How the CIA ruined Thanksgiving



Thanksgiving — the annual ritual of gratitude, family gatherings, and in recent times, deathly stares.

This year, it’s not just the turkey heating up; it’s themedia-fueled panic over Project 2025, a conservative roadmap allegedly poised to plunge America into a dystopian, fascist nightmare.

It’s no longer about exposing disinformation (was it ever?); it’s about silencing that ‘weird uncle’ who dares to question the script.

Headlines scream that Trump’s return is the end of democracy as we know it as though four years of his first term didn’t already pass without the republic collapsing into chaos. Here we are, still standing.

Turkey with a side of TDS

Adding spice to this narrative is the hysteria around incels — “involuntary celibates,” mostly alienated young men whom the media insists formed a secret Trumpian army. But the myth collapses upon scrutiny.

Many self-proclaimed incels aren’t conservatives; in fact, a substantial number identify with radical leftist ideologies. Psychologist Andrew G. Thomas, an authority on incel culture, highlights the diversity within this group: Over a third are non-white, and most politically lean left. As Thomas notes, “Some of the stereotypes about the makeup of incels are inaccurate.” — a gross understatement.

The Thanksgiving table has become a battleground where Trump Derangement Syndrome reigns supreme.

For the uninitiated, TDS is a crippling condition that turns even the most trivial moments into mind-altering meltdowns. Some manage to keep it under control.

Others, like Sam Harris, have been completely consumed. Recently, the neuroscientist lost his mind over Trump’s appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, sneering that Rogan is no replacement for the Wall Street Journal.

No, Sam, you’re right. Rogan, with his marathon, no-holds-barred conversations, is an upgrade from the WSJ. He answers to no one but his audience — a vast and varied group that craves raw, unfiltered discussion not sanitized headlines tailored to please corporate stakeholders.

Sadly, though, Sam Harris speaks for millions of Americans, people so consumed by fear and illogical thoughts that they refuse to acknowledge reality.

The methamphetamine of the masses

Some will suggest that Americans simply avoid politics at the Thanksgiving table. But that’s like expecting a dog not to bark or hoping for a smooth flight on Spirit Airlines. It’s just not going to happen.

How do you avoid politics when half the table believes they’re witnessing the collapse of American ideals? Trump and Harris aren’t just political figures; they’re totems of dueling ideologies, each symbolizing conflicting visions of masculinity, femininity, and identity. In many ways, they symbolize conflicting visions of what America represents.

Karl Marx once dubbed religion “the opiate of the masses.” Were he around today, he’d likely argue that politics is now the methamphetamine of the masses.

Ever tried reasoning with someone consumed by TDS? It’s an endless chase through extremes, manic predictions, lots of screaming, and doomsday scenarios. Politics is no longer a topic to be politely avoided. It’s an intoxicant, a substance as addictive as it is divisive.

Conversations that once tolerated polite disagreements now devolve into heated, almost gladiatorial battles where each side believes they’re defending civilization itself. Every Thanksgiving, the battle lines are drawn anew, with political fanaticism toppling reason, leaving no room for compromise.

In the new American landscape, Thanksgiving has become just another front in a wider culture war, where the pie may be sweet but the mood is perpetually sour. And while Trump may be the lead actor in this American drama, the CIA is the real villain of the story.

The agency's agenda

Yes, the CIA.

After all, it was instrumental in popularizing the term “conspiracy theory” — a term as American as blue jeans and bald eagles engineered to discredit critics and label dissent as delusional.

In the wake of the JFK assassination, skeptics of the Warren Commission were swiftly branded as conspiracy theorists, a calculated smear deployed by the CIA to corral public opinion and silence dissent. This wasn’t just a tactic; it was a masterclass in psychological manipulation, a move so effective that it embedded doubt and derision into the American lexicon for generations.

Working hand-in-glove with mainstream media, the CIA spread the term through carefully crafted editorials and op-eds, funneling it into public consciousness. Prominent newspapers ran stories casting skeptics as unstable or even unpatriotic, embedding the term “conspiracy theory” as shorthand for lunacy. Through this alliance with the press, the CIA rewired public discourse, transforming critical thought into a sign of dangerous deviation — a subtle, insidious conditioning that persists to this day.

