Vintage Psy-opera: Bonnie & Clyde

This is an examination of a national legend, one gang of a group of people who became known as “depression era gangsters”- I am looking at these mythical creatures through the media fakery prism- I cannot claim with absolute certainty that the following is true, but it rates high above the official story on the plausibility index, and that’s for me enough to offer this take-

These depression era gangsters were not individuals connected to the urban style mafias in the mid-west and east coast population centers, but the rural variety of gangster, the desperadoes that terrorized the small farm towns from Louisiana to Minnesota- Small banks, gas stations and grocery stores were their targets- And to cut to the punchline, these gangsters were completely owned and operated by the federal government, used to design and run a series of false flag operations to con the citizens of the sovereign states into accepting sweeping new powers by the US government in combating what we would today label as “domestic terrorists”-

This era lasted between 1931 and 1934 at which point within a few months of the “killing” of Bonnie and Clyde, the starting lineup of news headliners were quickly retired- Names like John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Ma Barker were all withdrawn in quick succession, leaving only a few gang members alive to tell the “true” stories of these better-off-dead monsters-

Clyde

Clyde Chestnut Barrow was a Charlie Manson type in that he was said to have spent most of his youth in correctional institutions- He is oft thought to have been homosexual, though W D Jones, the couple’s teenage protégé’, claimed Clyde had a variety of strange “appetites” and that would also echo Manson- And that could very well be the case if this asset did get pulled from the juvenile prison system to play a central role in the government’s grand theater piece- Coming of age in lockups does not bode well for clarifying one’s sexual identity- Likely, though, he was an effete bastard of some American branch of European nobility and was willing to pose for a few pictures and participate in a few drills camouflaged as robberies- The government controlled press would do the rest-

His bio is typical of such assets in that he is said to have come from extreme poverty, this time in rural Texas- Sparsely populated, there were no boyhood chums* to vouch for the reality of a Clyde Barrow, only family members who would be either in on it or were completely fictitious creations of the biographers-

*Ted Hinton, a key player in all of this, claims to have known Clyde in his youth- That only reinforces Hinton’s spook status as we will see below-

At one point, when old enough to be in prison with the grownups, Clyde allegedly had two toes cut off by a willing accomplice in order to avoid heavy labor- Nobody does this, but it may be a hint to Masons about missing body parts, something they are sensitive about, and what Clyde is supposed to represent on another level beyond the mundane psy-opery of affecting legislation- Six days later his mother successfully petitioned the prison to let Clyde go free- Clyde would have a pronounced limp for the rest of his short life-

Later in the narrative, Bonnie Parker injures her leg in an auto accident and she too limped with Clyde to an early grave- I can only think this extra touch is somehow Oedipal in nature as the name Oedipus means ‘swollen foot/leg’- And given that Bonnie was portrayed as the ring leader and manipulator of Clyde’s libido, the implications of the two engaging in illicit sex gives the notion resonance on a subconscious level for the salacious readers of their exploits-

In what is clearly a legend, it is said that Clyde’s first murder victim was a fellow inmate for which a lifer agreed to take the blame- When this story first emerged, I don’t know-Occurring inside the prison, there was no opportunity for outside verification- A death in prison could easily be assigned to Clyde’s score card later on when the publicity game was afoot- Coroners do not get appointed unless part of the covert team- His signature on a death certificate would be assured- And the accusation echoes through time as fact-This kind of legend building is essential for selling the pathological criminal profile while also explaining how a murderer got released so quickly-

On Groundhog Day, 1932, Barrow emerges from prison for the last time, family and friends agreeing there is something profoundly different and disturbing about the young man- He has been hardened to a point beyond redemption and vows to avenge himself on the Texas prison system for its enabling of many a sexual assault upon his person- This psycho-sexual overlay adds to the profile that will sell the maniac killer to the public- It is also possible another actor has taken over the role, his looks similar enough to be considered a twin…perhaps- Or, the real Clyde Barrow’s identification has been taken and the original is spirited off to who knows where? Or not- The layers of onion at this point are many as the character is maturing in the writer’s minds- Many rabbit trails have been laid out to confuse and misdirect the posthumous researcher-

As training for the larger false flags, Clyde is run through the paces, robbing small stores and gas stations, moving across state lines to avoid capture- These “robberies”, if they happened in any real time form at all, were likely staged in abandoned buildings dressed for the occasion, with invited guests to watch what would amount to a Wild West Show, complete with cops playing the part of the cowboys- Though not advertised, certain locals of note were allowed to watch what were admitted to be police training drills- These stories made the papers as actual armed robberies, occasionally adding a victim or two to heighten public alarm-

