Anderson Cooper's CIA secret (he was an intern)

[Newsjock]

http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2006/09/anderson-coopers-cia-secret.php

Anderson Cooper has long traded on his biography, carving a niche for himself as the most human of news anchors. But there's one aspect of his past that the silver-haired CNN star has never made public: the months he spent training for a career with the Central Intelligence Agency.

Following his sophomore and junior years at Yale—a well-known recruiting ground for the CIA—Cooper spent his summers interning at the agency's monolithic headquarters in Langley, Virginia, in a program for students interested in intelligence work. His involvement with the agency ended there, and he chose not to pursue a job with the agency after graduation, according to a CNN spokeswoman, who confirms details of Cooper's CIA involvement to Radar.

"Whatever summer jobs or internships our anchors had in college couldn't be less consequential," she adds. He has kept the experience a secret, sources say, out of concern that, if widely known, it might compromise his ability to travel in foreign countries and even possibly put him at greater risk from terrorists.

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[Cooley Hurd]

1. The "Mockingbird" has silver hair...

This also puts a new spin on his hosting of "The Mole," doesn't it?;)

[Catherine Vincent]

2. Interesting...

Maybe he was finding himself?

[DoYouEverWonder]

3. If even just being an intern puts someone at risk

imagine the risk BushCo exposed Valerie Plame, a career professional, when they exposed her.

[QuettaKid]

4. yeah. I am sure he has no curent affiliations with the agency.

Riiiiigghhttt

""3/27/00

Reports in the Dutch newspaper Trouw (2/21/00, 2/25/00) and France's Intelligence Newsletter (2/17/00) have revealed that several officers from the US Army's 4th Psychological Operations (PSYOPS) Group at Ft. Bragg worked in the news division at CNN's Atlanta headquarters last year, starting in the final days of the Kosovo War.

In the U.S. media, so far only Alexander Cockburn, columnist for The Nation and co-editor of the newsletter CounterPunch, has picked up on the story. Cockburn's column on the subject is available at www.counterpunch.org.

http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=1748

[TroglodyteScholar]

27. Not to bust your bubble...

...but Army PsyOps and CIA are two COMPLETELY different things.

Just saying.

[Nozebro]

5. A. Cooper is a "made" man. That's important in right-wing circles.

If you want to be a Power Player (or a loyal servant to the powerful) in this country, you need intelligence credentials - and I don't mean the kind that requires a good mind.

[Virginia Dare]

6. Give me a break...

He has kept the experience a secret, sources say, out of concern that, if widely known, it might compromise his ability to travel in foreign countries and even possibly put him at greater risk from terrorists.

I hardly think they are giving summer interns access to all the deep dark secrets at Langley. He probably spent a good portion of the time fetching coffee and standing over a copy machine.

What a load of crap.

[ShortnFiery]

7. Still, he's always enjoyed privilege (Vanderbilt) ...

That pretty face does not mask IMO, a shallow personality. :shrug:

[Virginia Dare]

8. I should have added...

that not just "anybody" can be an intern at the CIA. You've got to have connections.

Still, that tidbit sounds more like drama than reality.

[ShortnFiery]

9. More to the point - Why can't we have Investigative Journalists

to honor vice the pretty New Model Types who are constantly hyped?

I want to puke each morning when that Robin says "Good Morning Sunshine." :puke:

[CabalPowered]

11. I'm not sure about that anymore..

They were recently recruiting at the Junior College here.

[Virginia Dare]

12. Geez, they are getting desperate then...

I remember the days when those internships were hard to get.

[CabalPowered]

23. Yea I was a little shocked when my interns told me about the CIA

being on campus. This is primarily an ag and trade skill school. :eyes:

[nashville_brook]

15. not just anybody can go to Yale, either...

[Sgent]

26. Huh?

A lot of my college classmates interned at the CIA and/or the NSA.

None of them has any kind of "connections" -- and our school was hardly Harvard or Yale -- although it had a reputation as an excellent undergraduate engineering school.

[fujiyama]

33. I don't think that's necessarily the case

I know two people that worked with the CIA in some fashion. One ended up working there after he graduated. I saw him at a career fair at our school representing it.

Another had an internship during the summers. Neither struck me as especially well connected. It's possible they were (and I'm sure it helps to know people working there).

[Virginia Dare]

36. You may be right, although it was my impression

that used to be the case anyway. I know you have to undergo a fairly rigid security clearnace, even as an intern. It's also possible that the connections weren't personal but institutional.

[NashVegas]

39. "Oh So Social" Was the Nickname for CIA Precursor OSS

I'd say Anderson qualifies.

[Drum]

10. The same way O'Reilly spins some imagined "service,"

The same way you overhear any drunk blowhard in any hotel bar doing....

[Tellurian]

45. Yep, and not only that..

after extensive profiling, Cooper didn't possess the necessary psychological aspects for advancement in the CiA.
And was probably made aware of that fact, which I'm sure, affected his ultimate decision to withdraw to a more
suitable career.

[w4rma]

13. More likely that he was hired. (nt)

[progressoid]

14. So what.

[rman]

16. possible Mockingbird

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mockingbird

[progressoid]

19. I read the Koran when I was 20. I guess that makes me a possible terrorist.

[Minstrel Boy]

24. So long as you didn't intern with al Qaeda in Afghanistan

there's no comparison.