Decades later, “conspiracy theory” endures as a blunt weapon wielded by everyone from politicians to news anchors to your neighbor down the street. It’s no longer about exposing disinformation (was it ever?); it’s about silencing that "weird uncle" who dares to question the script.

What’s most alarming is how this war on dissent has unraveled the social fabric itself. When every policy is a zero-sum battle, when each candidate is cast as either a messiah or a menace, mutual trust crumbles. The unspoken agreement that once allowed Americans to coexist in disagreement is wearing thinner by the day.

This Thanksgiving, as you pass the stuffing and brace for political crossfire, don't forget that the CIA’s most enduring operation wasn’t in some distant land but right here at home. Its greatest act of subversion may well be the transformation of “conspiracy theory” into a divisive slur — one that fractures families, friendships, and the fragile unity of a nation.

61 years later, JFK assassination records remain hidden — and Biden is to blame



Just days before the anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s assassination on Nov. 23, 1963, Americans are no closer to knowing the whole truth about what happened at Dealey Plaza in Dallas that day. In fact, the Biden administration is taking steps to ensure that the truth may never be known.

On Friday, Oct. 18, Joe Biden’s Justice Department took further action to block the release of secret records related to the assassination. The government filed a summary judgment motion to assert control over congressional records related to JFK’s murder. This marks the latest effort by the Biden administration, which has moved since 2021 to prevent the release of remaining assassination documents held by the National Archives and Records Administration.

Each time the government attempts to conceal or restrict critical information about the assassination, it sparks a massive and visceral public reaction.

The Justice Department’s moves contradict the 1992 John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act, which explicitly prohibits the president from exercising authority over congressional and non-executive branch records. The JFK Records Act also mandated the full public disclosure of all assassination records by Oct. 26, 2017.

On Oct. 19, 2022, the nonprofit Mary Ferrell Foundation, a privately operated archive specializing in records related to the Kennedy assassination and other major events of the 1960s and 1970s, filed a lawsuit against Biden and the National Archives. The lawsuit demands the release of all assassination records in compliance with the 2017 statutory deadline. The suit also seeks court orders requiring the National Archives to maintain a complete public directory of assassination record identification forms and fulfill other responsibilities mandated by law.

The idea for the lawsuit emerged after two successive presidential administrations missed the deadline to release all assassination records. However, it was President Biden’s actions after 2021 that triggered the lawsuit. Biden’s decisions effectively dismantled the standards set by the JFK Records Act, allowing executive agencies like the CIA, FBI, and Secret Service to withhold records. These agencies, which have long resisted releasing assassination documents, have even admitted to destroying some of the records.

The Justice Department’s motion for summary judgment would undermine the intent of the JFK Records Act. The law aimed to strip executive agencies of their authority over assassination records and establish an accountable, enforceable process for reviewing and releasing these documents. From 1994 to 1998, the Assassination Records Review Board, an independent agency established under the law, issued legally binding orders to review, postpone, or release millions of documents. These decisions ensured that postponements adhered strictly to the limited criteria outlined in section 6 of the law.

The Justice Department’s attempt to assert presidential control over congressional records is especially baffling. Multiple sections of the JFK Records Act explicitly state that the president’s authority applies only to executive branch records. Section 9(d)(1) clearly limits presidential power, underscoring that it does not extend to congressional assassination records.

Section 7(l) of the JFK Records Act explicitly states that the House and Senate Oversight Committees retain ongoing control and oversight over the management of assassination records, even after the ARRB concluded its work.

When Congress passed the JFK Records Act 32 years ago, lawmakers expressed deep concerns that executive branch agencies, with their history of obstructing investigations into the assassination, would continue to block the release of records. The Senate unanimously ratified the Act and filed a report emphasizing its intent, providing an interpretive guide for courts to refer to in cases involving the Act. The Senate’s apprehension about presidential control over congressional records leaves no room for misinterpretation.

