IVIV: The Feds III

[John Bailey]

The federal file on Doc includes a covert photograph of him picking
apart a giant cheezburger to get at the joint hidden inside.

Why cheezburger? Is P a fan of internet images of
grammatically-deficient cats? Or were there actually burgers spelled
that way in the 70s?

Anyway, Tommy's is apparently a real place according to the p-wiki,
although Pynchon has shifted the location a block east.

Pretty daring to suggest it included dope on the unofficial menu,
unless, you know, it did.

The burger in question features "layers of pickles, oversize tomato
slices, lettuce, chili, onions, cheese, and so forth, not to mention
the ground-beef part of it which was almost an afterthought".

Doc found the place during a protest against plans to cancel Star
Trek. Aligns him a little closer to Pynchon, who would seem to be a
fan of the show, given the number of affectionate references it gets
in his books.

-----

Flatweed and Borderline pretend that their interest in Doc is due to
his links to Tariq and, by extension, 'Black Nationalist Hate Groups'.
We know from later on that their interest is more to do with Mickey
Wolfmann, who they want to get their hands on. Doc suggests they go to
Bigfoot, but his "impatience with the federal level is widely remarked
on".

Plus, if the Viggies, under the orders of the LAPD, are responsible
for the raid on Channel View Estates, then of course there's not going
to be any help from anyone in the police force.

Doc is being used as a pawn between the two (not to mention a whole
bunch of other) interested parties.

Why do they bring up Motella and Lourdes? Doc asks if it's to do with
their non-Anglo origins; they block him; he pleads that they're all in
the same business; they counter "and there's no need to be insulting".

Bit of a gag there - the 'insult' doesn't seem to be suggesting their
potentially racist tactics, but suggesting that their job is akin to
Doc's.

But still - why the stewardii? Far as I can untangle it, they have
nothing to do with the Mickey plot. Their new boyfriends are slightly
connected to the Golden Fang, though.

-----

Doc suggests (disingenuously) that the FBI interest in Wolfmann might
still have something to do with the Panthers being behind it. He knows
they're not, but pretending that they could be at least keeps them
from suspecting he has any further info. He keeps up the act and it
gets him out of there. SO: what the FBI wanted was to know if Doc knew
anything more about the Mickey kidnapping, because they didn't. And if
he did, he would also be a threat.