Should the government's first priority be to protect secrets or to proactively give citizens information?

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Protect		37%	34 votes	Total: 93 votes
Give		63%	59 votes	Total: 93 votes

Protect

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Why is this question so absolute? Can we as a free nation with a powerful government do both? Why not protect our secrets yet give pertinent information. This used to go on. Prior to this "war on terror" we used to give a large about of information, yet hold back some that could be detrimental to our nation or its people.

I of course think it is necessary to hide some of the actions performed by our government. I do not think we need to hide all of their actions. Also hiding ones actions does not give the right to perform illegal or immoral acts. We have a constitution and I believe 'all' should be forced to follow it, especially the government. Lead by example.

Protect the secrets that protect our lives, but do not hide behind the shroud of secrecy when accused of wrong doings. Be forthcoming of information proving that we are out there protecting the civil rights of all mankind.

I hope with a reformed government in place, one not based on hiding their criminal ways, we can get back to a place where we aren't scared of our government. These recent times remind us of when you had to keep any talk in favor of a government that was not our own, quiet. The times of gathering with friends and neighbors to exercise your 1st amendment right, in discussion about negative feelings of your government.

Ironically persecuting people for have a difference of opinion with the government is exactly what our forefathers were trying to get rid of. As the Declaration of Independence states, "...when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security". Its there in black and white. When, as a nation our government with its abuses and tyrannous ways gets out of control, it is our duty to get rid of it and start anew!

Yet we can not just "Willy nilly" give information to the open public. At times we already give to much. The last thing we need is giving secrets about troop movements. But I also think we don't need to be hiding the fact that our government is spying on its own people. I think what we need to be asking is, how do we keep protecting our secrets while giving citizens the information they deserve.

Learn more about this author, Kyle Carpenter.
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Give

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by Sandi Crain

Too Many Secrets in Washington

One of my favorite phrases is "evil hides in secrecy" and it's never more apparent than in Washington D.C. today. Going only as far back as 2001, the international reputation of the United States has been destroyed by the secret goings on in the dark halls of government.

Although regime change in Iraq was being planned by think tanks such as the Council on Foreign Relations long before the events of September 11, 2001, no one bothered to tell us this as our leaders sought to convince the American people that there was actually a correlation between Saddam Hussein and the perpetrators of 9-11. Millions of innocent Iraqis have died because of this deception and millions more have been displaced. The cost of secrecy in this case was just too high.

Then there's the Patriot Act. This massive tome was delivered to congress so quickly after 9-11 that it's suspected it was written before the event. It was then demanded that Congress sign it without having time to read it. The result of this has been a shredding of the rights of the American people. Had the American people been shown what was actually in the Patriot Act we probably wouldn't have allowed it to go through. As it stands now, we're stuck fighting for the return of the rights we have lost and that fight could go on for years. The authoritarian authors of such a draconian policy won't easily give up the power they fought so hard to win.

Torture and extraordinary rendition is another secret that We the People would have benefited from knowing about beforehand . Where is our international standing now that everyone knows that our government literally kidnapped people off the streets and sent them out of the United States to be tortured? These detainees have not had charges brought against them nor have they had the benefit of a defense attorney and many are completely innocent of any crime. I honestly worry that when all is said and done that the United States will take Nazi Germany's place in the history of evil empires.

The United States is supposed to be a nation For the People and By the People. How can it be so if our elected leaders are keeping secrets from us then making decisions for us that are rooted in deception? We need to know what's going on. The excuse that the American people must be kept in the dark for national security purposes is just plain bunk. International spying is so technologically advanced that every leader in the world knows exactly what every other leader in the world is doing at any given time. The only ones who don't know what's really going on are average citizens. It's time we change that.

Learn more about this author, Sandi Crain.
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