Libra's Timeline Plot: Plausible?
In Libra, there are two timelines. One for the story of Lee Harvey Oswald which are titled in places he has lived in. The second timeline is a fictional (or so we think) plot in some CIA and FBI members who were involved in planning the Bay of Pigs invasion are plotting to stage a failed assassination attempt on President John F. Kennedy and link it to Cuba in order to convince the U.S. to invade Cuba.
I personally think even though the plot is fictional, Delillo needs to do more research on how the CIA works in order for the plot to be plausible. I am not an expert on the CIA, but I am certain that getting into the CIA or FBI means being loyal to your government, and trying to assassinate, even if the plan is supposed to fail means being disloyal to your government. No CIA or FBI agent would ever think about doing something like assassinate a member of the U.S. government, since it is against the organization's principle.
Maybe the plotters like Everett and Banister passed the "initial background check", but I am confident in order for the CIA and FBI to keep track so the members do not go into a wrong direction, the CIA and FBI would do routine polygraph tests. In the 7 months from plotting to putting the plan into action, one of people involved in the plot must have had a polygraph test and if one of the questions was "Have you, or are you plotting against the government?" There should be a mixture of emotions in responding this question. "Yes, I am staging a failed assassination on the president, but it is for the sake for our safety". Regardless of how the member responds, there should be some funny results on the polygraph and if the CIA see that, then they would do an investigation, which would discover this plot.
In short, because of the tight order on how the CIA and FBI works, this plot has an extremely low probability of being carried out.
I personally think even though the plot is fictional, Delillo needs to do more research on how the CIA works in order for the plot to be plausible. I am not an expert on the CIA, but I am certain that getting into the CIA or FBI means being loyal to your government, and trying to assassinate, even if the plan is supposed to fail means being disloyal to your government. No CIA or FBI agent would ever think about doing something like assassinate a member of the U.S. government, since it is against the organization's principle.
Maybe the plotters like Everett and Banister passed the "initial background check", but I am confident in order for the CIA and FBI to keep track so the members do not go into a wrong direction, the CIA and FBI would do routine polygraph tests. In the 7 months from plotting to putting the plan into action, one of people involved in the plot must have had a polygraph test and if one of the questions was "Have you, or are you plotting against the government?" There should be a mixture of emotions in responding this question. "Yes, I am staging a failed assassination on the president, but it is for the sake for our safety". Regardless of how the member responds, there should be some funny results on the polygraph and if the CIA see that, then they would do an investigation, which would discover this plot.
In short, because of the tight order on how the CIA and FBI works, this plot has an extremely low probability of being carried out.
I think that this is an interesting take on the possibility of some conspiracy involving the CIA. Personally, however, I feel like personal feeling override a sense of duty quite easily. So if someone was embarrassed by the Bay of Pigs and blamed Kennedy for it, I can see how it might lead to something like Libra.
ReplyDeleteObviously, as you said, the plot is fictional. As I was reading Libra I certainly never thought DeLillo had a problem of a lack of research (you could check out by blog post on Nicholas Branch for some examples of deep research). I feel like a lot of conspiracy theories with regards to the JFK assassination have to do with CIA or FBI members, which I think does make sense because they are the ones who fit the bill of people secretly running our government. I feel like many view these agents as shady figures who either act in their own interest or they felt like the assassination was the best thing for the nation. As a result I think DeLillo is justified in using these agents and is speaking towards those conspiracy theorists.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to think about how plausible a plot by CIA agents is. I do think it's totally possible that an agent could feel really great about the establishment of the US when they are hired and then change their mind or that they could pretend to feel differently than they do. There were lots of double agents in the Cold War so it's not like it's impossible for CIA agents to have secrets from the CIA.
ReplyDeleteI understand where you are coming from, but at the same time I don't think that being loyal to a country or government necessarily means being loyal of the president/leader.
ReplyDeleteI'm not totally sure about the plausibility or implausibility about the CIA being involved, but it seems to me that many of the characters initially involved in the plot to stage an attempt on the president's life, like Win Everett or Parmenter, are mostly out of the picture by the time the assassination takes place. I can see where disillusionment with the CIA or government in general could lead to something like this.
ReplyDeleteI'm just saying that the CIA and the FBI have done a ton of stuff in history behind the governments back so that all three branches of the government don't know what they're doing. I can definitely see CIA agents, in their own self interest, assassinating a president if the president goes against CIA plans or is a perceived threat to the agency.
ReplyDeleteI like the theory, but I also ask to remind you of all of the traitors that have easily hidden in the FBI and CIA. Polygraph tests are not a reliable source of truth, and aren't even admissible in a court of law.
ReplyDeleteThis is definitely interesting, and it's not something I had really thought about. In terms of its realisticness I don't think it's entirely implausible for CIA or FBI agents to have ulterior motives or to lose their loyalty to the government. When the book opens Win has pretty much been isolated from any important position, and it doesn't seem like he's in a place where the government would be knocking on his door asking for weekly polygraph tests. I'm also not sure that any of that is the point - I think DeLillo's goal is moreso to provide a commentary on the nature of history than it is to provide a completely realistic version of the event. Nevertheless, really interesting dicussion you prompted!
ReplyDeleteI think that it's definitely possible that the CIA could have been involved in the assassination plot. Even if the CIA agents had to start out in their job as being loyal, it's definitely not out of the question that they become disloyal to the government over the course of their job. In Libra, we see Win Everett is distressed by the failure of the Bay of Pigs which causes his feelings towards the government to shift. Also, as Jack said the polygraph tests aren't super reliable and can be relatively easy to trick.
ReplyDeleteTri, interesting post. However, I respectfully disagree with some of your points as well. First off, it is very plausible that the FBI and CIA can have partisan interests that don't always align with the best interests of the country. This can be seen with former FBI Director James Comey and his complicated interference in the 2016 election in regards to the Clinton campaign. We've seen an even more complicated relationship with him and Trump, which led to Comey ultimately being fired. If this kind of stuff is happening at the very top, it's not only possible-but probable-that this is happening further down the chain as well.
ReplyDeleteIn addition, polygraphs are not really considered a legitimate source. I believe they are no longer considered legitimate evidence in Court. However, I think that by using a polygraph test to show loyalty, a reader can see a very easy way out for FBI agents if they can just cheat the polygraph test. It's certainly a grey area and one we should all consider.