"He who would keep a secret..." A rambling codger story just for you!

Back again today with another old codger story that keeps wanting to jump out of my head!  It comes from the same period as that other guy I told you about who was an aging player and dry humped the poor cleaning girl.

This guy was another supervisor type, a big boo-yah ex-military guy (who should have known better, but we'll get to that).  Anyway, this guy was apparently trying to get a cushy job with a local senator.  He was going to be an intelligence analyst for this senator.  On and on he went, bragging around the office to everyone and anyone who couldn't escape in time about all the things he was going to do.  He was going to get raw intelligence from various intelligence agencies, collate it, put it together, give briefings to this senator.  

He apparently got pretty far in the selection process because he finally was going around telling his friendliest co-workers (I wasn't one of them, too new and low ranking) that the state department, or whoever, might be coming around to question them as part of a background check on him.  

Now, I don't know a lot about espionage and intelligence outside of my reading of WWII era espionage and James Bond films (I need to read John Le Carre one of these days!).  But I did once hear a line in an episode of Yes, Prime Minister that came to mind hearing this guy bloviate.

"He who would keep a secret must keep it a secret that he has a secret to keep!"

You'll notice most intelligence operatives and leaders tend to be what is often called 'dismal enigmas.'  They are quiet, secretive, keep to themselves, never let anyone know what they are thinking.  Admiral Doenitz, most leaders of MI5, and even Ex-President Bush when he was in charge of the CIA were excellent examples of this.  They did not go around bragging and boasting about their intelligence work.  They did not say what they were doing and how they were going to do it.  Never did they give away sources or talk about where they got their information.

Of course, this guy never did get this cushy job and after awhile there was nothing but silence from him.  I don't even know if they came around for a background check.  I was hoping they interviewed me because I wanted to give the line I just gave above and my little spiel to the interviewing state department officers.  Then again, I'm sure they know it well!

So that's today's story.  And remember, loose lips sink ships!  Not a word.... shhhhhhhhh!