8-29-02, Voice in the Crowd
America's Greatest
Enemy
By Pete Chaney
IPS Features
From the troubled days a ragtag group of patriots took on a well organized and disciplined English army at Concord, Americans have been able to overcome any enemy. We faced the British again in 1812 and over the years this country has overcome war with the Spanish, Germans, Japanese and foes worldwide. At one time, we even faced ourselves in the bloodiest of all conflicts where brother fought against brother in the North against the South.
No Adolph Hitler or Joe Stalin or Tojo could conquer us.
Lunatics like bin Laden or Saddam Hussein can never dampen the spirit
that stormed the beaches of Normandy or raised the flag over Iwo Jima.
Our danger is not from abroad. It is from within. The
greatest enemy to America’s freedom is the suppression of freedom of speech.
As long as free men have the right to public information and can express
themselves openly our country is well and safe.
When that right is infringed upon, we are in danger.
From time to time our leaders have invoked their power
to shield from the people information they thought private or privileged.
When George Washington left office and took his papers with him, he
considered those his and personal. Congress
wanted to know the casualties of the Indian wars and asked to see the
documentation. He was furious, even when reminded the fourth complaint
against the king of England was having secret meetings and hiding records.
The tug of war continued down through the presidencies,
usually with the chief executive winning. Abraham
Lincoln’s papers weren’t made public until 1949.
Old Honest Abe was pretty good at suppressing opposition by arresting
dissident editors and locking up his enemies without the writ of habeas corpus.
Without meaning to, another Republican president changed
things. Richard Nixon said his
private papers and phone conversations belonged to him and were nobody’s
business. The courts and congress
disagreed. He relented and a sordid
story of paranoia and illegal contortions came to light, bringing down a
president.
Sooner or later truth finds a way to light from wherever
secrets are stored. Digging into
papers of the Kennedy standoff with Khrushchev over East Berlin, it became
evident the American president welcomed the construction of the Berlin wall.
Kennedy didn’t want to go to war over Russia’s attempt to stop the
exodus of its brightest and ablest people from East to West Berlin.
Obviously, during wartime or national crisis some
actions and documentation have to be held secret. You couldn’t make a plan to invade Normandy, for instance in
World War II, and publish it in the newspaper ahead of time.
After the crisis is over, the information belongs to the people.
Let the chips fall where they may. Give
credit or attach blame as due.
Bill Clinton caught more flack over his affair with an
intern than did Ronald Reagan over the Iran-Contra debacle.
One episode was a matter of bad judgment at best or lack of moral
scruples at worst. The second was a
matter of national security and lying to Congress.
Oliver North got a slap on the wrist and then was called a national hero
by many. Clinton was center of an
impeachment effort which was embarrassing to the American people.
No one ever tried to really delve into Reagan’s involvement in the arms
shipments to Iran.
That’s what makes it puzzling for current President
George W. Bush to have signed Executive Order 13233 on November 1 of last year.
By the stroke of his pen, he blocked anyone from seeing the Reagan
archives.
Why?
National security over something that happened decades
ago, or political embarrassment? It
will come to light. No matter how
deeply someone tries to bury information, it eventually comes to surface.
Officials should use the “secret” stamp with great
care and caution. It is the erosion
of a free society. Conducting
government in secrecy is the greatest danger for America.
For as long as men know the truth and can speak openly about what they
believe, no power on earth can destroy American democracy.
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