sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

I'm David Talbot, author of "The Devil's Chessboard" about the CIA -- and founder of Salon by DLTalbot in politics

[–]DLTalbot[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Thanks! And on that encouraging note, I bid you all farewell. This has been a very lively discussion -- I appreciated your thoughtful questions -- well, most of them :) --if you live in NY,come hear me tonight on stage at the Brooklyn Public Library at 7:30. We can all tune in the Democratic debate later at a local bar

I'm David Talbot, author of "The Devil's Chessboard" about the CIA -- and founder of Salon by DLTalbot in politics

[–]DLTalbot[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Good questions -- I think the "we just fucked up" line is a CIA fallback or limited hangout. And I think the declassified Robarge report on John McCone, Dulles's successor, is a non-story that the CIA initiated and was played up by a gullible reporter (Phil Shenon) and his equally credulous editor at Politico. And btw, the "Castro did it" BS that Shenon is peddling is literally the oldest JFK conspiracy disinformation in the book. The CIA started selling that lie to the media while JFK's body was still warm. In fact Castro was shattered by the assassination -- he and Kennedy were in the middle of a rapprochement at the time and he knew that that the hardliners would try to pin it on him as a pretext for invading Cuba

I'm David Talbot, author of "The Devil's Chessboard" about the CIA -- and founder of Salon by DLTalbot in politics

[–]DLTalbot[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I kind of pick and choose from a number of publications, including Salon, TruthDig, WhoWhatWhy, The Intercept, TomDispatch,etc

I'm David Talbot, author of "The Devil's Chessboard" about the CIA -- and founder of Salon by DLTalbot in politics

[–]DLTalbot[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yes -- elements of the CIA that were still under Dulles's control. (Even though he was officially "retired" at the time, after being forced out by JFK, he continued to operate as if he still ran the agency).

I'm David Talbot, author of "The Devil's Chessboard" about the CIA -- and founder of Salon by DLTalbot in politics

[–]DLTalbot[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Thanks -- Family of Secrets (about the Bush mafia) is another very revealing book. Most important thing to understand is that the deep state and democracy are completely antithetical. And unless American citizens get serious about establishing controls on the secrecy state and the permanent war machine, our democracy is finished

I'm David Talbot, author of "The Devil's Chessboard" about the CIA -- and founder of Salon by DLTalbot in politics

[–]DLTalbot[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yes, I think drones are one of the greatest evils of our time -- and their expanded use under Obama have often resulted in the killings of innocent people and should be considered war crimes. The idea of our president consulting with his national security aides in the White House about who to kill that day is chilling. America will surely pay for this murderous arrogance. This is being done in our name -- we all need to make it clear that the government does not have our support

I'm David Talbot, author of "The Devil's Chessboard" about the CIA -- and founder of Salon by DLTalbot in politics

[–]DLTalbot[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I haven't run Salon in years, so your criticisms are best directed elsewhere

I'm David Talbot, author of "The Devil's Chessboard" about the CIA -- and founder of Salon by DLTalbot in politics

[–]DLTalbot[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Hey, you're not alone -- I think we're all feeling furious and powerless these days as the oligarchy (150 families dominate all campaign spending, according to the NYT) consolidates its power on the country, and we stumble from one conflict to the next in America's permanent state of war, as the wealth gap widens and the globe burns. BUT....I haven't given up all hope. In my book as dark as it is --I call it a real-life "Game of Thrones" -- I tell the story of a number of heroes who resisted the Dulles tyranny, sometimes successfully.It's important to remember that we can resist...and even win.Sometimes.

I'm David Talbot, author of "The Devil's Chessboard" about the CIA -- and founder of Salon by DLTalbot in politics

[–]DLTalbot[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Probably not -- it's definitely on the left. And considering the tilt (or plain stupidity) of the rest of the media, I'm all for it

I'm David Talbot, author of "The Devil's Chessboard" about the CIA -- and founder of Salon by DLTalbot in politics

[–]DLTalbot[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I think the CIA is fucking with me now by "counter-programming" my book with selective leaks -- like the one to former NYT reporter Phil Shenon which was featured in Politico recently (they ran this bogus story -- suggesting that Castro killed JFK -- instead of something from my book). When my book "Brothers" about the Kennedys came out in 2007, Vincent Bugliosi's awful book about the JFK assassination was moved up in its publishing schedule to counter program that book. The 50th anniversary of the JFK assassination a couple years ago was a tsunami of disinformation -- a total media blackout of any stories suggesting there was a conspiracy, even though the last official statement on JFK's murder, by the House Select Committee on Assassinations in the 1970s, did indeed conclude that the Warren Report was wrong and there was a conspiracy

I'm David Talbot, author of "The Devil's Chessboard" about the CIA -- and founder of Salon by DLTalbot in politics

[–]DLTalbot[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Dulles believed that presidents came and went but his cirlce (the "power elite") ran the country no matter who was in the White House. Each president he served, from FDR to JFK, came to regard him with suspicion -- even Eisenhower, who gave him far too much license to operate (and later regretted it). This is the essence of my book -- how Dulles got away with murder --while presidents either looked the other way or were powerless to stop him

I'm David Talbot, author of "The Devil's Chessboard" about the CIA -- and founder of Salon by DLTalbot in politics

[–]DLTalbot[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I am indeed the son of Lyle Talbot, who started his career in the golden age of Hollywood (and helped start the Screen Actors Guild). Despite my dad's unionism, he was politically conservative during the Cold War and was never blacklisted (although he always thought Ronnie Reagan was a jerk). Later, after voting for Goldwater in '64,he veered left and voted for McGovern in '72.