Since Kennedy’s assassination 61 years ago, federal agencies have aggressively collected and locked away documents and evidence related to his murder. Each time the government attempts to conceal or restrict critical information about the assassination, it sparks a massive and visceral public reaction. This occurred when the infamous Zapruder film was first broadcast in 1975, 12 years after the assassination, and again after Oliver Stone’s Academy Award-winning 1991 film brought public attention to the government’s secret troves of JFK assassination records.

“The JFK Assassination Chokeholds” chronicles over 60 years of government obstruction surrounding the Kennedy assassination. It details how recent presidential orders have effectively sealed thousands of records from public disclosure, directly violating the unanimous will of Congress and the expressed desires of the American people.

Can John Ratcliffe tame the deep-state beast at the CIA?



Donald Trump has selected John Ratcliffe to lead the Central Intelligence Agency. Ratcliffe’s experience as a member of Congress overseeing the intelligence community and later as director of national intelligence highlighted his readiness to confront the CIA’s abuses of power during the Russia investigation. However, leading the CIA requires more than a strong director; it demands a capable team to implement meaningful reforms.

Drawing on my 19 years of service in the CIA under four presidents and eight directors, I offer insights into how the next director can navigate and reform the entrenched bureaucratic structures often called the “deep state.”

The goal should not be merely to dismantle the deep state but to establish an environment where transparency, accountability, and integrity are the new norms.

History shows that even the most skilled directors can become figureheads without solid backing. When John A. McCone succeeded Allen Dulles in the 1960s, Dulles’ personnel retained control of the agency, keeping McCone in the dark about key activities. More recently, John Brennan’s influence persisted within the CIA under Mike Pompeo’s leadership. Gina Haspel, who served as Pompeo’s deputy and later as director, continued Brennan’s legacy through his surrogates. Brennan had handpicked and groomed Haspel, who reportedly played a key role in assembling the Steele dossier.

To effect real change, the new director must secure organizational support, beginning with the deputy director. The deputy director will play a critical role in complementing Ratcliffe’s vision and overcoming bureaucratic inertia. This position must focus on managing the agency’s operations effectively rather than allowing career civil servants to dictate their will to the director. Appointing the right deputy director is essential for achieving meaningful reform.

Many people don’t realize how much of the CIA director and deputy director's time is consumed by protocol duties. They manage communications and meetings with foreign dignitaries and advise the president and key administration officials on complex intelligence issues. As a result, career CIA staff — sometimes called the “Defenders of the Bureaucracy” — often handle much of the operational management.

This makes the role of chief operating officer, the agency’s No. 3 official, particularly vital. The COO oversees daily operations and serves as the critical link between the CIA’s leadership and its operational staff. A COO aligned with the director’s goals can dramatically improve the director’s ability to implement policy changes. The new director must ensure that the COO and deputy director manage the agency in line with the director’s reforms, rather than allowing career bureaucrats to control the COO, deputy, and director, as was the case with McCone and Pompeo.

Other key appointments include stakeholders often overlooked, such as the heads of the Office of Congressional Affairs and the Office of Public Affairs. Congressional Affairs plays a critical role in shaping perceptions and securing support in Congress. Without a trusted ally here, bureaucrats could undermine the director’s agenda through legislative channels. Similarly, the Office of Public Affairs influences public and media narratives about the CIA. Exercising control over this office can prevent leaks intended to discredit or pressure the director into serving bureaucratic interests rather than pursuing meaningful reform.

And we must not forget the Office of General Counsel. Past abuses in this office, especially in handling personnel and whistleblower issues, highlight the urgent need for legal alignment with the director’s reforms. The OGC’s litigation division has been a stalwart defender of the bureaucracy, seeking to crush whistleblowers, making it nearly impossible to foster an agency culture of accountability that aims to stop abuses of power.

