I'm baaaack -- The Spy Who Billed Me Comes in from the Cold

    After going black a couple of years ago, I'm returning to The Spy Who Billed Me.  The blog got a lot of attention, some of it good, some of it, well, you can guess.  I broke several national security stories and the best ones are, unfortunately, the ones I chose not to break out of national security concerns or to protect my sources.  I've irritated a lot of people, some in very high places, some in very low.  I've had threats from just about everywhere,  including some of the scariest organizations on the planet.   I have to be either insane, a fool, or someone with very good friends who watch my back--or all of the above.

I was told The Spy Who Billed Me was a catalyst for some changes in contracting at the USS Langley (as in "why are we doing it this way now?"  "That damn blog."), but knowing how slow that battleship is to change course, I'm guessing those are long past.  I was also told the security guys were ordered to come after me because of a Sunday op-ed in the Washington Post, discussing how half-assed contracting at the CIA is endangering national security.  Word around Headquarters was that they couldn't touch me, but no one seemed to know if it was because I hadn't worked for them or because I had done something too sensitive to come after me. 

So in the end, instead of a good tussle, all I got was a lame rebuttal in WaPo by the Assistant Director of National Intelligence.  Worked for me.

The Spy Who Billed Me gave me some amazing experiences such as some national TV gigs and dinner in my honor with a former Senator and former NSC member in a former President's personal suite  Most importantly, I formed some close friendships with some very unique individuals who are a joy to have in my life.

I'm still always a little freaked when people know who I am.  Strangely enough, it happened four times in the last two weeks.  And I thought I had gone to ground.

I have no idea where I'm going to carve out the time to do this, but I figure in the world of Facebook and Twitter, microblogging might be the key.  (And those of you who have read me over the years know I'm lying to myself here because I favor long detailed posts, but you do what you gotta do.) I'm optimistic I will find a few hours here and there.

Oh, and I just created Twitter and Facebook accounts.  I'll slap lipstick on those pigs later, but here are the links so you can follow and friend me: Twitter and Facebook 

Or at least I think these are the links.  It's been awhile.  ;)

And thank all of you for those hundreds of emails checking up on me and asking when I was going to start back again.  A couple of days ago I wrote a reader that I wasn't going to happen again.  Then on Friday The New York Times contacted me to do a post on disappearing for their opinion page forum.  It was fun to write and I realized how much I missed The Spy Who Billed Me and how much I missed you guys.   And I also decided to quit sitting on a major international news story and break the damn thing.

Standby.  The Spy Who Billed Me is coming in hot, fangs out.

Comments

[Jeffreycarr]

RJ, I'm so happy to see you back. I was renovating my home office today and when I saw your book on my bookshelf I decided to look online and see what you were up to. When I saw that you re-opened your blog today, the same day that I decided to check up on you, I just had to laugh, grab a beer from the fridge, and introduce you to all of my Twitter followers. Cheers, my friend.

[jo6pac]

I just caught a link back here from some one else sight. Good to have you back.

[Suzanne]

welcome back -- i like your fangs

[DDD]

Good timing. I kept coming back and finally you're here.