Senators demand information about torture
You know the government is too secretive when government oversight committees can't get information. Sens. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Arlen Specter, R-Pa., want the president to be more forthcoming about interrogation techniques, calling today for the White House to make public documents and memos regarding detention and torture of prisoners, according to a Leahy press release. The Senate Judiciary Committee has been struggling for years to get information from the Department of Justice, but the executive branch has provided only a limited number of documents, most redacted.
A lot of people are content to allow the president and government agencies hide information for "national security" purposes on the assumption that proper oversight in government prevents abuses of that power. People assume our system of checks and balances allows Congress to make sure the president doesn't become a king or despot. Yet, as we see again and again, that oversight is hampered. Citizens - and journalists - should be alarmed by this lack of oversight and transparency.