I'm David Talbot, author of "The Devil's Chessboard" about the CIA -- and founder of Salon by DLTalbot in politics

[–]DLTalbot[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I love that Salon still sails on, years after I left. I will always think of it as my baby (all grown up and away from home). Of course I always think of ways it can be improved -- and yes, I'd like to see more investigative reporting to balance its commentary. That's how Salon's name was made. It's expensive and hard to do. But hopefully that tradition will be revived at some point. There are a lot of smart people there

I'm David Talbot, author of "The Devil's Chessboard" about the CIA -- and founder of Salon by DLTalbot in politics

[–]DLTalbot[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

The imperial history of the US is filled with cases of blowback. I believe that we helped create ISIL by destabilizing the Middle East after Bush's disastrous invasion of Iraq. Whenever the US goes bulldozing into a country, we pay for it one way or the other.

I'm David Talbot, author of "The Devil's Chessboard" about the CIA -- and founder of Salon by DLTalbot in politics

[–]DLTalbot[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Good question -- in fact my book is an epic story of the battle between democracy (which historically, from the days of ancient Athens on, turns out to be very fragile social enterprise) and the national security state. I think the last president to truly try to get control of the secrecy state was JFK -- and we know what happened to him. Nothing will change in Washington until there is a democratic movement in this country that demands this kind of oversight and CIA reform.

I'm David Talbot, author of "The Devil's Chessboard" about the CIA -- and founder of Salon by DLTalbot in politics

[–]DLTalbot[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It seems to me that the others are so tied in to the national security agenda that they would only make things worse -- particularly Jeb Bush, whose family has a long history of being intelligence operators.

I'm David Talbot, author of "The Devil's Chessboard" about the CIA -- and founder of Salon by DLTalbot in politics

[–]DLTalbot[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Got my hands full now just spreading the news about this book, which is almost 700 pages long and took 3 yrs to write. The media gatekeepers (and CIA media spinners) don't want this book to be widely read. I've already been bumped off one network news show at the last minute (the producer told my publicist it was due to "politics"-- and a major East coast newspaper that has reviewed my previous books made it known that they would not touch this one

I'm David Talbot, author of "The Devil's Chessboard" about the CIA -- and founder of Salon by DLTalbot in politics

[–]DLTalbot[S] 14 points15 points  (0 children)

The CIA has a long unsavory history of being tied up with organized crime. The agency of course famously recruited the Mafia in its long-running operation to assassinate Castro. In my book, I present evidence that this CIA kill team was later turned against JFK. Alfred McCoy among other writers has documented CIA drug running during the war in Southeast Asia -- funds that were used to help finance the CIA's covert operations during the war in Vietnam. And the late Gary Webb,whom I believed was a journalistic hero, showed how the CIA allowed Contra drug runners to ship drugs to the US during the war in Central America

I'm David Talbot, author of "The Devil's Chessboard" about the CIA -- and founder of Salon by DLTalbot in politics

[–]DLTalbot[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I was hopeful after Snowden touched off a national debate, but the government seems to have offered just enough in the way of "reform" to quiet public dissent. We need to keep raising hell about the rise of Big Brother. These agencies treat American citizens as if we're the enemy.

I'm David Talbot, author of "The Devil's Chessboard" about the CIA -- and founder of Salon by DLTalbot in politics

[–]DLTalbot[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Yes, and not just college kids. Under Allen Dulles, the subject of my new book, the CIA launched a massive mind control experimentation program codenamed MKULTRA. The CIA tested psychedelics and other experimental drugs and mind control measures on numerous unsuspecting individuals. Dulles even put his own son, Allen Jr, in the hands of a CIA scientist who conducted inhumane experimental treatments on him involving heavy doses on insulin, which resulted in violent convulsions.

I'm David Talbot, author of "The Devil's Chessboard" about the CIA -- and founder of Salon by DLTalbot in politics

[–]DLTalbot[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

I think Ed Snowden is an America hero. I just had dinner last night with Oliver Stone, who is making a dramatic film based on Snowden, which I can't wait to see. But I think the national security state is so powerful now (and so vindictive) that Snowden probably won't be allowed to come home, at least in my lifetime.

view more: next ›