It's called 'The Man Who Knew" and it was so amazing I watched it again on repeat right afterward. Then I went to the PBS web site and read all the interviews through beginning to end, as if I were running a bead on the story myself, trying to figure this guy out.
In a nutshell, it is the story of John O'Neill, formerly head of Counterterrorism at the FBI NY office, who had just left his job frustrated at the lack of support as he pursued Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, only to take a head of security job at the World Trade Center and start work there the week of 9/11.
It is just one of those freaky things, you know? I had suspected there was a good bit more to it, and I wasn't disappointed. In all, the profile of John O'Neill reminded me of two things: the bit I wrote about in here earlier on the MacArthur "Genius" fellows--ABC UpClose: MacArthur Fellows--O'Neill's idiosyncratic and maverick profile, history, was so much in parallel to many of those people tapped to win those awards.
The other person he reminded me of is more embarrassing, because I really don't want to admit I read this guy's story, but Richard Marcinko. Self-serving story-teller, ego-maniac, all that stuff. But also a maverick who succeeded for a time within the military structure (starting anti-terrorism cells within the Navy Seals, sort of a special forces within special forces) but who eventually was squished on the road to promotion.
Also reminds me of Howard Gardner's book Creating Minds, about the bargains creative people strike with themselves and with organizations to try to succeed within the realm of their talents. Made me think of what Gardner calls "Synchrony," "Fruitful Asynchrony" (where most creative people find themselves at odds with the basic system, but able to change it with their talents rising to the moment), and "Total Asynchrony," or squished like a bug, forced to go live in the woods and eat worms.
Made me think of it because it is so tragic how the FBI squished this talented man, a visionary who knew before anyone else how dangerous al Qaeda was. Made me think of how organizations and small people routinely squish visionaries, and how fucking pitiful that is.
It especially struck me in the piece last night how much this guy was a charismatic personality that made his less talented superiors feel threatened to the point that they would dive bomb his career. I know far too many people like that for one lifetime, and to hear about such a thing on this scale is beyond pathetic.
And in spite of that, I'd say this man came into the earth with karma, big ass karma. I knew that several days after 9/11 when I'd first heard his story. Shit like this doesn't just happen to people. He was driven. After reading all the interviews, I see he was beyond driven--single-minded in the face of everything to get a bead on al Qaeda. To the point that his psychic, intuitive self, the higher self that knew he came to earth with a mission to be a World Server (how many other 9/11-like incidents did he prevent that couldn't even guess of now?), and there was nothing else.
Which was why, when he had to leave the FBI, the only other place for him to be was the World Trade Center. No accidents. An old soul. With faults and idiosyncracies. A guy on a mission. Just fucking amazing.
Miasma
12:13:56 AM 
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