Groups warn of growing U.S. government secrecy

GEORGE W. BUSH

George Soros is a genius. We are so lucky to have him on our side.

Getting rid of evidence to avoid possible impeachment. That's the game.

Is anyone surprised at this news?

Barack's past is an open book, except for the stuff he has to keep from the haters, and the swift-boaters.

Xennon, what is it you'd like to know?

You may want to check out the Echelon Project for now.

-Cause you're part of it.

Ian

Alinsky, then he's not an open book.

And you're sayin' he has somethin' to hide.

What?

Sean

Does any of this bother the conservatives posting here, or is it just the rest of us who believe in the Constitution and the rule of law? True conservatives view government with suspicion, and they are aware of power expansion and abuses. Not many true conservatives 'round these parts. Sarge, Sailwind, Romeo Ramen -- any thoughts?

Lawsuit to Ask That Cheney's Papers Be Made Public

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/07/AR2008090702260.html?hpid=moreheadlines

Months before the Bush administration ends, historians and open-government advocates are concerned that Vice President Cheney, who has long bristled at requirements to disclose his records, will destroy or withhold key documents that illustrate his role in forming U.S. policy for the past 7 1/2 years.

In a preemptive move, several of them have agreed to join the advocacy group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington in asking a federal judge to declare that Cheney's records are covered by the Presidential Records Act of 1978 and cannot be destroyed, taken or withheld without proper review.

Nessie, if somethin' has a security classification by definition you and I don't have a need to know.

American courts aren't in the habit of regularly poring over classified documents and re-determining their security classifications.

Too bad for you.

Nigel

I agree with USARonin and may i say how patiotic that name sounds

Our government,under glorious Republican control,knows what's best for us.

Nessie, if somethin' has a security classification by definition you and I don't have a need to know.

What, ever?

Nessie, if somethin' has a security classification by definition you and I don't have a need to know.

And read the story carefully about the classification of purportedly "sensitive" documents.

Nessie, if you want to hold your breath waitin' for this, you'll die first. What presidents and VPs say in private to one another ain't gonna come out unless they want it to. And that's the way it should be.

You may want to find out what Echelon has on you - which it does - but you won't get that either.

Giles

USARonin said

Nessie, if you want to hold your breath waitin' for this, you'll die first. What presidents and VPs say in private to one another ain't gonna come out unless they want it to. And that's the way it should be.

What they say in their private quarters is private. The people have a right to every document produced. Any policy discussions are also subject to public disclosure. Ethically everything should be disclosed that does not:

release information relating to national defense, relate solely to internal personnel rules and practices, relate to accusing a person of a crime, relate to information where disclosure would constitute a breach of privacy, relate to investigation records where the information would harm the proceedings, relate to information which would lead to financial speculation or endanger the stability of any financial institution

Although the list may not be exhaustive it represents some information that could be excluded. Most information should be made public.

Having said that Cheney will never allow any meaningful documents to reach public view. He is evil incarnate. Bush on the other hand is a dumb kind of evil. We may gleam some of the hidden secrets because he thinks he has been appointed by god and that we can learn from his wisdom. If Obama wins we can hope that many in the former Bush administration will sing like canaries if they are not afraid of repercussions. Cheney will then be reduced to rubble publicly.

USARonin,

There is nothing I would really care to know about the secret things that are going on in the US government. Lord knows of what crazy things they are keeping from us.

I must admit though, that I do love watching Future Weapons and learning about a minute portion of what the military is creating. That Ray Beam thing is just plain cool (as long as you are not on the receiving end).

As long as I don't wind up suddenly "missing" in the future because I speak out against the government I don't really care... Scary thing is, I think we are moving closer and closer to the good ol' gestapo times eh.

Xennon, Echelon... Echelon...

USAR

Echelon... Echelon... what?

I heard about it before. It can be found on the interweb. Wow! Why do you keep saying it over and over again? You want me to care more about it one way or the other?

I would actually like to know where Osama Bin Laden is.

I mean with all this Echelon information gathering and the massive amount of funds now pumping into the US spy business, they must know right? Or is the low tech outsmarting the high tech? Or is he already dead and the gov just doesn't want us to know so they can keep sucking money from the taxpayers? Conspiracy! OMG!

USA-R...,

"And that's the way it should be."

Heh, what if what they're saying is not in the interests of the American people?

What if they're actually against the interests of the American people?

http://www.openthegovernment.org/otg/SecrecyReportCard08.pdf

Above is a link to the report card. I can't seem to find anything wrong with the report at all. ;)

Why is this 'headline news' on a website about Japan? Surely this reference to other countries is not relevant. But you've got me clicking the mouse and that is relevant to some people isn't it.

What presidents and VPs say in private to one another ain't gonna come out unless they want it to. And that's the way it should be.

So you're a statist and not a conservative, then, I take it.

"So you're a statist and not a conservative, then, I take it."

Sounds more like a communist to me...

We've given them those rights under law and the Constitution of the US so as long as they do their job in protecting the interests of this American nation, go ahead and keep it classified.

Madverts/Nessie...NO! China is communist; big difference.

"China is communist; big difference."

I see no major difference from people who believe their leaders should be irreprochable. But then again, we're talking about one of JT's most ardent Bush supporters...

We've given them those rights under law and the Constitution of the US so as long as they do their job in protecting the interests of this American nation, go ahead and keep it classified.

Kitsune, read it without moving your lips this time:

Without citing any law passed by Congress, federal agencies are restricting access to many unclassified documents by marking them “sensitive.” President George W Bush gave the practice his imprimatur in May. There is a move in Congress to rein in what the administration is doing.

Meh. Don't worry about it Nessie and Madverts.

You think the conservatives will be swayed in the least by what you say? Their guy is in control now. They could care less if their freedoms are being taken from them from beneath their feet.

Am I surprised that this administration has hid facts after facts to hide their efforts to screw the Americans and fill their pockets with treasures.

dick cheney's secret benergy meetings were the first of the Great American Screwing.

And this administration has continued the process to hide their efforts to enrich the rich and continue to screw the little guys. < :-)

Another new law creates the Office of Government Information Services at the National Archives to mediate conflicts between the public’s requests for information and agencies’ refusals to release it.

Well that will fix it, add in another Govt Agency to MEDIATE...another level of Bureaucracy that'll really help..NOT!

"Why is this 'headline news' on a website about Japan? "

sometimes they forget and think they are working at usa today. inclu "world" news story about the recent abc interview with some us vice pres wanna be.... Japan today.. yeah right. learn to integrate.

Well that will fix it, add in another Govt Agency to MEDIATE...another level of Bureaucracy that'll really help..NOT!

Yeah, it would be so much simpler if it were a monarchy, Ogie.

Alinsky4prez:

Barack's past is an open book, except for the stuff he has to keep from the haters, and the swift-boaters.

Did you mean for that to be funny?

888naff,

Actually, this is headline news in the world news section of a website about Japan.

Perhaps you think it would be much better if we could keep secret--or otherwise prevent people from hearing and talking about--the fact of increasing US government secrecy. And of course, you might also not want this news to get out to budding democracies whose people hope to emulate a great open society and who have finally managed to wean themselves away from systems where information is controlled by the state.

It seems a bit odd that a democratically elected government increasingly claims the right to know what its citizens are doing while decreasing the ability of its citizens to know what it is doing.

Why is this 'headline news' on a website about Japan?

Hey, this story is just as important as KFC's secret recipe and the guy who has eaten thousands of Big Macs. Don't knock it.