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Newsweek: Tom Clancy on terrorism - ‘I Try to Portray Reality’
MSNBC.Com / Newsweek ^
| Aug. 12, 2003
| By Brian Braiker - NEWSWEEK WEB EXCLUSIVE
Posted on 08/12/2003 10:47:37 PM PDT by Bobby777
click here to read article
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1
posted on
08/12/2003 10:47:38 PM PDT
by
Bobby777
To: Bobby777
2
posted on
08/12/2003 10:52:43 PM PDT
by
RJayneJ
(To see pictures of Jayne's quilt: http://bulldogbulletin.lhhosting.com/page50.htm)
To: Bobby777
Bobby,
I believe Mr. Clancy does a superior job of portraying reality. I just hope the good guys read it FIRST. Terrorists don't need new scenarios. </tinfoil off>
3
posted on
08/12/2003 11:01:14 PM PDT
by
Cindy
To: Cindy
Dave Hunt in "Israel, Islam and Armageddon" (the video) quoted Tom Clancy as saying Islam is synonymous with "peace" ... Dave says this is an incredible statement in light of the unbroken record of terrorism in the last 30 years ... so I read this article with some skepticism ... I think Mr. Clancy makes statements for public consumption ... nonetheless, I was dismayed to see "Sum of All Fears" PC-smashed to become Russian Nationalists in the movie version ... somewhat different than that portrayed in the book ... no doubt, for PC purposes ...
4
posted on
08/12/2003 11:06:09 PM PDT
by
Bobby777
To: Cindy
regarding scenarious, yes, this is the danger when they are spoken of in public ... I am reminded that Patton read Rommel's book "The Tank in Battle" (approximately) before engaging Rommel ... and Rommel (or Rommel's men who had read the book as required reading) did exactly what he had stated as correct in the book ... (maybe this was Hollywood exaggerating?) ...
5
posted on
08/12/2003 11:09:50 PM PDT
by
Bobby777
Tom Clancy: Nonsense. You guys have your job to do and its an important job. I sometimes wish you did it betterbut then a lot of people wish I did my job better.
That seems to be what youre saying in your book.
No. Im telling a story; Im not making a political statement.
Are you suggesting that information-gathering agencies like the CIA and NSA
Im not suggesting anything. Im just telling a story.
There are critiques of the press throughout the bookone of your heroes even compares it to women trading gossip.
Really? Well whoever said that wasnt me. The press has a very important function. You may be the principal guardians of our freedom. You guys have a vital function to our country. But unfortunately, I dont think you always take the job seriously enough.
So you advocate a press that does act as a check, even though you were just complaining about too many checks and balances in government.
Unfortunately, in the last 20 years, the press has kind of put its own spin on things, and thats not what you guys are paid to do.
With the homeland security alert bouncing from yellow to orange and back again, has the government done clumsy job of keeping the public calm and informed?
Yeah, I think thats pretty stupid. And the trouble with you guys in the media is that someone does something stupid and you [attack] him. Why dont you just say, this is stupid and just go on? Or better yet, dont even talk about it. One of the problems I have with the news media is that youd rather have a bad story than a good one. What you should ask is, How do you fix it, not, Who got it wrong. The first thing that people asked when the planes crashed into the twin towers was, whose fault is this. Well, its the fault of the idiots flying the airplanes for starters. But you cant blame the intelligence community for not doing its job properly if you dont give it proper support, and when was the last time the media supported the CIA? If you treat em like dogs theyre going to urinate on the fire hydrant rather than get the burglar.
Youve said that youre proud to be American. Do you ever worry about patriotism or national pride being mistaken abroad for hubris?
[Laughs] The people with the most hubris in America work at the New York Times and the Washington Post. The New York Times really thinks their pages are holy. Theyre a newspaperits not holy; they make mistakes. We all make mistakes. But hubris? Thats a Greek word from a long time ago. Thats really a disease of kings and princes.
To: Alouette; dennisw; Yehuda; Lent; yonif; rdb3; mhking; MeeknMing; George W. Bush; struwwelpeter; ...
ping to the usual suspects ... 8)
7
posted on
08/12/2003 11:16:16 PM PDT
by
Bobby777
To: At _War_With_Liberals
A great excerpt! Is it possible Clancy is conservative?
8
posted on
08/12/2003 11:27:08 PM PDT
by
ntnychik
To: ntnychik
Sorry about the poor formatting. Didn't check it first.
Tom Clancy is my new hero. Not only is he a great fiction writer, he is also a well-spoken conservative. I always admired his knowledge of government and intelligence in his books.
He really seemed prepared for this interview. He had points to make and he made them. I love how Newsweek/Time tried to brand him a conservative, and instead of shrinking, he absolutely exploded with his responses. They must have been shocked- the interviewer didn't even try to follow up with questions. This is classic. I hope other Republicans 'fight the power' like Tom Clancy did.
