The Truth About Secrets by AnthonyT

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The Truth About Secrets

POSTED BY: ANTHONYT
UPDATED: Monday, December 13, 2010 11:32
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Monday, December 13, 2010 7:15 AM

Freedom is Important because People are Important

"The Power of Secrecy had been undone by the Lies of Presidents in the name of the National Security of the United States."

-- Tim Weiner, Legacy of Ashes - The History of the CIA

Hello,

I have been reading a book called Legacy of Ashes, and I just came across this quote which echoes my own feelings on the issue of Secrecy.

I contend that if people believed their government was acting responsibly and wisely, we would not begrudge them their secrets in the interest of National Security. However, repeated bald-faced lies and blatant misdirection has eroded faith in the government. Hence, we no longer trust them to decide which secrets are necessary for security and which are designed to cover their mistakes and abuses. It is in this atmosphere of mistrust that organizations like Wikileaks are able to resonate with the common man.

After all, if the government can't be trusted to keep the right sorts of secrets... It is a small leap to decide they can't be trusted with secrets at all. There suddenly becomes a thirst for full disclosure, to lay the sins of our representatives fully bare. Only with a clear view of the truth do we feel capable of making informed decisions about the future direction of our nation.

If the government had used Secrets wisely and justly in the past, it would not have to fight so hard to keep them now.

--Anthony

Assured by friends that the signal-to-noise ratio has improved on this forum, I have disabled web filtering.

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Monday, December 13, 2010 7:49 AM

CANTTAKESKY

Quote:
Originally posted by AnthonyT:
Only with a clear view of the truth do we feel capable of making informed decisions about the future direction of our nation.

Indeed.

If it had been an occasional misstep or error in judgment, I would understand not wanting to be embarrassed. But this goes beyond embarrassment. This is about covering up evil.

My latest fav quotation is:

"Truth is treason in the empire of lies."--Ron Paul

If you are going to build a whole empire on lies, then at some point, someone is going to commit treason by telling the truth. Count on it.

You can't lie forever.

Can't Take (my gorram) Sky
------
Everything I say is just my opinion, not fact.

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Monday, December 13, 2010 11:32 AM

FREMDFIRMA

Quote:
“If the American people really knew what we had done, we would be chased down the street and lynched.” — President George H.W.Bush to White House correspondent Sara McClendon, 1992

Generally you don't see such a frank admission, but there it is.

-F

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