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I don't understand how the absolute power to mark any information secret is compatible with democracy. The way the constitution was designed was to try to balan
by guelo 12y ago
I don't understand how the absolute power to mark any information secret is compatible with democracy. The way the constitution was designed was to try to balance powers and checks between branches. But there is no check on the executive's ability to mark things secret. In this case the secrecy seems to have just been about covering up an embarrassment. They should not have the power to cover up an embarrassment. Seems like this invented absolute power needs judicial review.
- philwelch 12y agoIf you think the executive branch has no legitimate purpose in keeping secrets, you should study history.
- tikhonj 12y agoI think it's pretty reasonable to say the executive branch has no legitimate purpose in keeping secrets from select parts of the judicial and legislative branches. That completely undermines our system of checks and balances, which seems to work quite well otherwise. Also, there are at least two kinds of secrets to consider: "structural" ones, like "this program exists" and specific details "agent Bob is part of this program". I could see the need to keep some of the latter even from other parts of the government, but it seems the former could do with some review. That's where the problems usually come from, after all: either government programs that overreach their authority or failures swept under the rug. At the same time, they're much less of a security threat than specific details of a program.
- dllthomas 12y ago"the executive branch has no legitimate purpose in keeping secrets" I don't think the parent claimed that.