I Miss the Clarity

In a memorable scene in one of my favorite movies, Three Days of the Condor, the spy thriller in which a low-level CIA researcher (Robert Redford) uncovers a rogue conspiracy inside the CIA, the researcher's handler (Cliff Robertson) and one of the agency's deputy directors (John Houseman) share a moment of reminiscing about the history of the intelligence business. Houseman recalls his early experience: "I go even further back than that. Ten years after The Great War, as we used to call it. Before we knew enough to number them." And Robertson asks: "You miss that kind of action, sir?" To which Houseman replies, in his best Houseman delivery in the movie: "No, I miss that kind of clarity."

Looking back over my own experiences and reactions to working as a very minor functionary inside the belly of the beast, in my tiny cubicle somewhere inside the beltway, as they say around here, I think I know what Houseman's character must have meant. The longer one resides in this peculiar environment, the murkier the waters, the hazier the air, the more distorted the sounds emanating from the muffled corridors of power.

I was going to comment on this morning's news, but no need to add specifics. All I really intended to do was remind myself how much I've come to appreciate that movie. One of my friends, a former colleague ground up in the machine a little more than a decade ago, the hapless victim of one of these inside-the-beltway reorganizations, used to call me at work from time to time. When I picked up the phone, he would identify himself as "Condor." We both laughed, because we knew what he meant. We'd uncovered another rogue conspiracy inside the government, but there was little either of us could do about it. And so he remained for the rest of his days out in the cold.

Finally, I wonder, was there ever actually all that much clarity? Has the atmosphere become so much more polluted or has our vision just grown weaker with time? I suppose every generation comes to this same realization sooner or later: either way it amounts to the same thing. Either way I still miss the clarity.