I am interested in hearing more from Tom in the future.
To: Bobby777
Hollywood simplified, but wasn't off...
Patton read Rommel's book, but not before that battle. He was just brushing up in the movie ;)
10
posted on
08/12/2003 11:42:14 PM PDT
by
Tredge
(Lend us a loan of your noserag to wipe my razor.)
To: At _War_With_Liberals
" I love how Newsweek/Time tried to brand him a conservative, and instead of shrinking, he absolutely exploded with his responses."
Is that available to read anywhere, do you know?
11
posted on
08/13/2003 1:00:24 AM PDT
by
dsc
To: dsc
To: Bobby777; *Presstitutes; *CCRM; yall
13
posted on
08/13/2003 3:25:47 AM PDT
by
MeekOneGOP
(Check out the Texas Chicken D 'RATS!: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/keyword/Redistricting)
Comment #14 Removed by Moderator
To: At _War_With_Liberals
Thanks.
15
posted on
08/13/2003 7:47:19 AM PDT
by
dsc
To: *bang_list; Bobby777; Beelzebubba; archy; Squantos; harpseal; wardaddy; Eaker; Mulder; Noumenon; ...
Im curious about this group of spies operating outside the system in your book, the proverbial teeth of the tiger. What are they if not some sort of rogue organization? No. Rogue organization is a bad choice of words. A rogue elephant is an animal that has gotten kind of out of control. A rogue agency is something thats operating beyond its charter. Well, these guys are not operating beyond their charter.
But they technically dont exist. They dont even have a charter.
Well, its not written down, but they have one.
With no set of checks or balances to
Thats how you strangle. Thats how you prevent people from doing real things. The whole premise of the book is if the government wants to do something effectively it has to be outside the budget process. Thats why the original title for this novel was Off the Books.
But an agency like this could easily fall under the wrong leadership without those checks and balances.
Thats why you have to be very careful setting it up. But at some point you have to trust professionals to be professionals just like you trust doctors to be doctors. Thats what they do.
************************************************************************************
If Clancy believes what he just wrote, he's not a very deep thinker. A very popular novelist, with some catchy ideas, but NOT a deep thinker.
If he can't see the extreme danger that such groups pose ("Just trust them, like doctors") then he's actually an idiot, and a dangerous one because millions of people read his novels and swallow his stuff.
A major theme in my book is the extreme danger to freedom in America posed by just such "off the books" specops groups. In "Enemies" the group is turned by a desperate president agains Americans, after a contrived series of bogus acts of domestic terrorism. The leader of the "Special Training Unit" of the BATFE created the bogus acts of domestic terrorism in order to have his unit turned loose against Americans, in order to puff up his power and his budget. These actions lead to a low-level dirty war, as many Americans respond to the covert actions of the Special Training Unit by assassinating politicians and others they hold responsible.
I'm truly disappointed that Clancy does not have the vision to see the inevitable progression of these types of "off the books" specops units toward dangerous-to-freedom domestic missions.
Just visualize President Hillary and AG Schumer, armed with blank-check "Patriot Act Three" powers, with such units at they disposal to target "right wing extremist gun fanatics" for example.
16
posted on
08/13/2003 10:07:33 AM PDT
by
Travis McGee
(----- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com -----)
To: At _War_With_Liberals; Yehuda; river rat
bttt
17
posted on
08/13/2003 10:08:23 AM PDT
by
Travis McGee
(----- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com -----)
To: ntnychik
Clancy was on Hanity and Colmes a couple of nights ago. At the end of the interview Colmes said, "next time we'll discuss liberals". Clancy advised him "bring a gun"!
Molon Labe!
18
posted on
08/13/2003 10:20:00 AM PDT
by
TERMINATTOR
(Don't tread on me!)
To: King Prout; Dead Corpse
Ping
19
posted on
08/13/2003 10:32:00 AM PDT
by
Travis McGee
(----- www.EnemiesForeignAndDomestic.com -----)
To: Travis McGee
"Just visualize President Hillary and AG Schumer, armed with blank-check "Patriot Act Three" powers, with such units at they disposal to target "right wing extremist gun fanatics" for example." A nightmare to be sure...But, perhaps you see the glass half empty....
That scenario could be the "glass half full" -- as being the trigger to a long overdue "corrective" action against an out of control government.
Our founding father's foresaw this eventuality - and provided for an armed society.. We can only pray that the "trigger" need never to be squeezed.
The "liberal" assault against armed Americans is evidence that they still fear this potential.
Semper Fi
20
posted on
08/13/2003 10:39:59 AM PDT
by
river rat
(War works......It brings Peace... Give war a chance to destroy Jihadists...)
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