I'm not talking about miraculous time-zone crossings, sudden availability of weapons, etc., to which we all joyfully surrender our disbelief for a good spy flick.
Rather, the more reality based elements:
-okay, really, how many passports does a USA spy have? And are they still valid after a mission?
-are they always locked in a safe in a Swiss bank?
-does a U.S. spy always have a getaway fund? On a civil servant salary?
-I understand chatter via Echelon and the likes... presumably random, does not violate civil rights.... OK. But in Law and Order, they have to get a court order to tap a phone. In ENEMY OF THE STATE, not so much, they make it look like a training op. In the BOURNE franchise, they are on someone in a matter of seconds, satellites, assassins /assets activated, phones tapped, banking info, etc. How real is that??? And how constitutional? I guess it's OK to tap the phones of a British journalist because he's not protected by the U.S. constitution, right?
-And say an agent is THOUGHT to be rogue, under what authority is it legal to just take him out? Wouldn't that actually have to be an executive order? And weren't assassinations (mostly of foreign leaders, but whatever) banned a few administrations ago? So who is the authority?
-What is the extent of "covert" as protected under the law? And who in government actually knows about covert ops? Who is accountable?
Things that make you go: HMMMMMM.
AND: totally random side note about the real life story flick about a journalist chick who divulged the identity of a spy and was sent to prison for not revealing her source. I guess the moral of the story was about freedom the press, YAY, but I couldn't help seeing someone who not only outed a secret operative and got her killed, but who in doing so also put some measure of national security at risk. And yet the film never even addressed that. Isn't there some basic journalism 101 class that says, never give out the name of a secret agent???????
Rather, the more reality based elements:
-okay, really, how many passports does a USA spy have? And are they still valid after a mission?
-are they always locked in a safe in a Swiss bank?
-does a U.S. spy always have a getaway fund? On a civil servant salary?
-I understand chatter via Echelon and the likes... presumably random, does not violate civil rights.... OK. But in Law and Order, they have to get a court order to tap a phone. In ENEMY OF THE STATE, not so much, they make it look like a training op. In the BOURNE franchise, they are on someone in a matter of seconds, satellites, assassins /assets activated, phones tapped, banking info, etc. How real is that??? And how constitutional? I guess it's OK to tap the phones of a British journalist because he's not protected by the U.S. constitution, right?
-And say an agent is THOUGHT to be rogue, under what authority is it legal to just take him out? Wouldn't that actually have to be an executive order? And weren't assassinations (mostly of foreign leaders, but whatever) banned a few administrations ago? So who is the authority?
-What is the extent of "covert" as protected under the law? And who in government actually knows about covert ops? Who is accountable?
Things that make you go: HMMMMMM.
AND: totally random side note about the real life story flick about a journalist chick who divulged the identity of a spy and was sent to prison for not revealing her source. I guess the moral of the story was about freedom the press, YAY, but I couldn't help seeing someone who not only outed a secret operative and got her killed, but who in doing so also put some measure of national security at risk. And yet the film never even addressed that. Isn't there some basic journalism 101 class that says, never give out the name of a secret agent???????
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