By Carey Wedler
The CIA’s chickens have come home to roost as distrust of the agency swells amid recent revelations from WikiLeaks regarding the agency’s extensive spying and hacking practices.
Rather than examining the problems inherent to the CIA’s extensive power to hack into smart phones, for example, the government has focused its efforts on a quest to discover who leaked the sensitive documents. In one apparent attempt to explain away the damning findings, former CIA Director Michael Hayden recently told BBC news that millennials are the weak link because they do not view loyalty and secrecy in the same light as previous generations.
“In order to do this kind of stuff, we have to recruit from a certain demographic,” he said in reference to government surveillance. “And I don’t mean to judge them at all, but this group of millennials and related groups simply have different understandings of the words loyalty, secrecy, and transparency than certainly my generation did.”
He continued:
So we bring these people into the agency – good Americans all, I can only assume – but again, culturally, they have different instincts than the people who made the decision to hire them, and we may be running into this different cultural approach.
He singled out Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden, both millennial whistleblowers who made massive waves when they revealed nefarious activities on the part of the federal government.
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On one hand, Hayden is correct in his assessment that millennials have different understandings of “loyalty, secrecy, and transparency.” As the Intercept pointed out:
A 2013 Pew poll found that millennials were more skeptical of government surveillance than any other age group — with 45 percent of millennials saying it was more important for the federal government to ‘not intrude on personal privacy, even if that limits its ability to investigate possible terror threats’ than ‘to investigate possible terrorist threats, even if that intrudes on personal privacy.’
They compared with just 26% of those aged 65 and older.
Further, at least some members of previous generations did appear to display more fervent loyalty to the government. Renowned journalist Carl Bernstein reported in 1977 that journalists were covertly working in tandem with the CIA — and that they felt a strong sense of duty and loyalty to the agency in doing so:
[T]the journalists tended to see themselves as trusted friends of the Agency who performed occasional favors—usually without pay—in the national interest.
Bernstein reported that one prominent columnist later said, “I’m proud they asked me and proud to have done it. The notion that a newspaperman doesn’t have a duty to his country is perfect balls.”
Still, leaking sensitive documents in defiance of established authority is not just a trait of the modern generation or era. Around the same time journalists were proudly working with the CIA, others were subverting the government’s secrecy. The Intercept notes:
Consider Daniel Ellsberg, who was 40 when he leaked the Pentagon Papers to the press in 1971, exposing widespread government deceit about the Vietnam War. Or Mark Felt, who was almost 60 when he helped formed the basis for the Watergate stories under the pseudonym ‘Deep Throat.’
This is a historical trend spanning centuries. In 1772, Benjamin Franklin leaked letters from then-Governor of Massachusetts Thomas Hutchinson in which the state leader discussed “repressing the rights of colonists.”
Try as Hayden might to blame his agency’s woes on millennials, the fact remains that distrust of government is growing among all generations, and apparently, among whistleblowers of all ages. William Binney, an NSA whistleblower, was not a millennial. Nor were Jeffrey Sterling or John Kiriakou.
Evidently, millennials do not hold a monopoly on listening to their consciences and acting accordingly — nor does the CIA hold a monopoly on secrecy. At least, not anymore.
Patrick Henry, American colonial revolutionary: “The liberties of a people never were, nor ever will be, secure, when the transactions of their rulers may be concealed from them.”
Hayden said “… commit legitimate foreign intelligence.”
No, there is no delegation within the US Constitution, our legitimate government, of any authority to create the agency we know as the CIA, or even the FBI, or the NSA, or the other myriad “intelligence” agencies within the US Constitution. Matter of fact, they are FORBIDDEN in writing in the contract that they serve under to NOT SPY, etc on Americans. We now must require that President Trump immediately launch an investigation of the crimes committed by the CIA’s illegal spying – the CIA and FBI – on every American, the real criminals who have been working AGAINST Americans and our legitimate government to destroy us/it from within.
President Trump needs to fire the CIA and FBI Directors and within hours of being fired have them in front of a grand jury to find out what he knows. This is potentially the greatest scandal, it is most certainly the greatest effort by those who serve within our governmental agencies working to destroy our legitimate government from within in American history, along with the murder of JFK, etc.
