A proposed rule to the Freedom of Information Act would allow federal agencies to tell people requesting certain law-enforcement or national security documents that records don’t exist – even when they do.Does anyone remember what our dear president pledged during his first week in office? He said he would promote “an unprecedented level of openness in Government.” Seems like them was hollow words!
Under current FOIA practice, the government may withhold information and issue what’s known as a Glomar denial that says it can neither confirm nor deny the existence of records.
The new proposal – part of a lengthy rule revision by the Department of Justice – would direct government agencies to “respond to the request as if the excluded records did not exist."
~ from Government Could Hide Existence of Records under FOIA Rule Proposal by Jennifer LaFleur ~
Barack Obama may go down as our most secretive commander-in-chief to date. He's gone after whistleblowers -- ya know, people who expose government lies and corruption -- with a vengeance. His administration invokes the "state secrets" principle in court time and time again. He has created a secretive hit list council whose membership, rules, procedures and decisions are a complete unknown. And now, he's crafting a policy that grants his administration the ability to tell bald-faced lies...and be legally protected.
This proposal doesn't come anywhere within one thousand miles of transparency. No, it sounds far more like a beginning step towards a fascist dictatorship!
Ah, yes I remember now:
ReplyDeleteIt Never Happened
''If the Party could thrust its hand into the past and say of this or that event, it never happened --that, surely, was more terrifying than mere torture or death.'' ~ from 1984 by George Orwell ~
DeSwiss
As I observe my condo board in action, I suspect that all democracies tend to devolve toward fascism. Or the rule of the proletariat, which is just as bad.
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