State's Secrets still rule
The search for transparency in governance appears to be far from over. Flying in the face of all the lofty rhetoric during the campaign, it doesn't look like Obama's pledge to usher in a new era of openness in government is going to happen any time soon. I was hoping we were done with the state's secrets defense for every inconvenient truth that might come out, but it appears that our new president isn't willing to stray very far from the old one on this point.
With the obvious exception of the release of the OLC memos, it would appear that everything else concerning the Bush administration's torture program is going to remain behind locked doors. Maybe there really are compelling national security reasons to keep all this stuff secret, but it's hard to see how the speculation about the program is any less damaging than a full exposure of the truth. And the obvious benefit of exposing the truth and repudiating the program would be a restoration of our moral standing in the international community. I remain crushingly disappointed in President Obama on this score.
[More posts daily at The Detroit News]
With the obvious exception of the release of the OLC memos, it would appear that everything else concerning the Bush administration's torture program is going to remain behind locked doors. Maybe there really are compelling national security reasons to keep all this stuff secret, but it's hard to see how the speculation about the program is any less damaging than a full exposure of the truth. And the obvious benefit of exposing the truth and repudiating the program would be a restoration of our moral standing in the international community. I remain crushingly disappointed in President Obama on this score.
[More posts daily at The Detroit News]
posted by Libby Spencer at 11:08 AM
3 Comments:
One thing that really frustrates me is that there is - and will continue to be - a drip, drip, drip of information on Bush administration torture. The information is getting out (and with any luck full-scale investigations will begin soon). So why not, rather than try to plug the holes as Obama seems to be doing, knock down the dam and let the whole of it burst through? Get it over with. We have to come to terms with what we did so that we can vow - in the very core of our beings - that we will never make the same mistakes again.
It's like ripping off a bandaid - do it quickly and the pain will be over soon; tear it off slowly and the pain will last.
I still think it's too early to render any verdicts on Obama's secrecy, and I will continue to remain optimistic, but the signs so far are certainly disappointing.
Strange how he's still "the most liberal senator in history" and a trotskyite, maoist, marxist communist,etc. but he's basically a conservative.
I really have half a mind to give up on English, because it's become so corrupted by politics that anything means anything and anything means nothing.
Brian, I'm trying to hold on to what little optimism I had, but it's a hard slough.
Fogg, it seems Orwell won the battle on language.
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