mirror of
https://github.com/nhammer514/textfiles-politics.git
synced 2024-10-01 01:15:38 -04:00
63 lines
3.8 KiB
HTML
63 lines
3.8 KiB
HTML
|
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
|
||
|
|
<head>
|
||
|
|
<title>gvtscrcy</title>
|
||
|
|
<link rel="stylesheet" href="../CSSstyle.css"/>
|
||
|
|
<!--Fill in your link line for CSS and JS in the XSLT here! -->
|
||
|
|
</head>
|
||
|
|
<body>
|
||
|
|
<h1 id="title-index">gvtscrcy</h1>
|
||
|
|
<div id="conspiracy">
|
||
|
|
<p>THE GOVERNMENT'S MANIA FOR SECRECY</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>President Ronald <span class="PERSON" title="PERSON">Reagan</span> nicknamed 1987 "The Year of the
|
||
|
|
Reader," but throughout 1987 the <span class="PERSON" title="PERSON">Reagan</span> administration outdid
|
||
|
|
itself in its efforts to control, interpret, manipulate,
|
||
|
|
disinform, and censor all forms of information.
|
||
|
|
Typical of the <span class="PERSON" title="PERSON">Reagan</span> administration's effort to control its
|
||
|
|
own destiny and the nation's history was the Justice Department
|
||
|
|
memorandum that could enable <span class="PERSON" title="PERSON">Reagan</span> to control the history of his
|
||
|
|
involvement in the Iran-contra scandal. The administration is
|
||
|
|
seeking to overturn a 1986 federal court ruling that limited
|
||
|
|
Nixon's right to block the release of his White House papers. The
|
||
|
|
Justice Department memorandum, filed in a lawsuit, would allow
|
||
|
|
Nixon to withdraw any documentation he though should be
|
||
|
|
suppressed. In effect, this would put Nixon in control of U.S.
|
||
|
|
history between 1968 and 1974. If Nixon wins, it will pave the way
|
||
|
|
for <span class="PERSON" title="PERSON">Reagan</span> to determine official U.S. history from 1980 to 1988.
|
||
|
|
While alarming, this is only one small example of <span class="PERSON" title="PERSON">Reagan</span>'s
|
||
|
|
mania for secrecy. Following are the reports of three groups that
|
||
|
|
tried to warn us about what was happening.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>PEOPLE FOR THE AMERICAN WAY. This group's report provides more
|
||
|
|
than 100 pages of well-documented charges concerning the growing
|
||
|
|
trend toward secrecy in government and its threat to American
|
||
|
|
democracy. It "tells the story of the institutionalization of
|
||
|
|
secrecy throughout the federal government...the story of
|
||
|
|
unprecedented controls on information, not only on defense and
|
||
|
|
foreign policy issues where legitimate secrets do need to be
|
||
|
|
protected, but on a host of topics vital to our daily lives, from
|
||
|
|
toxic wastes to occupational hazards, from new technology to the
|
||
|
|
health of our children."</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>THE REPORTERS COMMITTEE FOR FREEDOM OF THE PRESS. This group
|
||
|
|
issued an alert about how the <span class="PERSON" title="PERSON">Reagan</span> administration and its
|
||
|
|
supporters restrict public access to government information. The
|
||
|
|
50-page report lists 135 specific actions that have occurred since
|
||
|
|
1981, including threatened prosecution of the press publishing
|
||
|
|
classified information; expulsion of foreign journalists; proposed
|
||
|
|
amendments to weaken the Freedom of Information Act; and the use
|
||
|
|
of lie detectors.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>THE AMERICAN LIBRARY <span class="ORG" title="ORG">ASSOCIATION</span>. The latest edition of the
|
||
|
|
association's annual report on censorship provides a damning
|
||
|
|
indictment of <span class="PERSON" title="PERSON">Reagan</span> administration efforts to "restrict and
|
||
|
|
privatize government information" such as public documents and
|
||
|
|
statistics. The 1987 report adds 78 items to the case for <span class="PERSON" title="PERSON">Reagan</span>'s
|
||
|
|
secrecy mania.</p>
|
||
|
|
<p>Sources: THE NATION, May 23, 1987, "History Deleted"; GOVERNMENT
|
||
|
|
DECISIONS WITHOUT DEMOCRACY, December 1987, by People for the
|
||
|
|
American Way; FYI MEDIA ALERT 1987, March 1987, "The <span class="PERSON" title="PERSON">Reagan</span>
|
||
|
|
Administration and the News Media," by the Reporters Committee for
|
||
|
|
Freedom of the Press; THE AMERICAN LIBRARY <span class="ORG" title="ORG">ASSOCIATION</span>, Washington
|
||
|
|
Office, "Less Access to Less Information By and About the U.S.
|
||
|
|
Government: IX," December 1987, by Anne A. Heanue.</p>
|
||
|
|
</div>
|
||
|
|
</body>
|
||
|
|
</html>
|