Agent Provocateur

Robin Hitchcock gets to play a cameo as a double-agent in Demme's remake of The Manchurian Candidate. Asked about it on AirAmericaRadio's Majority Report, he indicated he wanted the role of single-agent. On the surface, it does seems a lot less complicated.

Elsewhere, others don't get either concept. For instance, the Peak Oil message board has attracted some people very confused about how this agent stuff works in the context of American politics. In particular, a few questioned the dedication of Democracy Now! reporter Amy Goodman in the context of conspiracy theories around the 9/11 attack. That in fact she might be a CIA operative. And just because she did a smackdown of someone named David Ray Griffin from the Claremont School of Theology over a government sanctioned 9/11 conspiracy idea (from a year ago).

On the face of it, this is pretty absurd speculation:

1. DN! broadcasts from within spitting distance of the WTC in Chinatown. Did anyone listen to the program during that time? I found it harrowing. They were basically hunkered down in a firehouse basement with a bunch of cobbled together broadcasting gear.
2. Juan Gonzalez of DN! has done the important work of tracking down collapse-related pollution and contamination after the fact.
3. They are not retarded.

Now, ever heard of a provocateur? Hmm, Claremont School of Theology -- now that sounds like a breeding ground for plants (not the organic kind). The sister Claremont Institute funds a bunch of right-wing nut-jobs like Hugh Hewitt and the Powerline bloggers. Instead of calling Goodman an ally of the right, you could just more easily call Griffin that.

In the IndyMedia thread that was cited by the Peak Oil poster, somebody calls them on it:

Agent Provocateur: one who associates with persons of a group in order to incite them to acts which will make them or their group liable to penalty.

So, it basically works both ways:

By the way, expect a lot of books by CFR-controlled authors "explaining" the September 11 thing. One of them, already printed, is David Ray Griffin's The New Pearl Harbor, with a foreword by Richard Falk. The book is a classical example of a limited hangout operation.

CFR=Council of Foreign Relations

John Emerson had a post on this political strategy the other day at Seeing The Forest.

And don't think that Goodman and Co. don't understand this shuck and jive. After all, they are New Yorkers.