2000-10-17
Nixon and the FBI
One of the great mysteries of recent political history--
by "recent", I mean the last 30 years-- is the relationship between Richard
Nixon and the intelligence community and the FBI. Bob Haldeman,
Nixon's right-hand man, is quoted on a Watergate tape as saying something
like "we don't control" the FBI, in response a question Nixon had asked
about the investigation of the Watergate break in. Nixon famously
suggested Haldeman get the CIA to tell the FBI to back off-- because they
would compromise a secret intelligence operation. Neither one
mentioned that the CIA, at the time, was expressly prohibited from any
intelligence activities within the borders of the U.S.A.
This was a serious compliment to the FBI... in a back-handed way. That is, if you could imagine that because the FBI was not controlled by Nixon, it was therefore accountable and lawful and diligent. In fact, the FBI had long been corrupted by J. Edgar Hoover's weird personal control, and was famous for claiming that there was no organized crime in America, before Bobby Kennedy went after the mob.
The FBI also later helped discredit the Satanic Ritual Abuse hysteria-- they assigned an agent to look into allegations that thousands of children were being abducted and ritually sacrificed by Satan's pawns. The FBI agent concluded that the claims were nonsense. [Added November 2008]
In the 1960’s, I watched a television show on Sunday nights called “The FBI”. This show, every episode of which was approved to the smallest detail by actual FBI agents, showed how these clever FBI agents tracked down and arrested inter-state kidnappers, smugglers, murderers, and bank robbers. We were supposed to be thrilled to see these re-enactments of cases from “actual” FBI files.
The producers of this program did a great disservice to the American public when they left out some of the more colorful and exciting episodes of FBI astuteness. Like when they tapped Martin Luther King Jr.’s phones. Or when they tried to harass John Lennon into leaving the country. And how come we didn’t get to spend an evening with J. Edgar Hoover and his life-long male “companion”? And what about an episode on how Burt Lancaster single-handedly threatened the stability and integrity of the U.S. government?
Burt Lancaster? Well, yes. It seems that FBI kept a close eye on this reputed saboteur and Soviet plant. Seems that Mr. Lancaster was a tad on the liberal side, you see. The FBI, ever vigilant, ensured that Burt never got the chance to undermine the U.S. government, by, say, spying on conservative citizens or harassing pro-war activists.
Mr. Hoover felt that Mr. Lancaster’s passionate embrace of Deborah Kerr in From Here to Eternity-- the famous scene in the rolling surf-- was obscene and lewd. He watched it hundreds of times just be sure he didn’t miss any part of the alleged lewdness. He had FBI agents demand out-takes from the movie studio to study the issue in greater detail. [Added 2011-03: I am not making this up.]
Yes, this man was paid with your tax dollars.
Incidentally, the FBI claimed, in a report, that Lancaster had taken part in a homosexual orgy with Rock Hudson and 250 U.S. marines. I am not making this up. It is in the Toronto Star, March 12, 2000.
What I’m curious about is how they-- Burt and Rock, I mean-- found 250 marines. I mean I know it’s almost unbelievable, but this is a report from the FBI, the most renowned police organization in the world! So, if they say it’s true, it must be. But how did Burt and Rock find that many marines who were gay? Did they put an ad in Stars and Stripes’ personals: “Famous movie stars would like to meet large numbers of open-minded marines for weekend frolic at exclusive L.A. mansion…”
Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m ever so relieved that at a time when our culture was extremely vulnerable to communist influence, those staunch allies of freedom and liberty at the FBI were standing firm, devoted to their cause and standing resolutely on guard against the perils of godless atheism and socialism!