The task at hand is immense. The CIA’s internal culture and the broader intelligence community’s dynamics resist change. History offers cautionary tales, such as the tenure of former Director Porter Goss, who faced intense internal opposition. His efforts to implement reforms were undermined by leaks that ultimately embarrassed his leadership and curtailed his time in office. Any incoming director must know that he could suffer the same fate as the entrenched career bureaucrats who will resist change.

As Ratcliffe or any successor assumes the director’s office, he must be prepared for a battle against the internal saboteurs and the inertia and resistance within. The support system around a new director will determine his success in leading the CIA and truly reforming it. The goal should not be merely to dismantle the deep state but to establish an environment where transparency, accountability, and integrity are the new norms, ensuring that the agency serves its true purpose of safeguarding national security without overstepping its bounds.

Ratcliffe faces a daunting journey that will test his resolve like never before. However, with the right team and strategy, he has the potential to redefine CIA leadership in the 21st century. By fostering a culture of accountability and transparency, Ratcliffe can help the CIA return to its original purpose, free from abuses of power and bureaucratic overreach.

FACT CHECK: Has Kash Patel Been Appointed to Head the CIA?

Attorney John Ratcliffe was nominated to lead the CIA

CIA Officer Arrested in Cambodia for 'Deadly Serious' Leak of Classified US Docs on Israel

An overseas CIA officer was arrested Tuesday in Cambodia and charged with leaking highly classified U.S. intelligence on Israel’s military plans for a strike on Iran, according to the New York Times.

The post CIA Officer Arrested in Cambodia for 'Deadly Serious' Leak of Classified US Docs on Israel appeared first on .

Whack-a-Mole

With his third novel, David McCloskey has established himself as one of the leading spy novelists now in the game. After seven years with the CIA, followed by a stint as a consultant at McKinsey, McCloskey has become a full-time writer. His first novel, Damascus Station, appeared in 2021, followed by Moscow X in 2023. Both were very good, though Moscow X suffered from bad timing (Putin’s invasion of Ukraine). The Seventh Floor is his best to date, and, like its predecessors, it features CIA wildcard Artemis Aphrodite Procter, who played a part in McCloskey’s first two books and is on center stage in this one.

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Bob Woodward Is The Deep State’s Favorite Conduit For Disinformation

Woodward's new book is just his most recent attempt to hoodwink the public on behalf of our intelligence agencies.

How the CIA’s dirty tricks shape US elections — and you



In my new book, “Twilight of the Shadow Government: How Transparency Will Kill the Deep State,” I describe in detail how the Central Intelligence Agency manipulates the U.S. government and its military-industrial complex contract corporations. The CIA attempts to influence not only foreign government elections but U.S. elections as well — a deeply disturbing aspect of what I call the shadow government, aka the deep state.

This pattern dates to the administration of John F. Kennedy. During Kennedy’s presidency, the CIA conducted covert operations without his knowledge. Furious, JFK fired rogue CIA Director Allen Dulles, who held a deep grudge against him. It surprised no one in Congress when, after Kennedy’s assassination, Dulles was put in charge of the Warren Commission, which investigated the president's murder. Dulles handpicked and coached all CIA witnesses who testified before the committee.

The CIA is manipulating a presidential election, right in front of the American people — again.

The CIA also played a direct role in the rise of former President Bill Clinton. As governor of Arkansas, Clinton entered into a secret agreement with then-Vice President George H.W. Bush — another notorious CIA figure — to use the Mena, Arkansas, airport to run guns and drugs to and from the Nicaraguan Contras.

I was a CIA officer during that time. The CIA was under investigation for committing felonies behind Congress’ back (and, of course, behind the backs of the American people). I have no doubt that the CIA gave then-Gov. Clinton a CIA clearance, bringing him into direct contact with “the Company.”

Despite supposedly being political enemies, Bush and Clinton maintained a close relationship until Bush’s death in 2018. From my perspective, Clinton’s direct connection to the CIA helped him rise from relative obscurity to the presidency, making him yet another useful president for the CIA.

