“Christ, I miss the Cold War!” ;}

      7 Comments on “Christ, I miss the Cold War!” ;}

The quote, of course, is from “M” as wonderfully portrayed by Judi Dench in “Casino Royale”, 2006.

The inspiration is from the FBI, which has just busted a veritable burrowfull of Russian moles, operating here under Deep Cover for many years.

No one answered the telephone late Monday afternoon at the news media office for the Russian Embassy. A State Department spokesman referred questions on the case’s potential diplomatic sensitivities to the Justice Department.

Indeed. / Now what I wanna know is, did President Obama mention the impending Russkie Spy Sweep to President Medvedev, during either their White House meeting or their Ray’s Hell Burger luncheon last Thursday? (Of course I’m Assuming that the FBI via AG Holder was keeping POTUS in the Loop. / In the mostUnlikely event that they Weren’t, then I’m thinking Eric [yeah, EVEN Eric] might be getting the old “Pack your sh*t” memo. 😉

And so, in not-Quite-altogether-unrelated Conclusion, let us never forget the wise diplomatic words of President Merkin Muffley: “Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here! This is the War Room!”

(OK OK, so it IS altogether Unrelated already. I just Like that Quote. 🙂

P.S.: yes I do realize that the global importance of a potential Espionage FallingOut between the world’s 2 still-nuclear-Armed-to-the-Teeth nations Pales in comparison to the galactic significance of the Wonderfulness of the iPhone 4; but give an old Coldwarrior a Break, here, after all I Flew a Crib during the Berlin Airlift. 🙂

7 thoughts on ““Christ, I miss the Cold War!” ;}”

  1. gahrie

    I consider Dr. Strangelove to be one of the greatest movies ever. The film was well written and full of great actors giving great performances.

  2. Brendan Loy

    Dr. Strangelove is indeed great, but I’m reminded more of a certain scene from Patton…

    Translator: The general would like to know if you will drink a toast with him.
    Patton: Thank the general and tell him I have no desire to drink with him or any other Russian son of a bitch.
    Translator: [Nervous] I can’t tell him that!
    Patton: Tell him, every word.
    Translator: [In Russian] He says he will not drink with you or any Russian son of a bitch.
    Russian general: [In Russian] Tell him he is a son of a bitch, too. Now!
    Translator: [Very nervous] He says he thinks you are a son of a bitch, too.
    Patton: [laughing] All right. All right, tell him I’ll drink to that; one son of a bitch to another.

    Meanwhile, speaking of movie quotes, your statement “I Flew a Crib during the Berlin Airlift” somehow reminded me, in its sillness, of the best line from the movie “Chicken Run,” which I saw with Becky in London in 2000. Context: “Fowler” is a grizzled old chicken who is constantly reminiscing about his days in the Royal Air Force during the War. So, when the chickens hatch a plot to escape the farm, and somehow end up in a plane (I don’t remember the details now, but trust me, it happens), the following exchange takes place:

    Ginger: But you’re supposed to be up there – you’re the pilot.
    Fowler: Don’t be ridiculous. I can’t fly this contraption.
    Ginger: “Back in your day”? The Royal Air Force?
    Fowler: 644 Squadron, Poultry Division – we were the mascots.
    Ginger: You mean you never actually *flew* the plane?
    Fowler: Good heavens, no! I’m a chicken! The Royal Air Force doesn’t let chickens behind the controls of a complex aircraft!

    I suppose you sort of have to see it. 🙂

    Anyway… this story is very interesting. I’ve been listening to the reporting by Dina Temple-Raston (sp?) on NPR. It seems the spies were infiltrating American society by, like, going to dinner parties and stuff. They don’t seem to have learned very much. Very strange. Of course, we’ll see; new details were undoubtedly emerge, perhaps contradicting what we think we know now. But at the moment, I think I would call this, in Internet lingo, an espionage FAIL.

  3. Joe Loy Post author

    gahrie, I agree.

    Brendan, LOL! 🙂 Also, just for the record, “RAWWWK buck buck buck SQUAWWWK…”

    But as to the still-Unfolding comedy/drama: Now the Russians are starting to take rather Mild exception to — but not (yet?) Umbrage at — the big Mole Roundup [emphases added] :

    MOSCOW — The Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, on Tuesday appeared to question the timing of the decision by the United States to break up an alleged Russian espionage ring.

    …“They have not explained what the issue is,” Mr. Lavrov told reporters in Jerusalem, where he was on an official visit. “I hope that they will explain. The moment when this was done was chosen with a certain grace.”

    After Mr. Lavrov spoke, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement calling the arrests “baseless” and “unseemly.” It accused American prosecutors of acting “in the spirit of the spy passions of the cold war period.”

    …Vladimir Kolesnikov, a prominent member of Parliament from Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin’s ruling party, said the timing “was not a coincidence.”

    “Unfortunately, in America there are people who live with the old baggage, the baggage of the cold war, double standards,” Mr. Kolesnikov said.

