Heffay wrote:hammAR wrote:nyffman wrote:Do you think that methods used by the CIA/FBI used to follow and catch some muslim extemists after 9/11 should have been immediately made public information?
....as well as all military operations and deployments....................
Oh yeah, I forgot. There are terrorists out there who want to kill us. Therefore we should trust the government to take care of us.
Actually, that was a question and it was for Pat since he was professing some actual knowledge of the subject. But thanks for your contribution. And, you can be assured that it was accepted in the same spirit of peace and understanding with which it was offered. Since the opposite of your strong cynicism toward the govt, is anarchy, is it safe to assume you would just as eagerly embrace the same?
Your previous reply about the govt being held accountable and answering to us, etc is something I could agree with.
I have no problems with the leaks. I'm all about open government. Everything they do *should* be exposed to the light of day. Maybe a 2 week delay on very critical stuff, but they represent us, and therefore should answer to us. They need to be held accountable for their actions, and if they know their actions will be exposed, maybe it'll result in less shenanigans.
But, it sounds like you want instant gratification on almost each and every incident. I think general oversight with guidlines would work better. If everyone is being honest, the result you claim to desire would be more consitantly achieved. The problem has been, when "shenanigans" as you put it, occur, there hasn't always been a strong enough will to carry through with the punishment phase. If you can get cronyism and politics out, everything works a lot better.
our quarrel is not about the value of freedom per se, but stems from our opinion of our fellow men … a man’s admiration of absolute government is proportionate to the contempt he feels for those around him --Alexis de Tocqueville--