Finding Yuri

"Tom is that one who saw you at Susan's. He's known about you all along, isn't that right? We do know what that means. If Commander Farrell is the man who was with Miss Atwell, then Commander Farrell is the man who killed Miss Atwell. And we know that the man who killed Miss Atwell is Yuri. Therefore, Commander Farrell IS Yuri, quod erat demonstrandum."
--Chief of Staff Scott Pritchard (No Way Out)

In the 1987 film No Way Out, the Secretary of Defense kills his mistress in a fit of jealous rage. His chief of staff concocts a scheme that accuses an imaginary Russian spy with code name 'Yuri' of the murder. Yuri is proposed to have used the mistress to access US military secrets.

The Secretary and his chief bring in a young navy commander to head an investigation. By dumb luck, it turns out that the commander was also having an affair with the mistress, and before long evidence emerges that could implicate him in the murder.

The conniving politicians celebrated their good fortune. Their cover-up might work. It appeared that there was a Yuri who could be blamed for the murder. Their fictional story was becoming fact.

Thirty years later, it seems like the Left is embracing a similar storyline. To divert attention from a political disaster, people on the Left seek to offload blame on a fictional Russian nemesis. A witch hunt is underway in search of a scapegoat. Maybe, just maybe, a Yuri will emerge.

Perhaps the Left should keep in mind that finding Yuri did not auger well for the antagonists on the silver screen.