|
 National
Security Is Whatever
We Say It Is
Of course we all
know that the United
States Trade
Representative made
a deal with the
European Union,
Japan and Canada
over America's ban
on online gaming.
What we didn't know
were the terms of
that deal. What
concessions did the
U.S. make so the
government could
keep restricting the
rights of it's
citizens to play
poker online? And
how much would those
concessions cost
those citizens who
were having their
freedom constrained?
At the time of the
agreement a
spokesperson from
the USTR asked what
were the specific
details of the deal,
and she replied that
she "didn't want to
get into that" right
now. As if how the
government uses
taxpayer dollars
wasn't worth her
time to discuss.
Ed Brayton, a
freelance writer,
decided that answer
wasn't good enough.
He filed a Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA)
request for a copy
of the agreement.
That the USTR
refused his request
wasn't a
surprise--if they
weren't willing to
discuss the deal
when it was
announced, chances
are they wouldn't be
interested in
revealing the
details at all. And,
of course, the Bush
Administration has
shown that it thinks
the American people
should have no
knowledge--and no
say--in how it
behaves.
But Brayton was
surprised at the
reason the USTR gave
for rejecting his
request. I quote
from the letter he
recieved:
Please be advised
that the document
you seek is being
withheld in full
pursuant to 5 U.S.C.
§ 552(b)(1), which
pertains to
information that is
properly classified
in the interest of
national security
pursuant to
Executive Order
12958.
And here's Brayton's
reaction:
Yes, they are
actually claiming
that this document,
which has nothing
even remotely do to
with anything that
could conceivably,
in Dick Cheney's
wildest imagination,
have anything to do
with national
security, has been
properly classified.
Americans, according
to this
administration, have
no right to know how
many billions of our
tax dollars they've
spent with no
legislative
authorization
whatsoever in order
to buy the
cooperation of other
nations and allow
them to continue to
violate the rights
of American adults
by preventing them
from gambling in the
privacy of their own
home.
Yes, I will be
filing an appeal
immediately, and I
will be filing a
lawsuit if that
appeal fails to
restore some sanity
to the situation.
They've got me
pissed off now.
Got me pissed off
too. Yes, the United
States government is
claiming that it's
attempt to restrict
Americans from
gambling online is
so important that
their efforts are a
matter of national
security. And that
whatever
under-the-table
deals they make that
might cost taxpayers
billions of dollars
can be classified
and hidden from
public scrutiny as
if they were nuclear
launch codes. One
wonders how the USTR
got the chutzpah to
send that letter in
the first place.
Then again, these
are the insane days
we live in.
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