Ashcroft's magic act: Let's CLASSIFY the past, the present, the future!!!

[LittleApple81]

Even the ARIZONA REPUBLIC (assuming conservative paper...?) is appalled!!!


Ashcroft's magic act
Retroactively classifying public documents is bureaucracy gone nuts
Jul. 9, 2004 12:00 AM

Even the phrase suggests a sort of cognitive dissonance: retroactive classification. Come again?

How does one render government documents that have been in the public realm, in some cases for years - some posted on Web sites, for all the world to see - retroactively classified? How does one put an information genie back into its dark, federal bottle?

The Bush administration, led by Attorney General John Ashcroft, is attempting to show us how it is done. Spare us the magic act.

As a long-time, staunch defender of the administration's efforts to improve the nation's defenses against terrorism, as well as an ardent defender of the First Amendment, we at The Republic find ourselves uniquely positioned to say, emphatically and without qualification, that Mr. Ashcroft, this time you truly have gone too far.

Invoking a seldom-used "state secrets" privilege, the nation's chief legal officer has ordered that information provided by a former FBI translator about events leading up to Sept. 11, 2001, should be made classified. That includes material the translator, Sibel Edmonds, provided to members of Congress two years ago, as well as information that has been posted on Web sites for at least that long.

more at link:
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/opinions/articles/0709fri1-09.html

[enough]

1. Been searching in vain for coverage or editorial comment on this.

Maybe it's not quite dead yet.

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. Where's Mo-Paul when ya need him? I really feel we need

Ashcroft's face, arms, and legs grafted onto a giant black magic marker!

[kohodog]

3. 1984

I love Big Brother.

Maybe I can get a job rewriting the references to people Asshcroft picks up with no recourse to legal help. It would be much easier if they made it so they never existed!

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

[eleonora]

4. Why am I not surprised -again-??

After Bush's 'inadvertently destroyed' records, Asscroft's retroactive classifications!

[NMDemDist2]

5. Asscroft run like a scalded rat from Phoenix when the word got out

we had planned a "reception committee" for him yesterday. He moved his schedule up almost 2 hours to stymie the protesters. We had 30 people with signs and lots of energy, as it was he was long gone when we got there

:(

[LittleApple81]

6. How did he find out? Do you have a "mole" or had you publicized it?

After watching F/911, I have become suspicious of "volunteer" FBI agents!!!!

[NMDemDist2]

7. well, it was here.. and a few other places on the net n/t