed by a security guard, who then removes the tape and goes on with his patrols, presumably because he is not paid enough to give a shit.
When he comes back the tape is back as well, so he looks inside the room and busts the burglars. Then investigations start, which Nixon lie about and try to stop and then that gets discovered and the press writes about it until Nixon goes away.
Hunt wasn’t one of Nixons guys. Nixon was a bit of an outsider in D.C. He wasn’t Ivy League, he had had a less prestigious upbringing, which gave him a mentality of loathing the rich kids - in part because the rich kids were dicks to him due to him being “poor” (he wasn’t, but in their eyes).
The CIA at this time was a real old-money blueblood boys club. All yachters. And they had fucked over Nixon before, during his campaign against Kennedy.
So Nixon was paranoid AND he didn’t trust these guys. And the CIA had just recently had one outsider try to split it up, which then resulted in him having his mind blown. Why not make an example of another?
At this point in time the CIA was also more dynamic/mercurial - it was still settling in to exactly what sort of beast it was going to be. As such, in this time of change, it was still at risk for being molded by outside forces like a paranoid president. It couldnt just do what it would do in later decades: bunker down and wait 4-8 years. This was the formative years.
On top of all that you have red scare paranoia, lots of drugs, OG Nazis and lead in everything. That Nixon wouldnt mess with the CIA is irrelevant, what matters is whether the shotcallers in the CIA felt threatened by him and whether they believed he would mess with them. Which they did.
So I think they framed him. I also think they shot Kennedy for the same reasons + Fears he would “go pink”. I think the analysis of people like Matt Christman of Kennedy where they only look at where he was, rather than where he was likely to go and where the ghouls thought he would go, is lacking. These guys aren’t omniscient. They’re stupid, paranoid and at the helm of a vast intelligence apparatus/organised crime network.
For video essays on this I recommend the channel Eyes Wide Open. For books i recommend The Yankee and Cowboy War
Nixon was a bit of an outsider in D.C. He wasn’t Ivy League, he had had a less prestigious upbringing, which gave him a mentality of loathing the rich kids - in part because the rich kids were dicks to him due to him being “poor” (he wasn’t, but in their eyes).
The CIA at this time was a real old-money blueblood boys club. All yachters.
This doesn’t track with anything I’ve read. I recently finished that biography of Allen Dulles - The devil’s chessboard. Nixon, despite initially being a DC / georgetown outsider, did prove his loyalty to them, especially during the Alger Hiss case. The OSS/CIA supported his initial political rise through one of the m, and over the years he gained acceptance to that circle. Nixon was one of Allen Dulles’ / the CIA’s main political assets.
And they had fucked over Nixon before, during his campaign against Kennedy.
Never heard this one, but the CIA tried their best to elect him there. He lost to Kennedy by less than a percentage point.
This doesn’t track with anything I’ve read. I recently finished that biography of Allen Dulles - The devil’s chessboard. Nixon, despite initially being a DC / georgetown outsider, did prove his loyalty to them, especially during the Alger Hiss case. The OSS/CIA supported his initial political rise through one of the m, and over the years he gained acceptance to that circle. Nixon was one of Allen Dulles’ / the CIA’s main political assets.
I dont mean he was an outsider as in “anti-establishment” or even in any way “anti-ghoul” or “anti-intelligence-agency”.
I meant socially he was an outsider and, probably more importantly, seemed to consider himself one. He didn’t trust the CIAs main people.
However I haven’t read that Dulles bio. Is it good?
Dulles book is worthwhile reading but pauses right at the Kennedy assassination, so you’ll need some Peter Dale Scott to get you into the Vietnam dope and Nicaragua crack eras. Ghost Wars, JFK and the Unspeakable, The Politics of Heroin, etc. Anyhow the anecdotes of Dulles talking to flamboyant aristocratic Nazi war criminals in the brothels of postwar Europe is a fine introduction.
