CIA guest on the Daily Show, she was kinda creepy...

[Melodybe]

She really seemed to enjoy the unmentionable parts of her job.

So since I haven't read the book, is she a shill? She's CIA, so I'll guess yes, but I would love to be surprised.

If she is a shill, it is only the RW's attempt to gloss over Iran Contra.

[autorank]

1. Yeah, she kept saying she'd have to kill Jon and that laugh, yuck.

No wonder we get no information.

[chookie]

2. She could have just flopped in the format

It happens.

She's not a comic, and that was the only funny thing she could think of, so she just beat it to death. She's doesn't get it that Stewart OFTEN has very substantative discussion on his show, and she didn't have to play the clown.

I couldn't believe how badly Peter Jennings bombed. If you don't have a talent for comedy, you shouldn't force it. It doesn't work.

I don't know anything about her book, so I am giving her the benefit of the doubt .

But I agree -- it was almost creepy, but worse yet, pointless. She should have stuck to what she does best.

[Melodybe]

4. I liked Jennings, I thought he seemed relaxed

but since I don't watch the CMC, I have no opinion of Jennings.

[ogradda]

3. I'm watching it right now and you're right

she is creepy:scared:

[6000eliot]

5. Did you note her smile when Jon Stewart asked her to

"Smile if you've killed somebody?" Yikes!

[tuvor]

6. She was stifling a laugh.

Sheesh, give her a break.

[imenja]

9. she did say she had an obligation to deceive when asked such questions

She might have been smiling to cover up the fact she had not killed anyone. Who knows. It's top secret anyway.

[Lexingtonian]

7. Oh, c'mon

99% of CIA life is guaranteed to be stifling, idiotic, bureaucratic stuff- working for a big ol' corporation with problematic politics, people not allowed to talk, secrets with zero sexiness, an endless amount of work on stuff that proves to be unimportant and irrelevant. Pretending or appearing to be in on The Big Stories Of Our Time and access to Great Levers Of Power is about the only consolation for the tedium and big picture unimportance, and essential banality, of most of what goes on.

CIA people have to believe that what they do is somehow crucial 24/7 to the survival of the nation. Of course that has to be a conceit. The real product we end up with is still guesses, guesses that are often not very good.

Have a good look at some memoirs by secret agents of various kinds and 'special forces' operatives. Hollywood has managed to make careful treachery and such look larger than life- but the truth of it is that it is pretty small stuff, though artful at times.

[imenja]

8. lots of CIA agents have written books

What was she a shill for? Gloss over Iran-Contra? Now? I don't think so. It seems that was on the few parts of her book they didn't redact, and it's in the title. Like Marchetti and Marx's account, she left the redacted areas in the book so the public could see where information had been censored. She also made some mild criticisms about the limited nature of intelligence reform. My guess is she's just a former government agent trying to make a little extra money. I didn't hear anything especially controversial or conciliatory toward the present administration.

I didn't find her creepy. Have you ever met any ex-CIA agents before? I had one as a student in a class I taught on Modern Latin American history. I was nervous about it for awhile, but he turned out to be a nice guy. He certainly brought a new perspective to the class and contributed a good deal. When he didn't want to divulge something, he'd say, "that's classified." That was his response to my question to him about whether the CIA had killed Che Guevara. When he answered "that's classified," the whole class laughed. We all knew that meant yes.

I don't think most intelligence agents are particularly allied with one administration or another. With the exception of the directors positions, they last at the agency far longer than any administration. Certainly they serve US policy goals, but those are pursued by both Democratic and Republican administrations. Both parties have directed the CIA to carry out all kinds of nefarious activities.

Apparently many in the CIA have been quite angry with the Bush administration over the Iraq intelligence issues, since Bush set them up for a fall.