On Secrecy And Security

...and good government.

JFK, American Newspaper Publishers Association, April 27, 1961:

"We decided long ago that the dangers of unwarranted and excessive concealment of pertinent facts far outweigh the dangers which are cited to justify it."

"Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions."

"Even today, there is little value in ensuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it."

"And there is grave danger in an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment."

This was mostly about trying to have a conversation about where to draw the line.

And drawing lines is what the whole thing is about to begin with - because compromise; you don't get everything you want; checks and balances, ya big dope.

An awful lot of our little experiment in self-government depends on the honor of the people we put in office.

We fuck it up sometimes, and we elect Huey Long; Dick Nixon; Warren G Harding; Joe McCarthy; Rob Blagojevich; Tom Price; Billy Tauzin - the list goes on forever - but we turn it around and we get it back on track, and the way we do that is by taking our responsibilities seriously enough to insist on making the system of Checks and Balances work, and to hold ourselves accountable for it.

In a democratic republic, the quality of our government is only as good as the work we're willing to put into it.