I dont like Nixon, but I still maintain he got fucked over by the CIA. I can’t remember the word for it right now, but they were the ones behind Watergate.
edit: Framed. He was framed.
Why woud the CIA want to frame him? (Honest question)
It is kind of my own pet theory, but the Watergate thing was sus and weird. The two guys who planned it apparently took it upon themselves to do it, all out of the blue. One of them was E. Howard Hunt, one of those real sussy sp00ks (why does the filter pick up this word?).
They then get 5 guys to do it, all experienced operatives, but for some reason when these guys broke in they left tape on the door to the hotel room. This was noticed by a security guard, who then removes the tape and goes on with his patrols, presumably because he is not paid enough to give a shit.
When he comes back the tape is back as well, so he looks inside the room and busts the burglars. Then investigations start, which Nixon lie about and try to stop and then that gets discovered and the press writes about it until Nixon goes away.
Hunt wasn’t one of Nixons guys. Nixon was a bit of an outsider in D.C. He wasn’t Ivy League, he had had a less prestigious upbringing, which gave him a mentality of loathing the rich kids - in part because the rich kids were dicks to him due to him being “poor” (he wasn’t, but in their eyes).
The CIA at this time was a real old-money blueblood boys club. All yachters. And they had fucked over Nixon before, during his campaign against Kennedy.
So Nixon was paranoid AND he didn’t trust these guys. And the CIA had just recently had one outsider try to split it up, which then resulted in him having his mind blown. Why not make an example of another?
At this point in time the CIA was also more dynamic/mercurial - it was still settling in to exactly what sort of beast it was going to be. As such, in this time of change, it was still at risk for being molded by outside forces like a paranoid president. It couldnt just do what it would do in later decades: bunker down and wait 4-8 years. This was the formative years.
On top of all that you have red scare paranoia, lots of drugs, OG Nazis and lead in everything. That Nixon wouldnt mess with the CIA is irrelevant, what matters is whether the shotcallers in the CIA felt threatened by him and whether they believed he would mess with them. Which they did.
So I think they framed him. I also think they shot Kennedy for the same reasons + Fears he would “go pink”. I think the analysis of people like Matt Christman of Kennedy where they only look at where he was, rather than where he was likely to go and where the ghouls thought he would go, is lacking. These guys aren’t omniscient. They’re stupid, paranoid and at the helm of a vast intelligence apparatus/organised crime network.
For video essays on this I recommend the channel Eyes Wide Open. For books i recommend The Yankee and Cowboy War
This doesn’t track with anything I’ve read. I recently finished that biography of Allen Dulles - The devil’s chessboard. Nixon, despite initially being a DC / georgetown outsider, did prove his loyalty to them, especially during the Alger Hiss case. The OSS/CIA supported his initial political rise through one of the m, and over the years he gained acceptance to that circle. Nixon was one of Allen Dulles’ / the CIA’s main political assets.
Never heard this one, but the CIA tried their best to elect him there. He lost to Kennedy by less than a percentage point.
I dont mean he was an outsider as in “anti-establishment” or even in any way “anti-ghoul” or “anti-intelligence-agency”.
I meant socially he was an outsider and, probably more importantly, seemed to consider himself one. He didn’t trust the CIAs main people.
However I haven’t read that Dulles bio. Is it good?
Yes, even though it’s written by a Kennedy liberal, it’s unavoidably good, and very worth reading.
Dulles book is worthwhile reading but pauses right at the Kennedy assassination, so you’ll need some Peter Dale Scott to get you into the Vietnam dope and Nicaragua crack eras. Ghost Wars, JFK and the Unspeakable, The Politics of Heroin, etc. Anyhow the anecdotes of Dulles talking to flamboyant aristocratic Nazi war criminals in the brothels of postwar Europe is a fine introduction.
Thanks! Its on my list now.
Ah makes sense
Eyes Wide Open is really good btw.
Tom Cruise movie where he’s actually into cuckoldry