We’ve recently seen evidence of the Israeli intelligence service’s (“Mossad”) skill in penetrating their enemies’ operations; from spectacular, “James Bond”-style coups like Operation Grim Beeper to, incredibly, apparently penetrating the heart of Iran’s anti-Israel intelligence efforts up to senior leadership levels.

Mossad has developed, over almost 80 years of fighting for Israel’s survival, an almost superhuman reputation.

As with much of Mossad’s history, it’s an awe-inspiring display of what intelligence people call “fieldcraft – the nuts and bolts of running intelligence and clandestine unconventional warfare operations.

But I’m going to suggest there’s a group whose fieldcraft makes Mossad look about as subtle as a P Diddy houseparty.

And they are (we are told) operating among us even as we speak.

The Phantom Menace: We are told in one breath that American “white supremacists” are a mass of pasty, addled losers with sub-90 IQs, living in their parents basements, who live in their parents basements, stock shelves at Dollar General and have permanent Cheeto-dust stains on their fingers and the t-shirts that stretch to try to cover their obesity-stretched frames.

Indeed, some of the times they’ve come out into the open, they’ve seemed to fit that stereotype:

And yet since then, the record has been a little more muddled.

Much of the Minnesota DFL establishment leaped to trying to blame “white supremacists” for the Minneapolis riots of 2020.

And while this was obviously true, a few chilling facts remain:

• Although here in the Midway, and as far as I saw East Lake Street and Uptown, were coated six inches deep in graffiti, I don’t recall seeing a single swastika or “14 Words” reference.
• Although the Allianz soccer field sits in the middle of an area that was heavily burned, looted and vandalized, and was (and is) protected by not so much as a shrubbery, there wasn’t so much as a Sharpie mark on it.
• For all the official ballyhoo, Minnesota’s elite media has apparently found no evidence that they were around in any significant numbers.

So apparently the mouth-breathing incel defectives destroyed two neighbhorhoods – and then disappeared without leaving so much as a footprint.

Which brings us to today. 

WIthout A Trace: We are the most videotaped society in history. People record the the most mundane of life’s activities. And if there’s something exciting – a car crash, a fight, someone acting out in some way – it seems almost inevitable that someone will break out their phone and start recording .

So when a series of WNBA stars started complaining about the wave of racism accompanying the surge of people actually becoming interested in the league – perhaps the most “niche” of all sports…:

“The WNBA is a competitive league with some of the most elite athletes in the world,” read the statement. “While we welcome a growing fan base, the WNBA will not tolerate racist, derogatory, or threatening comments made about players, teams and anyone affiliated with the league. League security is actively monitoring threat-related activity and will work directly with teams and arenas to take appropriate measures, to include involving law enforcement as necessary.”

and describing what they’ve encountered…:

“We’ve seen a lot of racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia throughout the course of our country,” [Connectict Suns coach Stephanie] White said. “Sport is no exception, and it’s unacceptable. The thing that frustrates me the most is that we — I say we because I work in television as well — what we in the media have to do a better job of (is) not allowing trolls and social media to become the story. I feel like we have allowed trolls in social media to frame the narrative of what the story is. We have to do a better job. I applaud our team for maintaining their professionalism.”

Now, I have little doubt that there’s bad behavior in the hellscape of online and social media fandom. Social media doesn’t just foster bad behavior, it rewards it.

But some of the WNBA players say they’re encounting open racist behavior, at games, in public, in the open.

And yet in a society, and sport, where it’s hard to go to a concession stand without someone doing a TikTok, with stands full of people for whom women’s hoops is as much an ideological commitment as a sport, there doesn’t appear to be any video evidence of this kind of behavior. And we know how important that is, legally speaking.

So – are White Supremacists a bunch of doughy retrograde losers? Or operatives who do their work and dissappear into the ether without leaving a trace?

Or both?