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argosciv ago

sorry, but, casn someone explain this new term "limited hangout"?

Is it in reference to something like "gatekeepers"?

cantsleepawink ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limited_hangout

A limited hangout or partial hangout is, according to former special assistant to the Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency Victor Marchetti, "spy jargon for a favorite and frequently used gimmick of the clandestine professionals. When their veil of secrecy is shredded and they can no longer rely on a phony cover story to misinform the public, they resort to admitting—sometimes even volunteering—some of the truth while still managing to withhold the key and damaging facts in the case. The public, however, is usually so intrigued by the new information that it never thinks to pursue the matter further."

I also think of it as a type of pop-up psyop. That is, designed to pack up and disappear quickly when a task is completed or the cover completely blown to the point of being ineffective.

FuriousYT ago

Further down in the Wikipedia entry is I think the most interesting history of this expression, which comes from Watergate:

PRESIDENT: You think, you think we want to, want to go this route now? And the — let it hang out, so to speak? DEAN: Well, it's, it isn't really that — HALDEMAN: It's a limited hang out. DEAN: It's a limited hang out. EHRLICHMAN: It's a modified limited hang out. PRESIDENT: Well, it's only the questions of the thing hanging out publicly or privately.

And with this we understand that "limited hangout" does not refer to "hanging out" in some place for a limited time, but rather hanging out one's dirty laundry to some limited extent for others to see.

cantsleepawink ago

I should have read further down that page :)