Secrets

Jenny Holzer's light projections of poetry and declassified documents illuminate landmark New York City buildings, September 29 - October 9. Courtesy of t_a_i_s_ photostream.

Yesterday's mock seminar was quite good--a nice example of what I hope seminars will be in HCOM 310! If we had continued working through the issues, I would have liked to see us refer to the day's reading a bit more; perhaps an opening summary discussion--what did we read, what questions did we have, what initial insights were gained--would have set that tone. Still, I thought the group did a great job of getting us thinking about what good seminar practice might look like.

The subject of the discussion--secrecy and the government--is such a large issue, especially as we sit here in a time of war. Open government is important to me--whether at the local level, state or national level. For me, a lot of it has to do with accountability. I want to know just what kind of policy, especially one that may involve war and violence, is being carried out in my name as a U.S. citizen. At what point is should the CIA, the U.S. military, or our political leaders reveal what they are doing? The current administration has certainly been less than forthcoming about a lot of things. It does beg the question of why we should just trust them.

An organization named OpenTheGovernment.org recently published a "Secrecy Report Card" for 2006. The summary of the report found a "troubling lack of transparency in military procurement, new private inventions, and the scientific and technical advice that the government receives, among other areas." The full report is available from their site. It made me think a lot about the reading for yesterday. While it might be necessary for governments to have some secrets, I suspect that in the name of a "war on terror," a lot of information is being withheld for other reasons.

Anyone else following this trend??