Steven Aftergood
Steven Aftergood
Steven Aftergoodis a specialist in physics and a political activist. He is a critic of U.S. government secrecy, generally favoring more openness. He directs the Federation of American Scientists Project on Government Secrecy and is the author of the Federation blog/newsletter Secrecy News...
answers asking checks circuit executive government immune needless needs officials power presenting preserved press questions reporting short system
If you don't have the possibility of asking questions and presenting answers that officials may find unwelcome, then you short circuit the deliberative process, end up magnifying the power of the executive and undermining the system of checks and balances. Needless to say the press is not immune from criticism. But the possibility of independent reporting on government needs to be preserved or all of us are potentially in jeopardy.
embraced secrecy
This administration has embraced secrecy as a right.
bureau cases employees problems tripped
I think there will be problems and cases where employees are tripped up by the tests, ... But the bureau as a whole will adapt.
intelligence needed number start support system vast
If you think about all of the infrastructure needed to support that number of people, you start to get a sense of just how vast our intelligence system has become. Think about all the things going on that we don't know about.
dinosaur law
The idea that this law is some kind of dinosaur is a misunderstanding.
clearly driven embrace encouraged individual overall
I think it's driven by the individual agencies, which have bureaucratic sensitivities to protect. But it was clearly encouraged by the administration's overall embrace of secrecy.
hillary nsa suggesting
No one is suggesting the NSA is monitoring Hillary Clinton.
abolish create difficult either entirely logical practical proven reform simply
As a practical matter, it has proven difficult to either reform or abolish the CIA, ... The logical alternative may be to simply create an entirely new agency.
disgrace history recent
A lot of what we think we know of our recent history may be mistaken, ... It is a disgrace that it should be so in a democracy, but it is.