What is the CIA? Ask the man who created it.

Quoting from from Merle Miller’s 1974 book, Plain Speaking: an oral biography of US President Harry S. Truman:  

“Mr. President, I know that you were responsible as President for setting up the CIA. How do you feel about it now?” 

Truman: I think it was a mistake. And if I’d know what was going to happen, I never would have done it…Now, as nearly as I can make out, those fellows in the CIA don’t just report on wars and the like, they go out and make their own, and there’s nobody to keep track of what they’re up to. They spend billions of dollars on stirring up trouble so they’ll have something to report on. They’ve become … it’s become a government all of its own and all secret. They don’t have to account to anybody.” 

“That’s a very dangerous thing in a democratic society, and it’s got to be put a stop to. The people have got a right to know what those birds are up to. And if I was back in the White House, people would know. You see, the way a free government works, there’s got to be a housecleaning every now and again, and I don’t care what branch of the government is involved. Somebody has to keep an eye on things.”

“And when you can’t do any housecleaning because everything that goes on is a damn secret, why, then we’re on our way to something the Founding Fathers didn’t have in mind. Secrecy and a free, democratic government don’t mix. And if what happened at the Bay of Pigs doesn’t prove that, I don’t know what does. You have got to keep an eye on the military at all times, and it doesn’t matter whether it’s the birds in the Pentagon or the birds in the CIA.” 

Well, the world is still waiting for that ‘housecleaning‘ to be done.  The CIA is still running rampant and unchecked all around the world.  “We lied, we cheated, we stole,” admitted ex-CIA Director, Piggy Pompeo – though he didn’t see it as an admission of guilt – more as an accomplishment.  And all because “everything that goes on” is still “a damn secret“.

Well, its still “got to be put a stop to” and the people still “have got a right to know“.  When’s that going to happen?  Not in the next four years I’ll wager.  Unless the people of the world jointly decide to do something about it …and that’s not exactly appearing on the horizon in my telescope.