AuH20
08-22-2018, 10:06 AM
One day in the future, it will come down on their heads.
http://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/402894-in-washington-the-truth-has-refugee-status
Federal agencies also maximize their discretion in defining truth via almost 50 million decisions to classify information each year. And the Justice Department can totally suppress embarrassing facts on the most contentious issues (such as torture or assassinations) by invoking the “state secrets” doctrine. The George W. Bush administration routinely invoked “state secrets” to seek “blanket dismissal of every case challenging the constitutionality of specific, ongoing government programs,” according to a study by the Constitution Project. A federal appeals court slammed the Obama administration’s use of “state secrets”: “According to the government’s theory, the judiciary should effectively cordon off all secret government actions from judicial scrutiny, immunizing the CIA and its partners from the demands and the limits of the law.” Government’s sway over damning information is boundless — at least until some scofflaw like Edward Snowden obliterates federal credibility.
If one is seeking Shakespearian-level creativity, official claims regarding U.S. military and foreign policy rarely disappoint. (But seriously, the Taliban are finally on the run.) How much has changed since 1965, when Pentagon assistant secretary Arthur Sylvester hectored Vietnam war correspondents: “Look, if you think any American official is going to tell you the truth, then you’re stupid. Did you hear that? Stupid”? Sylvester’s slapdown has not deterred the media from continuing to play stenographer for the vast majority of government assertions.
Lamentably, the Oval Office has never been an oasis of candor inside the District of Columbia. Calvin Coolidge may have been the last man who appeared more honest at the end of his presidency than at the start. While every president in the last quarter century has shredded their credibility, Trump is reportedly shattering the bogus benchmark (the Washington Post asserts he has made more than 2000 false or misleading claims).
But wild-eyed tweeting is not a federal offense, and it is unclear whether the president has said anything specifically that places him in legal peril. Trump is guilty of wacky hiring decisions, as shown by his lawyer Giuliani’s “talent for putting defense arguments as unconvincingly, unappealingly, and suspiciously as possible,” as attorney Ken “Popehat” White quipped.
Perhaps the biggest whopper in Washington nowadays is the assumption that the government and the political class will automatically be trustworthy once the Trump era ends. Even if Trump is toppled by impeachment, there will still be a thousand precedents for federal coverups and duplicity. And neither political party nor the bureaucracy has shown any itch to cease deceiving the American people.
http://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/402894-in-washington-the-truth-has-refugee-status
Federal agencies also maximize their discretion in defining truth via almost 50 million decisions to classify information each year. And the Justice Department can totally suppress embarrassing facts on the most contentious issues (such as torture or assassinations) by invoking the “state secrets” doctrine. The George W. Bush administration routinely invoked “state secrets” to seek “blanket dismissal of every case challenging the constitutionality of specific, ongoing government programs,” according to a study by the Constitution Project. A federal appeals court slammed the Obama administration’s use of “state secrets”: “According to the government’s theory, the judiciary should effectively cordon off all secret government actions from judicial scrutiny, immunizing the CIA and its partners from the demands and the limits of the law.” Government’s sway over damning information is boundless — at least until some scofflaw like Edward Snowden obliterates federal credibility.
If one is seeking Shakespearian-level creativity, official claims regarding U.S. military and foreign policy rarely disappoint. (But seriously, the Taliban are finally on the run.) How much has changed since 1965, when Pentagon assistant secretary Arthur Sylvester hectored Vietnam war correspondents: “Look, if you think any American official is going to tell you the truth, then you’re stupid. Did you hear that? Stupid”? Sylvester’s slapdown has not deterred the media from continuing to play stenographer for the vast majority of government assertions.
Lamentably, the Oval Office has never been an oasis of candor inside the District of Columbia. Calvin Coolidge may have been the last man who appeared more honest at the end of his presidency than at the start. While every president in the last quarter century has shredded their credibility, Trump is reportedly shattering the bogus benchmark (the Washington Post asserts he has made more than 2000 false or misleading claims).
But wild-eyed tweeting is not a federal offense, and it is unclear whether the president has said anything specifically that places him in legal peril. Trump is guilty of wacky hiring decisions, as shown by his lawyer Giuliani’s “talent for putting defense arguments as unconvincingly, unappealingly, and suspiciously as possible,” as attorney Ken “Popehat” White quipped.
Perhaps the biggest whopper in Washington nowadays is the assumption that the government and the political class will automatically be trustworthy once the Trump era ends. Even if Trump is toppled by impeachment, there will still be a thousand precedents for federal coverups and duplicity. And neither political party nor the bureaucracy has shown any itch to cease deceiving the American people.