Consider that those who serve within our governments love to say that “Honest people have nothing to worry about when the government invades their privacy.” What the US Constitution, the contract that they serve under requires of them is that if they are Honestly and loyally doing their duty as is found in writing within the contract that they are Oath bound to then honest governmental employees who serve in all areas and all offices have nothing to fear from leaks.” Why is that? Because leaks of those crimes let the people know of CRIMINAL/Treasonous/terrorist activities on the part of those who serve within our governments commit against the American people and against our legitimate government.
Treason found in Article III, Section 3 of the Constitution of the United States provides that: “Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court.
The Congress shall have Power to declare the Punishment of Treason, but no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted.”
Those are the three important elements necessary for an offense to constitute treason, basically: an obligation of allegiance to the legal order, and intent, and action to violate that obligation.
Terrorism is 28 C.F.R. Section 0.85 Terrorism is defined as “the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof,
in furtherance of political or social objectives”.
Color of law is “The appearance or semblance, without the substance, of legal right. Misuse of power, possessed by virtue of state law and made possible only because wrongdoer is clothed with authority of state, is action taken under “color of law.” Black’s Law Dictionary, Fifth Edition, page 241.
It is past time to get our legitimate government operating as it is required to as found in writing within the US Constitution, and if it takes removing and charging with the crimes committed every single person who serves within the federal government – so be it.
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Bravo !
Torts would bring down the fascist corporations that were swayed to go along to get along.
Thumbs down to the cia and all that trample on the U.S. constitution.
I agree Cal. The CIA and FBI are seditious.
Kudos to all who bring awareness, no matter what age.
“And I don’t mean to judge them at all, but this group of millennials and related groups simply have different understandings of the words loyalty, secrecy, and transparency than certainly my generation did.”
Well yes of course they do.
The state, of which the CIA is a core component of, in conjunction with The Department of Edumacation has created a generation that mostly has broken homes populated by young people that have been destroyed by cultural marxism, third wave feminism, video games, inability to resolve conflict, play outside unattended, etc.
Half of the nation can’t even figure out what the difference is between a man and a woman.
How in God’s name can they be expected to value loyalty, secrecy, and transparency?
somehow, they figured out how NOT to have loyalty to fascists and communists. Pretty dang impressive, I’d say.
I wish i was a bot and would like that 1000 times. I am so very proud of this generation, they are not stupid blind foolish sheeple like john, who has no problem of the us being a warmongering corporation whose money is oil backed, bought by the lives and souls or service men and women. And the countries we have destroyed. But im sure john still believes some man in a cave in afghanistan blew up building in new york.
The people he is talking about, instead of blind subservience to an utterly corrupt institution, have some loyalty to the people of the United States.
Correct. The CIA has exhibited an increasing lack of professionalism, ethics, integrity, humanity and morality. Today, even the most ‘borderline’, accepting members have finally had enough!
They plus recent retirees and newer members are so offended they’re turning their backs on
the CIA’s past – oft justified as an essential defense of the American ‘way of life’.
Hayden should be one of the first to be investigated for crimes against humanity and for treason against the USofA.
Investigated? By whom?
ANYONE who condones the actions of those self-serving, perverted drug runners needs a lesson in the purpose of gov’t. It’s way past time to clean out the thugs and get back to a gov’t of, by, and for the PEOPLE. Now is the time, they’ve been exposed; take the next logical step. Problem; no current gov’t official can/will take it on. Military/Patriots? Revolutionary Group(s)?
a sheriff can. Is there any limit to how many deputies he may swear in? No there isn’t. A WELL REGULATED MILITIA, being necessary for the security of a free state……………………………….. Step up to the plate, Kokesh. How about running for sheriff in your BFE Co., AZ next go ’round?
More like loyalty to the people with higher moral standards and courage? The elite are so disconnected they can not see folks are just generally sick and tired of all the corruption and are beginning to do something about it. It’s not going away. Will likely spread even more?
“In order to do this kind of stuff, we have to recruit from a certain demographic,” he said in reference to government surveillance. ”
Yeah, sociopaths.