So this whole 'spy swap' thing

[ms.peachy]

I mean, it's a weird situation, right?

[Schmeltz]

It's interesting because it's tit-for-tat. Neither the Russians nor the Americans have a high ground from which to criticize the other, they've each been caught picking one another's back pockets and all that's left is to shake hands and walk away. We're left with a sort of collective tacit acceptance of this kind of covert illegal activity - no condemnations, no withdrawn ambassadors, no righteous indignation, just an efficient and really rather amicable swap of the ones who got caught... and, I daresay, a furtive glossing over of the virtual certainty that other spy cells continue to operate in both countries, without having yet been discovered.

I suppose when you play the game at a certain level, you accept an accompanying degree of underhandedness and deception. The whole thing's got a bit of old-school romance about it. Good classy cloak-and-dagger fun.

[Bob]

It's interesting because it's tit-for-tat. Neither the Russians nor the Americans have a high ground from which to criticize the other, they've each been caught picking one another's back pockets and all that's left is to shake hands and walk away. We're left with a sort of collective tacit acceptance of this kind of covert illegal activity - no condemnations, no withdrawn ambassadors, no righteous indignation, just an efficient and really rather amicable swap of the ones who got caught... and, I daresay, a furtive glossing over of the virtual certainty that other spy cells continue to operate in both countries, without having yet been discovered.

I suppose when you play the game at a certain level, you accept an accompanying degree of underhandedness and deception. The whole thing's got a bit of old-school romance about it. Good classy cloak-and-dagger fun.

kind of weird to see it in the news like that though

[Schmeltz]

You think so? When a sexy Manhattan socialite turns out to be a member of an international spy ring? That's not just good news, there's a book and a movie in there somewhere.

[hpdrifter]

Wow, I am totally enjoying Schmeltz's posts in this forum. Well thought out, well written non pandering or inflammatory responses can be kinda rare 'round these parts.

[Bob]

You think so? When a sexy Manhattan socialite turns out to be a member of an international spy ring? That's not just good news, there's a book and a movie in there somewhere.

i guess i just figured that this is the kind of thing that the government tends to keep secret, but instead it's all up in the headline news, all like "hmm? oh, yep, we're still spying on each other, just making a trade, as we do"

maybe i watch too many spy movies

[ms.peachy]

I just don't get what the Russian govt thought it was going to get out of settling couples into suburban NJ and paying their mortgages, you know? Top secret info like "Jumbo shrimp will be only $4.99 a pound at the A&P next week! That's less than 50% off!"? I mean these people were here for, like, two decades, right? Seems like a pretty shitty return on investment.

And in return, the US gets four actual, hard-ass Russian-born anti-government spies. So, like, we kind of win this round, yeh?

[yeahwho]

Sort of like the we find some Pearl Jam message board guys here infiltrating our fly styling and then just before we send them to the "nickleback message board federal prison" Pearl Jam decides to give us back Spanishbomb 89, Ace42X.

The information gleamed is we have a superior animated gif thread.

[BBboy20]

That's not just good news, there's a book and a movie in there somewhere.Dramatic Spy Comedy perhaps?