You asked:"How do you think that a bunch of citizens, no matter how zealous, is going to crack the kind of black ops stuff you are postiting? "
See: Bamford
salon.com
He was just one guy.
There are many others.
You said:"people whom you are claiming are pretty universally untrustworthy"
Actually, the reverse, I believe most are trustworthy, in most situations, some are untrustworthy in certain high-pressure situations, and some (few) are untrustworthy in any situation. You can't tell which is which without full disclosure policies.
The issue isn't hopeless, nor should it occupy our every waking moment.
Simply vigilance. It's a shock, if you take the view, as I did long ago, of great trust. Now, I'm selective, and look askance mostly when certain key issues arise, particularly any tribunal secret death penalty, for example, because of the implications for misuse.
The people who support tribunals do so for many good and trustworthy reasons - it isn't these people that are the problem. It is the mechanism that is thereby set up, that can be taken advantage of on an opportunistic basis by someone under a great deal of pressure to "solve" a problem.
Publicity and disclosure removes this pressure.
As good ol' JP Morgan said "a man does something for two reasons: a good reason, and the real reason".
Disclosure policies simply help to make sure the good reason is the real reason. |
