Secrecy is already corroding our democracy & is a bigger threat to America democracy than al-Qaeda.

[kpete]

How Secrecy Has Already Corroded Our Democracy in Concrete Ways
By Conor Friedersdorf



..................



Secrecy is already corroding our democracy. It's impossible to see at the time, and obvious in hindsight, when the truth outs.

In 2011, the debate surrounding the re-authorization of a major piece of domestic legislation was, indisputably, a sham. Legislators were misled. Careful, informed commentators contributing arguments and analysis in the press unwittingly misled readers with content that lacked crucial context. Hard-news articles were just as useless for formulating an informed opinion.

Even those elected representatives informed about the full extent of government surveillance were deprived of normal legislative practices -- like floor debate, letters and phone calls from constituents, input from experts outside government, and public-opinion polls -- that properly factor into their typical deliberation and voting decisions. And Americans were deprived of the right to know what their representatives really approved, meaningfully robbing them of the ability to cast a meaningful vote in the Congressional races of the 2012 cycle, a key check and balance.

Jay Rosen theorizes that some defenders of secret programs like the ones the NSA ran have repealed "the concept of an informed public," but repressed their decision "to take such a drastic step, because it's too much to face." And it's easy to see why it is too much for them to face. They've embraced a mindset that is incompatible with and capable of destroying American democracy. They might as well insist that they have to destroy the country to save it from terrorism. However well-intentioned, their mindset poses a bigger threat to America democracy than al-Qaeda. Luckily, Americans are gradually beginning to awaken to their subterfuge and radicalism.


The rest (!):
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/print/2013/08/how-secrecy-has-already-corroded-our-democracy-in-concrete-ways/278478/

[kelliekat44]

1. No..Rush Limbaugh and FOX "news" are. nt

[cherokeeprogressive]

7. Speech isn't a threat. n/t

[FiveGoodMen]

2. K&R!

[truedelphi]

3. Nice article but the correct spelling of al-Queda is

al-CIA-da.

[backscatter712]

5. +1,000,000! They're little more than a few poorly armed morons.

They have to have help to be able to do serious damage.

[G_j]

4. K&R!

[silvershadow]

6. I am really, really surprised. (snark) No one could have predicted this: Condi Rice. (snark)

Except that some of us could, and did, and are.

[matt819]

8. The list of things corroding our democracy is, sadly, very long.

Regarding the secrecy issue - I think the most corrosive component is the loss of trust. Let's face it, trust in the government has been low for decades, but there was, at least, an expectation of confidence in Democratic administrations, at least among those on the left. There has been little faith in Republican administrations since Reagan, and the numbers bear out this lack of trust.

However, with the secrecy and spying issues, that shred of confidence is gone.

Take as an example the threat reports that have kept US missions closed in the Middle East and Muslim countries. When I served abroad and was privy to these sorts of things, in administrations both R and D, I have to say there was a level of confidence in those assessments. The threats may not have materialized, but that's the nature of intelligence reporting. And I'm somewhat inclined to accept these recent threat assessments, but if you take of poll of both Republicans and Democrats, I'd put money on an 85%-15% level of distrust/trust in the government's reporting of these threats. And those estimated 85% with no confidence in the threat assessments, I'd further bet that this is driven by the belief that the government is reporting these threats in order to justify wholesale spying in the US.

So, feel free to add to the list, but this is my take.

[Mojorabbit]

11. + 100 nt

[99th_Monkey]

9. Great find. BIG K&R! eom

[Civilization2]

10. democracy does not work in secret,. .

Everything needs to be seen and heard for an informed populous to make informed decisions. It can work no other way. Never is secrecy justifiable in democracy, and clearly not the level of lies and misleading bull shit we have seen coming from the govt. currently.