Monday, July 19, 2010
Politics Secret America
Posted by Max Brantley on Mon, Jul 19, 2010 at 8:52 AM
This investigative report by the Washington Post's Dana Priest should be the talker for many days to come. The summary:
The top-secret world the government created in response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has become so large, so unwieldy and so secretive that no one knows how much money it costs, how many people it employs, how many programs exist within it or exactly how many agencies do the same work.These are some of the findings of a two-year investigation by The Washington Post that discovered what amounts to an alternative geography of the United States, a Top Secret America hidden from public view and lacking in thorough oversight. After nine years of unprecedented spending and growth, the result is that the system put in place to keep the United States safe is so massive that its effectiveness is impossible to determine.
The investigation's other findings include:
* Some 1,271 government organizations and 1,931 private companies work on programs related to counterterrorism, homeland security and intelligence in about 10,000 locations across the United States.
* An estimated 854,000 people, nearly 1.5 times as many people as live in Washington, D.C., hold top-secret security clearances.
* In Washington and the surrounding area, 33 building complexes for top-secret intelligence work are under construction or have been built since September 2001. Together they occupy the equivalent of almost three Pentagons or 22 U.S. Capitol buildings - about 17 million square feet of space.
Comments (13)
Showing 1-13 of 13
My favorite part; Big Brother isn't even gubmint, he's corporate. How perfect is that?
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Well, you know that private corporations can do anything better than the government can...that is what some of my quasi-conserative friends say.
I am sure that these government and private firms have no trouble recruiting help. Massive the top-secret world may be, but the fact is that most everyone wants to think they are special. And how much more special can you be than if you work for a secret agency. You know things your neighbors don't know...you think. You see things your neighbors won't see...you think. Feeding the need to feel special and alternately the need to be part of an organization, movement, ect is one of the tools used to recruit and retain workers. Now let us take this thought to a darker context...these are some of the same tactics used in China, Russia, and in Germany during WWII.
Or think of it in a more light hearted manner...You pay Sam's Club fifty dollars a year to be a part of a "club" that serves no purpose to you but to make a profit off of you.
My early morning ramblings probably make no sense.
I knew we were screwed when 'even' our guy, Obama, voted to give AT&T retroactive immunity for spying on its customers without the necessary warrant.
The scariest part of our engorged secret government is that an entire agency, Homeland whatever, was staffed by Cheney.
Thirty-three NEW buildings is RIDICULOUS. How about taking over the offices of the 'long lived out its usefulness/intended purpose' Alcohol and Tobacco gang. Prohibition is over (well...mostly) and the tobacco folks have moved most of their shady practices to other countries. I guess government agencies are like our military bases throughout the world and Cheney's Iraq Super Duper Embassies: Eternal and impervious to the public will...or to reason.
Did anyone else see the map in the WP that had three Arkansas sites identified in this super-secret endeavor? Given the propensity for East coasters to not know the geography west of the Hudson, the three locals in Arkansas looked like Little Rock, near Pine Bluff [which I assumed was NCTR] and Hot Springs. Any thoughts?
I fully expect to be wiping my.....uh...I fully expect to look down in the toilet some morning and see someone looking back up at me from the drain. I'm not sure if that reflects modern spy-America or just the paranoia that comes with old age.
The good news is any spy watching my house must be bored to tears. Most of us "small persons" don't have anything to hide. YES! I do look at naked pictures on the Internet late at night! Yes I click off Republican Tea Bagger ads on Facebook! Yes! I usually don't put in my teeth until after straight up noon. Yes! It was rather impressive until diabetic impotency set in.
How much more do you want to know about me? ......I thought so. Here's where Tom....I mean Harvey should step in and bitch about our expanded Federal government. Now......do it.....don't wait. But I don't think this is really because they think we need a massive increase in spying, it's just a handy way for new people to get on the government tit. You want to work for Orkin spraying cockroaches or do you want to get paid a lot better looking for Russians in Little Flock?
The truth is America has spied like a Mofo since the beginning of time. Our government pretends to be above all that, but they're not and never have been. I learned a million little secrets from my chance encounter with a bunch of drunk FBI folks back in 1988. You can't imagine the resources they have or how hard they work to leave no stone unturned. It scares me and makes me feel better at the same time.....I think.
But like we needed Homeland Security and new Federal Czars for this and that, government grows as much as we'll let it. So far the only one to benefit from Homeland Security is our local King of the Penny Stocks. Never have so few wasted the money of so many.
PS I'm going to the bathroom now, Boris.
A free and open republic is an impossibility under so much secrecy.
Once again it is systemic... from foll like Max constant battles for foia's on what so often should obviously be freely available all the way up to this post topic.
We are too afraid of both the truth and our government for our own good.
Rather than NCTR,
that secret Government entity near Pine Bluff may be the Arsenal.
Still round the corner there may wait,
A new road or a secret gate.
J. R. R. Tolkien
I always thought big libs would like the government spending tax payer money in secret. That way we can't complain about what its being spent on. Oh wait this is for security so that doesn't count I guess. I guess if it was secret social spending and secret welfare programs that would be ok? Ugh?
On another note, I don't know what you big libs are complaining about? Secret government spending and spying on americans is just taking us another giant step further to becoming like the former Soviet Union, which is what big libs have wet dreams about.
You are getting your wish by the minute. Big brother that does all, knows all, owns all and spends all, so what are you complaining about? You are getting the exact kind of government you all dream about. Only problem is one day soon we'll all wake up and go, if only we had a society that was as free as the one in George Orwell's 1984.
Stop all that construction and we can use the unspent money to extend unemployment long enough to cover all those "no" guys who will be out of work in November.
As usual the troll misconceptions, misperceptions and misunderstandings are truly stultifying.
ActMax....who was President when Homeland Security was dreamed up? What administration was the most secretive in US history? (hint, the ex-VP is currently diving towards the grave)
What political party members were all over the news today saying we overreacted to 9-11 and now have over 800 thousand more people on the payroll, put there by Bionic Dick? (hint, DEMOCRATS)
What political party currently in power will start shuttering unneeded duplicate agencies? (hint, the head dude is a black man)
Hope this clears things up for you, bud. Goodbye Dick!
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