Rejecting populism for hegemonyThere's a superb scene in the movie
Syriana where CIA bureaucrats distance themselves from one of their agents, Bob, played by George Clooney, who has become a troublesome asset for the agency. Terry, the pack leader, begins to extemporize a narrative to his subordinates. With cool detachment, he tells them: "Put some space between us and Bob. Bob has a long history of entrepreneurial operations. We haven't really had a handle on Bob for years. After 9/11, some people got a lot of leeway, let their emotions get the best of them. These are complex times. There's already an active investigation into Bob's activities in...help me out here."
At this point, the group flesh out the details of how they're going to burn the agency's connection to Bob, painting him as an agent gone rogue, slipping the net of agency supervision, defying protocol, and ultimately selling himself to unsavory elements that want a U.S. asset killed. In this way, the leviathan spits out a loyal servant, rendering him obsolete with a fable and a slander, sanctified by the imprimatur of the officialdom.
We should note the importance of the media in all this storyline, albeit fictional. The dark arts of propaganda aren't overtly mentioned, but they are the pivotal tools that will animate the destruction of Bob's career.
All sound strangely familiar? It should. It's pretty much the script the intelligence community uses as its modus operandi when it needs to deal with an inconvenient public servant.
Comment: Documents reveal Obama administration tried to kill transparency despite claims of openness