Decades of deception

George H.W. Bush had a decades-long affiliation with the CIA, which he tried to downplay by claiming he only worked with the agency during his brief tenure as director in the mid-1970s. In reality, Bush was a CIA officer as far back as 1953, when he partnered with CIA officer Thomas Devine to form Zapata Petroleum, working under commercial cover. Their oil wells were located just 40 miles from Cuba.

One of Bush’s tasks as director was to manage the fallout from the CIA’s Operation Mockingbird. During a news conference, Bush stated that the CIA would no longer recruit American journalists to be on the agency’s payroll. What many missed, however, was his follow-up comment: From now on, reporters and the news media could work with the CIA on a voluntary basis. The CIA has a unique way of turning “voluntary” into a requirement, establishing a quid pro quo with major media companies. This arrangement prevented outlets from publishing exposés on CIA activities while providing them with intelligence-derived information to manipulate public opinion.

When Bush became vice president in 1981, it essentially placed the CIA in the second-highest seat of the U.S. government. I am convinced that Bush was the agency’s mastermind behind the criminal Iran-Contra operation, once again manipulating a president to engage in illegal covert activities.

Under President Barack Obama, the CIA implemented a drone assassination program that targeted at least eight wedding parties, killing innocent civilians. The CIA convinced Obama to maintain a kill list of foreigners it considered dangerous, often based on unproven suspicions. In effect, Obama allowed the CIA to act as judge, jury, and executioner.

Obama arrested and jailed more intelligence whistleblowers than any previous president, using the outdated Espionage Act. The most notable of these was former CIA case officer John Kiriakou, a top performer in the CIA Counterterrorism Center, who was imprisoned on frivolous charges.

During the Obama administration, notorious CIA Director John Brennan made several covert trips to Ukraine to underwrite the 2014 coup, which resulted in the Russia-Ukraine war and the ensuing proxy war between the United States and Russia, bringing America to the brink of World War III.

Russian collusion and other hoaxes

While Donald Trump was president, the CIA launched a full-scale operation to remove him from office for daring to question the agency. Brennan initiated the Russia collusion hoax by leaking the “Steele dossier,” a complete fabrication based on false information from Russian intelligence officials. Brennan misled the press, claiming the dossier was CIA intelligence. I have provided an in-depth analysis of this CIA operation on YouTube (@kevinshipp1). This was the CIA’s attempt to stage a domestic coup and take down a sitting president. Although the plot failed, no CIA or FBI official faced accountability for their crimes.

After Joe Biden’s victory, evidence surfaced of Biden’s involvement in Ukraine following the 2014 CIA-orchestrated coup. This led to the discovery of Hunter Biden’s laptop, which contained salacious videos, along with evidence of sex, drugs, and guns. To protect Biden, 51 former intelligence officials, including 42 senior CIA officers, quickly signed a public statement claiming the laptop story was “Russian disinformation.” That was a lie. We must remember that the CIA’s core functions include lying, deception, and propaganda, especially when protecting its own existence.

We now know the CIA convinced Facebook and Twitter executives to promote Biden for president and censor posts supporting Trump. The cover for the operation? Posts and articles supporting Donald Trump were “Russian disinformation.” Russia is always the CIA’s boogeyman.

This brings us to the upcoming 2024 presidential election. I am an independent, and I am not endorsing either party. My goal is to remain objective and unbiased. The CIA is up to its dirty tricks again, attempting to sway public opinion in the direction of the agency's chosen candidate, Kamala Harris. All 42 of the aforementioned senior CIA officers (the most notorious being Mike Morrell, who attempted to sway the 2016 presidential election in Hillary Clinton’s favor) have issued a statement supporting Kamala Harris for president and attacking Trump. That’s along with 741 “national security leaders” who have endorsed Harris.

The CIA is manipulating a presidential election, right in front of the American people — again.

West Virginia Secretary Of State Demands Feds Answer For 2020 Election Interference

West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner is demanding answers from federal agencies about their suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story.

‘National Security’ Officials Who Endorsed Harris Tied To Intel Agencies, Defense Contractors

Deep State Officials Who Endorsed Harris Tied To Intel Agencies, Defense Contractors