    Nonsense. I have no Double Standards whatsoever. ;}

    Furthermore, this Red Russkie undercover operation looks pretty darn Dangerous to me. ;>

  6. Joe Loy Post author

    Hee Hee 🙂 Yes Yes

    Phone rings.

    Miss Scott: Shouting Buck, should I get it?

    Turgidson: Muffled, Yeah. You have to.

    Miss Scott: to phone Hello? Oh, yes, General Turgidson is here, but I’m afraid he can’t come to the phone at the moment. Well, this is his secretary, Miss Scott. softly Freddie, how are you? Fine and you? Oh, we were just catching up on some of the General’s paperwork. Well, look Freddie, he’s very tied up at the moment. I’m afraid he can’t come to the phone. Well, just a minute. shouts General Turgidson, a General Puntridge calling.

    Turgidson: Tell him to call back.

    Miss Scott to phone Freddie, the General says could you call back in a minute or two? Oh. shouting He says it can’t wait.

    Turgidson: Ah, for Pete’s… well… Find out what he wants.

    Miss Scott: Freddie, the thing is, the General is in the powder room right now. Could you tell me what it’s about? Just a second…
    shouting Apparently they monitored a transmission about eight minutes ago from Burpleson Air Force Base. to phone Right.
    shouting It was directed to the 843rd bomb wing on airborne alert. to phone Yeah. shouting It decoded as Wing Attack, Plan R.

    Turgidson: Um ah, tell him to call uh what’s his name. Base Commander. Ripper. I have to think of everything?

    Miss Scott to phone The General suggests you call General Ripper, the 843rd base commander. Oh. shouting All communications are dead.

    Turgidson: Bull! Tell him to do it himself!

    Miss Scott: Freddie, the General asks if you could possibly try again yourself. I see. shouting He says he’s tried personally several times, but everything is dead. Even the normal phone lines are shut down.

    Turgidson emerges from the bathroom, grumbling.

    Turgidson to phone Fred. Buck. What’s it look like? Yeah. Waa… are you sure it’s plan R? Huh. What’s cookin’ on the threat board.? Nothin? Nothin at all? I don’t like the look of this, Fred. Alright, I tell you what you better do, old buddy. slaps his belly You better give Elmo and Charlie a blast, and bump everything up to condition red and stand by the blower, I’ll get back to you. hangs up

    Miss Scott: What’s up?

    Turgidson: Nothing. Nothing. Where’s my shorts?

    ;}

  7. Joe Loy Post author

    Here’s a worth-a-read Washington Post take on Служба Внешней Разведки-Gate, in which the KGB-Redux spy ring was caught red-Headed, much to the Media’s delight (not to say, Mine) (“Mine”) (hey, don’t Say that 😉 — emphases added:

    …Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said at the start of a meeting with former president Bill Clinton that the case showed that U.S. law enforcement agencies “have gotten out of hand.” The former KGB chief added that he hoped U.S. relations “will not be damaged.”

    Even so, U.S. officials said they expect Russia to retaliate in time-honored Cold War fashion. “The Russians have to do something,” said a former senior U.S. intelligence official who was stationed in Moscow, speculating that Americans in Russia would be rounded up and accused of espionage. “If I was some think tank person in Russia . . . I’d be very nervous.”

    …”What a feckless operation,” said Mark Lowenthal, a former senior CIA official. “So many of the things they seemed to be after you can find out by listening to the right radio station or reading the right newspaper. . . . It doesn’t say a lot about the smarts of the SVR.” The letters refer to Russia’s foreign intelligence service, one of the successor agencies to the KGB.

    The tradecraft employed was also spotty, experts said. Records depict scenes in which alleged spies arrive at a coffee shop and open a laptop specially equipped to send secret transmissions at the precise moment that a vehicle driven by a known Russian official pulls up outside.

    “It sounds preposterous to me,” said Mikhail Lyubimov, a writer and former member of the SVR. “We’ve never used illegals like this,” he said, referring to spies posing as ordinary citizens instead of diplomats. “And it’s a comedy to have 10 of them connected.”…

    (And speaking of Comedy — from “Dr. Strangelove”, Again already — )

    a struggle begins between Soviet Ambassador Alexei DeSadesky and General Buck Turgidson.

    President Merkin Muffley, to Turgidson and DeSadesky who is on Turgidson’s lap: Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here! This is the War Room! What is going on here? I demand an explanation!

    DeSadesky: This clumsy fool tried to plant that ridiculous camera on me.

    Turgidson: Yeah, you bet your sweets, Mr. Commie. Look at this, Mr. President. This lousy commie rat was taking pictures with this thing. Of the big board!

    Muffley: Mr. Ambassador!

    DeSadesky: This clumsy fool attempted to plant that ridiculous camera on me.

    Turgidson: That’s a damn lie! I saw him, with my own eyes!

    Muffley: Gentlemen, this is outrageous. I have never heard of such behavior in the war room before.

    :>

Comments are closed.