With Tucker Carlson gone, apparently Jesse Watters is determined to become Fox's new lunatic conspiracy theory guy:
JESSE WATTERS (CO-HOST): We had a former CIA guy come on "Primetime" the other day, and he said the CIA makes money on the side with drug trafficking.... And one of the reasons — one of many reasons — Donald Trump was defeated was because the CIA had had it with this guy, because he was threatening the cash flow....
DANA PERINO (CO-HOST): Wait, you're saying the CIA is funding itself by the drug trade?
WATTERS: Yeah, they take a cut. That's what the former CIA guy told me.
You know, I could be convinced the CIA funds itself with planeloads of smack or meth. Why not? That stuff happens in movies all the time, right?
But Donald Trump secretly trying to put a stop to it? That's a bridge too far, my friend. We all know that Trump would not only have adored the idea, he would have regaled his post-presidential Mar-a-Lago pals all day long with stories about drug-financed assassinations or something. Sadly, that hasn't happened. Sorry, Jesse.
Trump would have asked for a cut.
He would have demanded a cut
And that would have made him respect US intelligence agencies.
But, --he only respected Russian intelligence agencies.
The right wing’s cognitive dissonance about Trump is amazing. Of course TFG would have been delighted to find the CIA was making money off of drugs. As thug in chief over the CIA he would have demanded his cut. Probably have demanded a premium for having them labeled with the Trump brand.
The latest approach in the Republicans’ neverending quest to cut wealthy people’s tax bills is to reduce IRS funding, so that wealthy people, if they are dishonest, will have an easier time getting away with cheating on their taxes. Mike Johnson has bundled it with aid to Israel because it would never pass on its own (and likely still won't).
If it were my job was to defend a proposal to cut taxes--not on wealthy people generally--but only on the dishonest ones, I would probably become as mentally deranged as Jesse Watters in short order.
I've noted that conspiracy theories never die, they just get recycled and repurposed.
This conspiracy theory reminds me of one that circulated among lefties in the '80s. It held that the CIA was using the Nicaraguan Contras to run drugs to the US. The CIA was using some of the profits to fund the Contras and flooding Black and minority communities with drugs to destroy those communities.
I remember that one, and remember believing it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CIA_involvement_in_Contra_cocaine_trafficking
Revisiting the issue, I think "conspiracy theory" is a bit unfair. It came from extensive reporting from a reputable newspaper. The conspiracy theory that is the subject of this report is pure fabrication from an idiot liar.
Now I'm getting nostalgic for Glenn Beck and his blackboards. Whatever happened to that dude, anyway?
*goes and looks him up*
Apparently he's got his own pay TV network, the history of which is... chaotic, but he's doing all right for himself. Sigh. I don't wish him ill, but I do wish he'd find a job that didn't involve pushing his little extra dose of poison into the bloodstream of American politics.
Why sip the weak tea of Glenn Beck when you can just mainline Alex Jones for a lot less?
Is that "CIA guy" a writer for Archer?