[progressoid]

28. So anyone that worked for the CIA, not matter what capacity or for any

length of time is a possible "mockingbird" or worse?

I guess I better keep an eye on my cousin.... Oh yeah, and we should stop defending Valerie Plame.

[Minstrel Boy]

30. yes, and yes

Oh - and yes.

Though, perhaps, especially, a senior broadcast journalist with license to spin.

[notadmblnd]

31. If he reads the news on T.V ., you should.

nt

[Jacobin]

35. As far as I know, Valerie Plame wasn't involved in domestic propaganda

I don't have a problem with CIA being used for foreign espionage.
I have a problem with the CIA being used for domestic propaganda

[progressoid]

37. As far as any of us knows he's NOT being used for domestic propaganda.

There is no proof. It's a HUGE leap to conclude that his summer internship has lead to life a clandestine media manipulation. Heck, maybe we should apply that same "logic" to his unknown sexual orientation. Maybe he is actually trying to advance the Gay Agenda(tm) via CNN, using tricks he learned while sharpening pencils at the CIA. :crazy:

It's ironic (and sad) that some progressives demand accuracy and truth from the media yet have no problem jumping to conclusions without actual evidence.

Even Don Quixote would say that this windmill is just a windmill.

Besides, there are actual, real issues out there for us to battle. And we can fight them with actual, real facts.

[Chemical Bill]

46. Personally, I don't think anyone in the corporate media...

is not being used for domestic propaganda.

Just sayin'.

Bill

[rman]

42. Certainly anyone who worked for the CIA and then works in the media,

is suspect. Of course "suspect" is no basis definitive conclusions (hence "possible").
Plame doesn't work for the media - in fact there are some indicators she is one of the good guys; one that was really working to protect the US, rather than being a "dark actor". It doesn't look like she a friend of the neocons.

[progressoid]

47. "no basis for definitive conclusions "

Hence my statement "So what". Yet there are lots of people jumping to lots of conclusions based on nothing. Not a good sign for progressives.

Sure it's possible that a college kid was brainwashed during his summer internship to become a sleeper or mockingbird. It's also possible Plame is using Joe Wilson/Niger/yellowcake as a diversion to hide the REAL operation. ;-) But, of course there is no evidence of any of this. Just supposition.

If we really want to get to the bottom of this conspiracy we should be looking into the secret life of Oprah. He and Oprah are pretty tight. I bet she is the Mrs Iselin behind all of this. http://imdb.com/title/tt0056218/

[rman]

50. still suspicious; no basis to dismiss it

[spooky3]

17. He's not perfect but he still gets a lot of credit from me

for his reporting on Katrina in 2005. I believe the delays in help would have been even more outrageous had he not done the quality of work he did at a time when other reporters were sleeping on the job or reporting it matter-of-factly.

[aaronbees]

43. Me too....

I'm kind of a lukewarm fan of his reporting and definitely find him interesting (I'm reading his book now, and it's better than I expected) -- he's certainly not perfect but he was ruthless when it came down to exposing the lack of action after Katrina hit the Gulf. He did his job right when he was down there and I think it helped get things moving.

Looking at this thread, I'm amazed at the laughable lengths some DU-ers go to spin back based on limited to no facts.

[spooky3]

48. yep

[Secular Agent Man]

18. He worked for CONTROL as "Agent 360"...

That's why his CNN show is called "Anderson Cooper 360". Would you believe... :hide:

[EFerrari]

20. And why he has two last names!

:hide:

[razors edge]

21. it's all project mockingbird.

[bobthedrummer]

22. More "perception management" in the context of "strategic influence"

and for those that don't get "it"-well we've discussed this many times over the years here at DU, we've used various descriptors for "it"-- the term mind control is still not politically correct in some circles because it opens all kinds of other topics.

"Reality vs. perception management" from Jan. 2006
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x71919#top

[underpants]

25. Suuuuuure he gave it up

;-)

The cow flies at midnight

[notadmblnd]

29. I'd be willing to put money on it.....

that he's still an operative. Why else would there be a need to keep it secret? Had a class with an Secret Service employee recently (low level guy, roof sitter actually) he couldn't keep his mouth shut about being the SS. The class was Political Science, he was an asshole. Needless to say.. we didn't get along.

[mitchum]

32. Gimme an "M", gimme an "O"...

[fujiyama]

34. I don't see the big deal here

He was young and in college and he found an opportunity to work with a government agency dealing with intelligence work. At that age it sounds pretty exciting...

I can also understand his reluctance to make this public, not only for safety reasons abroad (he did travel for some time to various hotspots), but to avoid speculation that he's some sort of operative still. It's possible he is still, but I view that as EXTREMELY unlikely.

[Nikki Stone 1]

38. I agree with your post

The CIA does a lot of recruiting for a lot of different things, and there are different levels of security. I can't imagine a college intern getting very high up on the food chain.

[NashVegas]

40. Isn't He Fairly Openly Gay?

CIA would have had issues with that at the time he was interning.

[6000eliot]

41. I suspect a lot of the network news anchors are CIA.

[Rageneau]

49. And a lot of syndicated columnists and national editors.

It is not absurd to believe that spy agencies deliberately infiltrate and operate inside major media outlets.

What is absurd is believing that they DON'T.

[0007]

44. Anderson who?

Can't stomach CNN any shape way or form. Sorry!!!