It’s a fact about lifetime obligations that come with holding a clearance and a fact related to learning national defense information under those cleared condit

It’s a fact about lifetime obligations that come with holding a clearance and a fact related to learning national defense information under those cleared conditions. It’s a often referenced as a Faustian bargain for a reason: they own part of you for life, some joke that it is your soul since you can’t say the things that might be good for the world. Simple example: if you write a book after you “leave” - they will demand a review to censor it before publication. If you write even as much as a blog post which includes information about the CIA, it’s the same expectation: you will let them approve or censor your words before you publish it. Normal people don’t suffer from prior restraint but this comes with the life time obligations. Some people have refused, of course. Depending on what one writes, it may or may not be a legal or personal or political problem. Surprisingly or not, going big may make a difference - almost like a one party system which wants to hide this from the general public...