[wordup] CIA's "Covert Comic" publishes book of hideously bad poetry

[Adam Shand]

this got stuck in my inbox for a quite a while as i got swamped with work.

adam.

From: Mitchell L. Silverman <mitch at digiscape.net>
Via: politech at politechbot.com

Background on the "covert comic":
http://www.nydailynews.com/1999-01-17/news_and_views/daily_dish/a-16719.asp

Online version of book, apparently complete:
http://www.covertcomic.com/CCSchool.htm

For Immediate Release
Contact: John Alejandro King

http://www.covertcomic.com/contact.htm

         Controversial CIA Officer Publishes Book Of Poetry

         Agency Calls Material "Tasteless"

Washington DC, May 24, 2001 =96 A controversial CIA officer has published
a book of poetry, to the apparent consternation of CIA officials. The
book, called 'School of Assassins,' appears on the web site of
controversial CIA officer John Alejandro King, also known as 'The Covert
Comic' (URL: www.covertcomic.com). The book pokes fun at the CIA, the FBI,
and conspiracy theories while claiming to donate profits to Amnesty
International and food banks to help the poor.

Selections in 'School of Assassins' include such titles as '99
Intelligence Documents' (a CIA version of '99 Bottles of Beer,' about the
sale of classified documents to foreign spy agencies by CIA employees),
'Cointelpro' (a poem about illegal CIA and FBI 'dirty tricks' against US
citizens in the 1960's and '70's) and 'Guatemala City Shooting,' in which
King may or may not have confessed to committing a crime against humanity.

Other poems include 'Date with Stalin,' 'Rape and Hip-Hop,' and the title
work 'School of Assassins,' a poem about the infamous School of the
Americas, where Latin American military and security officials receive
classified training from US Government intelligence agencies.

A CIA official contacted by journalists acknowledged that The Covert Comic
web site is the work of a real CIA employee. The same official denied
reports that the employee has been targeted for retaliation by the CIA for
publishing the site. Agency officials have previously characterized
writing in The Covert Comic web site as "tasteless."

Agency officials had no comment regarding King=92s claim - believed to be
a joke - that he assassinated President John F. Kennedy.

The Covert Comic, a.k.a. John Alejandro King, is a CIA officer living in
the Washington DC area. He has been written about in the Washington Post,
London Daily Mail and New York Daily News. A well-known Washington DC
'security consultant' recently sold Hollywood a treatment for a film about
The Covert Comic's life (not surprisingly, The Covert Comic didn't get any
money for it). The Covert Comic's hobbies include writing and publishing
jokes and prose on his web site (www.covertcomic.com), and getting in
trouble with the Government. To date The Covert Comic and his friends have
spent a lot of money in legal fees to keep him from getting fired by the
CIA. If a miracle happens and someone actually buys some of The Covert
Comic's writing, a huge portion (maybe even all) of the proceeds will be
donated to charity (whichever damn charity you want). For more information
contact John Alejandro King at http://www.covertcomic.com/contact.htm.

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