Well, why not be more than just a little bit peeved...
... at this horseshit from the White House?
This is just more of the same, is it not?
Now, just to refresh one's memory, there's this from Scott Armstrong, on the 20th anniversary of the founding of the National Security Archive, which I paraphrase as follows: the greatest amount of effort the Executive Branch expends on national security issues is keeping the American people and the press from knowing what it's doing, the next largest effort is in keeping Congress from knowing, the next largest effort is in keeping other agencies from knowing what it is doing, the next largest effort is in keeping our allies from knowing what it is doing, and the least amount of effort is devoted to keeping our adversaries from knowing what it is doing.
C'mon--if Scott Armstrong is right (and I think he is), it means that the ultimate goal of any President is to keep the American people completely in the fuckin' dark about what's being done on behalf of the elite in this country.
There's something totally upside-down about that.
And yet, Obama is preaching that he's fostered openness in government?
That's fraudulent. That's just the worst kind of spin.
At the same time that Obama is touting his openness initiatives, he's allowing his DoJ to use the state secrets privilege to prevent the advancement of all manner of cases before federal courts that could embarrass the government, and has resisted all efforts which might, in some ways, limit his power as the Executive.
Beyond that, the largest proportion of government agencies bound by his directive haven't done a damned thing to improve the situation.
Obama, additionally, has not made any effort to promote a whistleblower protection act for national security employees.
It's pretty much all window-dressing and bullshit unless there's a determined effort to undo the unnecessary secrecy that has enveloped the country since the end of WWII.
Like the battered and cheated-upon wife, the public is the last to know of its government's indiscretions. It's about time that it stopped, but, Obama, captured as he has been by his advisors, is unable to do it.
By definition, if one does not open government to criticism where it deserves same, one does not have an open government. We, the public, are being punked, over and over again, and we take it because we believe the horseshit we're fed, about "terrorism," about "sources and methods," about the need for the President to have "executive privilege" to obtain "frank advice."
It's all lies. It's all about keeping us as uninformed and as stupid as is humanly possible, and, honestly, I don't know how to fix it. I think it's beyond fixing. Yeah, Obama's right. He's got a gift.
But, it isn't for any semblance of the truth.
We've been living with lies for the last sixty years, ever since the creation of the national security state, and we should not have any expectation that the situation will improve any time soon. When we elect a supposed Constitutional scholar who thinks it's okay to assassinate U.S. citizens on speculation, well, we're all just plain fucked is what we are....
This is just more of the same, is it not?
Now, just to refresh one's memory, there's this from Scott Armstrong, on the 20th anniversary of the founding of the National Security Archive, which I paraphrase as follows: the greatest amount of effort the Executive Branch expends on national security issues is keeping the American people and the press from knowing what it's doing, the next largest effort is in keeping Congress from knowing, the next largest effort is in keeping other agencies from knowing what it is doing, the next largest effort is in keeping our allies from knowing what it is doing, and the least amount of effort is devoted to keeping our adversaries from knowing what it is doing.
C'mon--if Scott Armstrong is right (and I think he is), it means that the ultimate goal of any President is to keep the American people completely in the fuckin' dark about what's being done on behalf of the elite in this country.
There's something totally upside-down about that.
And yet, Obama is preaching that he's fostered openness in government?
That's fraudulent. That's just the worst kind of spin.
At the same time that Obama is touting his openness initiatives, he's allowing his DoJ to use the state secrets privilege to prevent the advancement of all manner of cases before federal courts that could embarrass the government, and has resisted all efforts which might, in some ways, limit his power as the Executive.
Beyond that, the largest proportion of government agencies bound by his directive haven't done a damned thing to improve the situation.
Obama, additionally, has not made any effort to promote a whistleblower protection act for national security employees.
It's pretty much all window-dressing and bullshit unless there's a determined effort to undo the unnecessary secrecy that has enveloped the country since the end of WWII.
Like the battered and cheated-upon wife, the public is the last to know of its government's indiscretions. It's about time that it stopped, but, Obama, captured as he has been by his advisors, is unable to do it.
By definition, if one does not open government to criticism where it deserves same, one does not have an open government. We, the public, are being punked, over and over again, and we take it because we believe the horseshit we're fed, about "terrorism," about "sources and methods," about the need for the President to have "executive privilege" to obtain "frank advice."
It's all lies. It's all about keeping us as uninformed and as stupid as is humanly possible, and, honestly, I don't know how to fix it. I think it's beyond fixing. Yeah, Obama's right. He's got a gift.
But, it isn't for any semblance of the truth.
We've been living with lies for the last sixty years, ever since the creation of the national security state, and we should not have any expectation that the situation will improve any time soon. When we elect a supposed Constitutional scholar who thinks it's okay to assassinate U.S. citizens on speculation, well, we're all just plain fucked is what we are....
posted by Montag at
9:23 PM
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