Confusion and Disarray in the Government's Secrecy SystemThe U.S. government's Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) released important new information about government secrecy today. In particular, the report reveals that most government classification decisions are made by people with little training and no accountability. Our government has a real problem of excessive secrecy. You can't have a real democracy when the operation of the government is hidden from the people. Secrecy kills public accountability and cripples the government's system of checks and balances — both essential elements of our constitutional democracy. For 50 years the problem has been growing, and study commission after study commission has come to the same conclusions: a) the government classifies way too much information, and b) that hurts government accountability, our democracy, and even our national security. The ISOO (a part of the National Archives and Records Administration) puts out a report every year on the government's security classification programs. This year's report includes data that sheds some interesting new light on the secrecy problem:
The Obama administration has taken some positive steps toward addressing this problem, such as requiring every person who derivatively classifies information to identify themselves on each document they classify, to receive training, and to segregate classified information where possible. At the same time, it is clear that more drastic measures are needed. In particular, Congress needs to step up to the plate and address the problem of runaway secrecy head-on, beginning with comprehensive oversight hearings and ending with smart, realistic legislative solutions to this problem that threatens the very core of our democracy more than any act of terrorism we have ever seen.
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Apr 17th, 2010 at 11:29pm
Someone needs to expose and stop organized harassment. Who will step up to the plate?
Apr 18th, 2010 at 5:36pm
Confess your crimes Mike German!
Apr 19th, 2010 at 6:27pm
Is the ACLU going to censor my comments about Mike German, since me and Mike German knew each other in the 90's. Why did the FBI really "Put him on dead end duty", the star of the DOJ, under cover elite?
Apr 20th, 2010 at 2:23pm
Yes, Organized Harrassment, criminal civil rights violations, all neatly covered up with no recourse to justice. What can anyone do?