The title of the post alludes to recently released documents in John Lennon's FBI file (the documents contained no new or "sensitive" information about the singer/activist). In her latest Huff Po piece, Candace offers these observations on how the government uses and abuses its power to declare things "secret":
I had thought these secret policies were particular to the massive and unconscionable illegalities of the Bush administration, but the episode with Mr. Lennon's FBI file shows, at least to a certain degree, that this is a long standing governmental policy. Professor Wiener referred to it as "excessive government secrecy" in his recent Nation article. Maybe, but it seems more likely that this is our government's way to make it seem, in Lennon's case, like there was something to justify the illegal spying and intrusion into his life, and in Mr. Al-Ghizzawi's case, to justify his illegal imprisonment. It is a policy of covering up illegal activity by declaring it "secret" and thereby making it seem like something sinister is going on that they just cannot tell us about for our own protection
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Perhaps if the government knew how many people actually cared about the fate of Mr. Al-Ghizzawi, they would feel it in their best interests to act differently in the future. Can Mr. Al-Ghizzawi be reached and told that people do care? Perhaps this would be of some use for him to know. Hopefully he does know that the world itself is not mad, that governments are composed of people, and these people have made mistakes beyond their own ability or compassion to correct. However, as a member of the human race, Mr. Al-Ghizzawi is entitled to what compassion others may offer. And they do. There is no one who hears this story who is not affected by it, though some more than others. I hope that he at least knows this fact.
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