Thread by @lisapease

If there were one thing I'd want people to understand, it was that the CIA's taking out of President John Kennedy and his brother Senator Robert Kennedy cowed the left in this country. There was hope when Democratic Senator Frank Church had the guts to take on the CIA (Thread)

On Christmas Eve, 1974, Sy Hersh dropped a piece many believe was leaked by CIA director William Colby in a move to oust the corrupt Dulles sidekick James Angleton. Hersh's piece exposed illegal CIA domestic ops (2)

But despite a serious investigation, through a combination of carrots and sticks, the CIA managed to turn the narrative away from their illegal activities and assassination operations to the need for greater intelligence and security. (3)

When a station chief in Greece was killed, the CIA deftly blamed it on Phil Agee's expose, which named the station chief. But the station chief's name and location were no secret in Greece. But the press took the CIA's word for it and did no investigation. (4)

During the Church Committee hearings, there was a parallel set of hearings in the House in what became known as the Pike Committee, after chairman Otis Pike. "We'll get Pike for this," Mitchell Rogovin, Special Counsel to the CIA said, and they did. (5)

The CIA pressed the House NOT to release the Pike Report - an extraordinary demonstration of undemocratic power, hiding the truth from the people. A copy was leaked to the Village Voice, which THEN had the courage to print it. (6)

Frank Church saw his presidential hopes go down the drain. Pike too was destroyed. Years later, as I quoted in my book, Nancy Pelosi explained everyone on the hill was afraid of CIA because they could lie to the media and destroy anyone's reputation. (7)

The problem has always been a lack of accountability. Had the Church Committee jailed officials like former CIA Director Richard Helms, who called his perjury charge a "badge of honor," the CIA might not have gotten away with appointing George Joannides to the HSCA.

George Joannides ran the anti-Castro group that included Oswald associates Carlos Bringuier and a guy who shared the 544 Camp Street address Oswald put on flyers - Sergio Arcacha Smith. GJ knew where bodies were buried but the House Select Committee on Assassinations ...

... was not told that Joannides - their liaison to the CIA, should have been a subject and was NOT working in the committee's interests. Without any effective CIA oversight, we have to conclude that ...

The CIA, not Congress, not the President, runs the country, at least in terms of foreign policy. What Matt Taibbi and #TheTwitterFiles showed was how FBI silenced free speech on Twitter (and no doubt elsewhere). But there's a wealth of files and stories showing the CIA...

... has also been actively involved in suppressing free speech, especially on topics like the JFK assassination. The JFK assassination is the Rosetta Stone to understanding how the CIA operates at home and abroad. That's why they don't want you knowing what they did and do.

And the Democrats are too cowed to take the CIA on. And the Republicans for the most part have been too in bed with the CIA to WANT to take them on. The pathological world view of the CIA - that rules don't apply to them - is destroying what's left of our democracy. ...

This is where WE come in. Where WE have the chance to save our democracy. We have to show that we have our elected officials backs when they stand up to the CIA. We have to show the media and reporters that we have THEIR backs and will not fall for CIA slanders.

And WE have to press for accountability for all official wrongdoing - from the FBI, CIA, Congress, the President, everyone. WE HAVE TO BE a country run by LAWS, not intelligence agencies! This is why ...

... getting the truth right matters. Studying the JFK assassination isn't some pointless historical exercise. It reveals patterns of corruption and deception that help us understand how the CIA - and indeed ANY secret, unaccountable organization operates. ...

And the most important thing the CIA does is control not only the media but, through assets, social media as well. We must not fall for their lies. They crapagandize CONSTANTLY and a lot of good blue people fall for it. You have to be willing to learn more, to understand. ...

Only by challenging the media narratives can we get to the truth not just about past events but present ones, like how Ukraine and the US provoked Russia at every turn, practically begging them to invade. When your mind says, "that can't be true," you need to dig deeper ...

... because the CIA knows, like the Nazis before them, that repetition changes our brains and really works. If you repeat a lie enough times, people accept it as the truth. In general, when the media speaks with one strong voice, it's often in the opposite direction from truth.

Thanks for reading. If you want to learn how the CIA took over our country, start with my books. Read the books of others. TV, documentaries, films will only get you so far. Read in depth and understand!!! Then we can save America together!!!