Bonnie

Bonnie Elizabeth Parker was born in modest circumstances- Her father died when she was four, an absentee father indicating she’s a possible bastard, something in common with many Intel assets-

The best guess of her first meeting with Clyde was in 1930 at the house of one of Bonnie’s girlfriends, located in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas (Location of the JD Tippit “murder” 33 years later)

If Clyde was gay, or simply latent, Bonnie was sure to be as well- When spooks couple up to act out fictitious roles, the last thing needed is mutual attraction, and so such couples would have no interest in each other physically- Bonnie was in a safe house with a female handler who may have been a sexual wrangler as well- It’s said this woman had a broken arm and needed live-in assistance- A useful cover story, but there again we have the image of a injured limb- What symbolism is working here I can’t say-  At the least, the actress playing Bonnie would be awaiting the details of her assignment-

In 1926, six days before her 16th birthday, Bonnie married a classmate, Roy Thornton, both dropping out and eloping- He was a petty criminal type and the marriage lasted three years- Once separated, though never divorced, they never saw each other again- This is pure legend building to tweak the lonely hearts of disgruntled teenage girls caught up in the reports of the clandestine criminals, updated routinely in the local press-

Backing up the story of a teenage marriage was a briefly attended to diary from ’29 outlining Bonnie’s loneliness and her love of talking pictures, which were still few and far between in rural Texas in the late twenties- This touch indicates the diary was likely written by the literary team of spooks assigned to this project in ’33 or ’34 when Talkies were then well established and Parker’s poetry had already been published- Diaries were one marker of a government spook- (JFK again: Oswald left a diary, as did Sirhan and Arthur Bremmer, George Wallace’s assailant- Today they leave behind manifestos, most of which are spins on the Unabomber template, but I digress-)

An alternative case could be made that Bonnie was recruited in 1929 by the aforementioned Ted Hinton- The cover story is that Bonnie was a waitress and Hinton was regular customer at the diner she worked at- This again echoes the JFK op decades later as Tippit and Oswald were regular customers of the same Dealey Plaza area coffee shop, though it’s asserted they did not acknowledge each other-

Said to be a postal worker at the time, and therefore a federal employee, Hinton later served on the Dallas Police force and aided in tracking Bonnie and Clyde while they were near the end of their assignment, Hinton participating in the staging of their fatal ambush- To me he reads as a line producer, stage managing the final shootout- Prior to that, he was a casting director, giving Parker the general outline of her new character’s story- He may have been the one to assign her the name Bonnie Parker-

Just the Highlights, Mam-

Running through the various crimes committed would be pointless as they were all fake- But there are a few events worth noting:

By far the most important event required to sell this wholly fictional tale of star-crossed lovers on the run was the Joplin, Missouri shoot-out and the subsequent discovery of an undeveloped roll of film, as well as Bonnie’s first narrative poem, The Ballad of Suicide Sal, which was printed in newspapers from coast to coast-

The story goes that the gang, Bonnie, Clyde, Clyde’s brother Buck and his wife, Blanche, along with young Jones, were holed up in an adjacent pair of bungalows in Joplin- They held raucous card games late into the night in the sleepy suburb, seemingly to draw attention to themselves by drinking heavily and making all manner of noise- Eventually, a neighbor called the police and the wheels were set in motion- (I’m reminded of various Oswalds appearing in the Dallas area to draw attention to the name with all manner of boorish behavior prior to the assassination circus)

The shoot out where the gang escapes is described in detail in various accounts and is reenacted in Warren Beatty’s version from 1967 with real gusto-

Whether this stunt was actually staged or there was no neighbor tipping off the police and the event existed only on paper, the point of the fast getaway was to leave behind a pile of incriminating evidence and material that put individual names and faces to the gang-

As mentioned, the most important items allegedly found in the bungalows was the poem supposedly penned by Parker, and the roll of film, which shows Bonnie and Clyde at their lovable best, including an iconic photo of nattily dressed Bonnie with a cigar in her mouth- Read into that what you will, Monica-

The pictures were dutifully printed in the nation’s newspapers and the operation was now a national phenomenon-

Who wears the pants in this family?

