Transparently Opaque

Enraged about the leak disclosing the illegal, unwarranted NSA and CIA domestic wiretaps, the Bush administration went on the warpath to crackdown on any further revelations. They eventually pegged former case officer Mary McCarthy, a career CIA case officer ten days from retirement, as the culprit, and planted false stories about her in the press.

For the past few weeks, we’ve heard that McCarthy confessed to telling journalist Donna Priest about the illegal domestic spying program. Problem is, McCarthy did not confess anything to anyone. Despite reports that she was unceremoniously escorted out of Langley, no such event occurred. McCarthy also did not have any knowledge of the program. The ex-spook now seeks to clear her name.

The blind rage that made McCarthy a sacrificial lamb is characteristic of a neo-con movement within government that has been trying to keep potentially damaging information of a political nature away from the public. In 2003, the White House stamped a record 14,000,000 items top secret, and were on pace to produce 21,000,000 secrets in 2004. By Executive Order, Bush reclassified presidential papers over the objection of former president Bill Clinton, who had no problem with the due publishing of his administrative records. Despite the fact that she had disclosed FBI foreknowledge of the events of 9/11 before Congress, and on 60 Minutes, Sibol Edmunds statements were classified after they had already been made public. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has been under continual review. EPA studies that comment negatively on the relationship between the administration’s pet industries and the environment have been taken down from the Agency’s website, and new studies indicating are openly opposed. At the time of this post, the FBI is also trying to suppress the papers of the late columnist Jack Anderson.

Knowledge is a form of power. By keeping the public away from what has been historically considered public knowledge, the administration has the leverage to claim ‘national security’ for any illegal activity that affirms the power of the elitist clique that Bush openly acknowledges as his “base.” Such an atmosphere is conducive to rampant conspiracy.