We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Monday, December 20, 2010

Cover-ups, Coups, and Drones – A Holiday Sampler of What Wikileaks Reveals about the US

by Bill Quigley from Information Clearing House. 

This coverage of the leaks is one of the best I've come across. While the US government insists on knowing everything about us, it demands secrecy for itself. But, more importantly, the author contrasts the revealed illegal acts and war crimes that the US government commits with impunity with the treatment of those who reveal these acts. 
The US claims broad authority to secretly snoop on the lives of individuals inside and outside of the US. It also works tirelessly to prevent citizens from knowing what is going on by expansively naming basic government information "state secrets." The government says it has to have the right to keep things secret in order to prevent crime.

But when it comes to revealing evidence of illegal acts and war crimes by the US government, it seeks the most severe sanctions against any transparency.
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