Thursday, July 29, 2021

Missed allusions to Jumpin' Jack Flash

Sometimes I feel far behind the times in cultural allusions.  

In 2016-17 I was aware of the highly questionable investigation of the Trump campaign and, later, administration launched by the FBI and then joined by the CIA and the NSA, primarily based on manufactured accusations advanced by his political opponent Hilary Clinton.  

From Wikipedia:

Crossfire Hurricane was the code name for the counterintelligence investigation undertaken by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) from July 31, 2016, to May 17, 2017, into links between Russian officials and associates of Donald Trump and "whether individuals associated with [his] presidential campaign were coordinating, wittingly or unwittingly, with the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election". Trump was not personally under investigation until May 2017, when his firing of FBI director James Comey raised suspicions of obstruction of justice despite many Democrat's raising equally subjective views of Comey's performance prior.

It all eventually came to nought owing to lack of evidence in the affirmative and a lot of evidence against the accusations.  

I never gave the name of the operation, Crossfire Hurricane, a second thought.

Watching a show last night, there was reference in a song to Crossfire Hurricane.  Turns out, on investigation, it is the opening line of the Rolling Stones 1968 hit Jumpin' Jack Flash.  

Though I knew the song, as so often happens, I did not know the lyrics.  I never caught the FBI allusion to the Rolling Stones in their naming of the operation.



Double click to enlarge.  


Jumpin' Jack Flash
by the Rolling Stones

I was born in a cross-fire hurricane
And I howled at my ma in the driving rain
But it's all right now, in fact, it's a gas
But it's all right. I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash
It's a gas! Gas! Gas

I was raised by a toothless, bearded hag
I was schooled with a strap right across my back
But it's all right now, in fact, it's a gas
But it's all right, I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash
It's a gas! Gas! Gas

I was drowned, I was washed up and left for dead
I fell down to my feet and I saw they bled
I frowned at the crumbs of a crust of bread
Yeah, yeah, yeah

I was crowned with a spike right thru my head
But it's all right now, in fact, it's a gas
But it's all right, I'm Jumpin' Jack Flash
It's a gas! Gas! Gas

Jumping Jack Flash, it's a gas
Jumping Jack Flash, it's a gas
Jumping Jack Flash, it's a gas
Jumping Jack Flash, it's a gas
Jumping Jack Flash

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