Th*nk*ng (Gamesmanship)

by Fred Cederholm

I’ve been thinking about gamesmanship. Actually, I’ve been thinking about asylum, Edward Snowden, the Chinese, the Russians, the Cubans, the Ecuadorians, espionage, indignation, and who knows what about whom. For the past few weeks we have seen gamesmanship unfold on the international level. A “no name” individual has become the story on page one. But… just who is Edward Snowden besides some National Security Agency analyst who has apparently gone rogue, posted some classified information on the internet and is now on the run from Uncle $ugar? Knowledge is power; and with the internet, data, and information; this power can be transferred to literally everybody on the planet with the click of an “enter key.” Do most of the people even care anymore? I have my doubts!

You see virtually all governments now are in the information business.

They each have more data on everybody (and everything) than they could possibly catalogue, much less use. Much of what they hold in their files, regardless of the clearance supposedly needed to access it, is more of an embarrassment than a matter of national security. It seems clear that the FEDs don’t have a clue all the juicy tidbits Snowden now has in his possession. Uncle probably doesn’t even know what Snowdon has even accessed, and more than likely, copied to a flash drive before he left the country.

THAT is what bothers me — our government has so much data/ info that can be used against US/us and keeps it under such loosey-goosey security. I would doubt that there isn’t one major secret program, one weapon system, or one juicy national embarrassing tidbit that our enemies do not already have, and are waiting for the right moment to “leak” on the world stage.

We have the same stuff on all of them. It is a big game. I’ve got a secret has gone technical and global. That is the way things work in the 21st century. Espionage is a growth industry amongst the nations, and using the information is like playing a trump card. It isn’t what you know, but what your adversaries TH*NK you know that becomes important. So just sit back and bluff… In college, I studied diplomatic history and learned about how Metternich and others played the game in the 19th century — they were truly the masters. The rules have not changed, just methods, technology, and speed.

Now every person with a computer hook up to the internet can monitor how the pawns are being deployed. Most people do not even care about what is going on in this drama. The last big incident involving US information being “leaked” was Daniel Ellsberg, his psychiatrist, the Pentagon papers, “the Nixon plumbers,” and the Watergate break in. Congress got in a huff, spent millions on investigations, and a president ultimately had to resign. How many people even remember what happened roughly 40 year ago?

Go back another 20 years and we had the story of the Rosenberg’s who were ultimately executed for their espionage during the height of the “cold war.” The Snowdon paper chase is “bush league” by comparison unless there is much more that we are not being told, but I sincerely doubt that.

Given the way President Obama is being ridiculed and mocked by the Chinese and Russian actions leads me to believe that we have another case of a President advocating Constitutional No-No’s and now under the spotlight of public opinion… Secretary of State John Kerry is rattling sabers and launching a battalion of harsh sounding diplomatic language to add to the theatre. Big whoopee… The American public is more concerned about making their next rent or mortgage payment, and where they will get the food to feed their families. As Bill Clinton once said: “it’s the economy stupid!!!” Nobody seems to want to talk about that, however… The leaked stories about Snowdon being shuttled from Hong Kong to Moscow then to Cuba and then on to Equador have proven false. Didn’t it strike anybody as odd that Uncle $ugar knew this “cause celebrity” flew from Hong Kong to Moscow, but that he was not on the flight to Cuba? See… I told you everybody knows everything about everybody else. Right now we just don’t know where Snowden is, or what other tidbits he could leak? Or, do we? I’d like to know just what they TH*NK he has in his possession, and why it is so embarrassing to US/us right now? Inquiring minds do want to know… I’m Fred Cederholm and I’ve been thinking. You should be thinking, too.

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