Tom Secker joins e today for our mid season breakdown of Homeland Season 7. We start off by discussing the first major arc of the season, the Ruby Ridge/Waco standoff between O’Keefe and and the FBI. Tom and I discuss the surprisingly balanced approach Homeland has taken to this topic. We discuss the idea that this is a clever attempt at portraying the CIA as the adults in the room willing to negotiate, as opposed to the psychotic gun totting FBI. We also explore the historical events Homeland is touching on: Ruby Ridge and Waco. Tom also mentions the recent shows on the Uni-bomber and Waco which were also quiet sympathetic to Kaczynski and the Branch Davidians. Of course we also talk about our favorite agent provocateur Brett O’Keffe. Later we move onto the second major arc of the season, fake news and Russian Active Measures. Tom and I discuss how this is woven into the story line and the way in which Homeland discusses it. We dissect the new character Yevgeny Gromov, the mysterious head of Russian ops in the US, and talk about how he represents a widely held viewpoint within Russian intelligence.
In the second hour Tom and I dive into the very covert ways in which the CIA are portrayed as the heroes. We again touch on Saul and Carrie as our surrogates for the agency even though neither of them works for the CIA anymore. We ponder if this is a new method for the CIA’s entertainment liaison office. Tom and I also explore several real life parallels that seem to line up with Homeland. We look at the Skripal poisoning and the recent report that Mikhail Lesin was murdered on orders from Putin. We also touch on Saul’s ability to run his own operations with zero oversight while National Security Adviser. We finish off by complaining about the Frannie story-line, our love of the 4chan episode, and our hope that O’Keefe and Dar Adal escape from prison and get their own spin off series.
I discuss the recent news that Chelsea Manning has been spending time with major figures of the alt-right movemnt. I discuss her attendance of Mike Cernovich’s “A Night for Freedom” party alongside Gavin McInnes, Cassandra Fairbanks, Jack Posobiec, and Stephan Molyneux to may a few. I talk about the story as it unfolded the night in question, and how the alt-right, left, and Manning attempted to craft a narrative. Later I discuss Fairbanks explanation and Manning’s claims that she was using Fairbanks to gather intelligence. I also point out that Manning has been photographed multiple times with alt-right celebrities.
Later I present several possible theories as to why Manning was doing this. I focus on the idea that she is still working for the government as some sort of asset. I also touch on how informing and gathering intelligence on anyone is a nasty business fraught with serious moral problems. The show ends with me talking about Manning’s hypocrisy, and why she is not a true hero for the trans movement.
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