Comments on: U.S. reclassifies thousands of public documents http://www.homelandstupidity.us/2006/02/21/us-reclassifies-thousands-of-public-documents/ Protect yourself from government gaffes, bureaucratic blunders and incumbent incompetence Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:25:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Bush admits secret prisons, announces new terror strategy - Homeland Stupidity http://www.homelandstupidity.us/2006/02/21/us-reclassifies-thousands-of-public-documents/#comment-6045 Bush admits secret prisons, announces new terror strategy - Homeland Stupidity Thu, 07 Sep 2006 01:08:13 +0000 http://www.ioerror.us/2006/02/21/us-reclassifies-thousands-of-public-documents/#comment-6045 [...] I’m quite glad to see the administration become more forthcoming about what’s going on in the war on terror, even if it is politically motivated. There is an election just around the corner, after all. But this “war” has gone on in secrecy so black it made the Cold War look like an open book. There are things that need to be secret, and there are things that need to be open, and unfortunately, this administration has confused too many of them in the past. [...] [...] I’m quite glad to see the administration become more forthcoming about what’s going on in the war on terror, even if it is politically motivated. There is an election just around the corner, after all. But this “war” has gone on in secrecy so black it made the Cold War look like an open book. There are things that need to be secret, and there are things that need to be open, and unfortunately, this administration has confused too many of them in the past. [...]

]]> By: On publishing secrets - Homeland Stupidity http://www.homelandstupidity.us/2006/02/21/us-reclassifies-thousands-of-public-documents/#comment-6044 On publishing secrets - Homeland Stupidity Mon, 12 Jun 2006 19:30:20 +0000 http://www.ioerror.us/2006/02/21/us-reclassifies-thousands-of-public-documents/#comment-6044 [...] If the government tells you that the press has damaged the national security by publishing some bit of classified information, you should be very skeptical of that claim, especially if it comes from George W. Bush, whose administration is well known for overclassification and excessive secrecy. In Bush’s case, the only national security he’s talking about is whether he’s publicly embarrassed, or perhaps caught in a criminal act. [...] [...] If the government tells you that the press has damaged the national security by publishing some bit of classified information, you should be very skeptical of that claim, especially if it comes from George W. Bush, whose administration is well known for overclassification and excessive secrecy. In Bush’s case, the only national security he’s talking about is whether he’s publicly embarrassed, or perhaps caught in a criminal act. [...]

]]> By: Bush’s plumbers - Homeland Security or Homeland Stupidity http://www.homelandstupidity.us/2006/02/21/us-reclassifies-thousands-of-public-documents/#comment-6043 Bush’s plumbers - Homeland Security or Homeland Stupidity Sun, 05 Mar 2006 00:17:34 +0000 http://www.ioerror.us/2006/02/21/us-reclassifies-thousands-of-public-documents/#comment-6043 [...] All that tells me is that they haven’t had the guts to take on the press yet. Maybe this is why the government has been aggressively re-classifying ancient documents which have been unclassified for years, so as to have a reason to go after the press. But the last time I checked, the Constitution trumped the Espionage Act. Such a prosecution would face an as-applied challenge and likely be thrown out on that basis. [...] [...] All that tells me is that they haven’t had the guts to take on the press yet. Maybe this is why the government has been aggressively re-classifying ancient documents which have been unclassified for years, so as to have a reason to go after the press. But the last time I checked, the Constitution trumped the Espionage Act. Such a prosecution would face an as-applied challenge and likely be thrown out on that basis. [...]

]]> By: putrimalu http://www.homelandstupidity.us/2006/02/21/us-reclassifies-thousands-of-public-documents/#comment-6042 putrimalu Wed, 22 Feb 2006 22:54:26 +0000 http://www.ioerror.us/2006/02/21/us-reclassifies-thousands-of-public-documents/#comment-6042 Re-classifying these things is like trying to put the genie back in the bottle. I can only think of 2 reasons: 1) They're trying to cover up mistakes they (or members of the administration) have made in the past, so watchdogs, historians, journalists can't find them later and say "See, this contradicts what you said here" or "Hey, this proves you were lying the whole time!" 2) They're doing it just "because they can". I wouldn't put it past them - Bush has a track record of doing stupid things just because critics say he shouldn't do them - he wants to prove HE is the president, and what he wants goes, no matter what ANYONE else thinks - right or wrong. Re-classifying these things is like trying to put the genie back in the bottle. I can only think of 2 reasons:

1) They’re trying to cover up mistakes they (or members of the administration) have made in the past, so watchdogs, historians, journalists can’t find them later and say “See, this contradicts what you said here” or “Hey, this proves you were lying the whole time!”

2) They’re doing it just “because they can”. I wouldn’t put it past them – Bush has a track record of doing stupid things just because critics say he shouldn’t do them – he wants to prove HE is the president, and what he wants goes, no matter what ANYONE else thinks – right or wrong.

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