There were other events worth noting: There were two different successful raids on armories to replenish the gang’s arsenal- Likely they stopped by these installations so that military intelligence operatives could give them the weapons- By this time the gang roster would include arms experts posing as criminals to secure the weapons safely- And, if these maneuvers did actually occur in some form, these sieges would just be more drills for the defense of arsenals, giving experience to local officers who lived among actual dissidents suffering from the depression’s effects and who had had enough of the democratic process that was starving their children- At that time, local preachers, not known for radical ideologies, were in fact preaching socialism from the pulpit, especially in Oklahoma- Along with defensive training, the Bonnie/Clyde project, where essentially peasants were Robin Hoodwinking the Man, gave people a false hope of rebellion- Of course the gruesome end of the rebellious twosome was designed to pull the rug out from under such hope-

There was also a successful raid on Eastham prison, one of Clyde’s Alma maters- As unlikely as raiding a heavily guarded arsenal, the prison-break left Texas authorities with bad PR problems- But this event, along with what was billed as the Grapevine murders, turned the public against the gang- The Grapevine event, where it was said two Highway Patrol officers were killed, was staged on Easter Sunday, April 1^st, 1934- Need I say more?

The press had a field day, feverishly embellishing the initial reports- Certainly editors in the know had the headlines printed larger and larger to affect public morale- And it worked, finally-

The Grapevine murders op was the final straw and the government went into high gear- Bounties were placed on the gang member’s heads, especially Bonnie’s- The rewards were contingent on presenting the gang’s bodies, not their capture, thus opening the way to using substitute cadavers once the final ambush was staged-

Another murder was pinned on the gang: a 60-year-old Constable, widower and father; cue the violins- They then kidnapped a police chief, drove him around and then let him go- Sounds like a briefing from the captain on what the next act was to be and where-

That act was the final one, the ambush on a rural road in Louisiana, far from prying eyes- Hinton would be directing the scene where a car gets riddled with bullets with the cadavers already placed inside- We are told 50 bullets each hit the bodies, which would render anyone unidentifiable- Stories of locals running toward the racket from the fusillade of gunfire and then overwhelming the crime scene in pursuit of souvenirs made an accurate investigation impossible- But since the whole thing was a fraud, legal protocols weren’t anyone’s concern; only obfuscation and a duped public believing in the main narrative of maniacs on the loose was of value- Locals were fed lies, the papers backed those lies up, and in time a marker was placed on the spot to cement the fiction- (JFK, one more time: Triangulated fire on an occupied vehicle- Fake or replacement cadavers… Ted Hinton had a spook’s CV all the way- He lived until 1977- I wonder if he was on the planning committee for the Dealey Plaza event- I’d be shocked if he wasn’t)

This case was one of several in that four year time frame that helped push federal legislation for the overriding of state’s rights in favor of the central authorities in Washington, DC- The first real federal gun control laws were enacted- New laws from this era allowed for state and local police to continue pursuit of criminals across state lines- This emboldened the desire for a national police force to balance the restrictions of the Posse Comitatus Act which forbids American military from taking action within US borders- There would be more to come, culminating in the internment of American citizens of Japanese descent after the Pearl Harbor hoax set the Constitution on its ear-

In 1967, long con asset Warren Beatty produced and starred in the definitive film version of the Barrow gang- The film, tellingly, is a slapstick comedy but with buckets of blood, speed metal banjos, and Gene Wilder* of all people in an important cameo- In a strong field, the worst performance in the film was turned in by Estelle Parsons as Blanche Barrow- Parsons, predictably, was the one performer to win an Academy Award for her efforts-

The “real” Blanche Barrow jumping her cue- That looks like Ted Hinton on the far left, for all the world looking like an exhausted stage director at the end of his rope trying to corral the ego of his inept starlet-

This psy-op was based on archetypal lovers, doomed for their love, trying to outrun their fate- It’s an oldie but a goodie and was an easy story to foist on a helpless public who once again allowed the sacrifice of their rights in exchange for security against a wholly fictional beast-

*Wilder’s character, Dillard Darby, is picked up by the Barrow gang and he and his fiancé are taken for a joy ride- When Bonnie asks what he does for a living, he replies: “I’m an undertaker”- Bonnie has the two thrown out immediately- In real life, Dillard Darby was taken for that joy ride (briefing), was an undertaker, and was brought in to ID the bodies- He then assisted in preparing the bodies for embalming and burial- Lucky they were able to keep the cadaver’s identifications in house-They don’t miss much, do they?