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"An estimated 854,000 people, nearly 1.5 times as many people as live in Washington, DC, hold top-secret security clearances."

Secret eyes. (image: Tom Bachtell/The New Yorker)

Comments

+2 # Guest 2010-07-31 00:29

Does it matter who has, who produces and who guards so-called secrets? We all know what's up. Wheee the people are being lied to, manipulated, stolen from and just generally messed around with. Why? Because we are the people and we've got to be held down so we don't get too big for our breaches. Pete Edler, Stockholm

+1 # Guest 2010-07-31 01:41

I meant to write 'breeches' of course. Apropos - why wouldn't a prosperous populace be preferable to a poor populace? Well, capitalist ownership actually doesn't care whether we're prosperous or poor. It cares only about making more money, never mind the consequences. That's the nature of capitalism - a mixture of avarice and stupidity. Obviously, if I can be rich in a happy population that's more pleasant for me than to be rich in an unhappy population. The bottom line is that rich capitalists are so stupid they never think that far. Ultimately, they don't even care about themselves. Pete Edler, Stockholm

0 # Guest 2010-07-31 03:37

There are only two questions, #1. Is Why? #2. Is where does one apply for a position?

+1 # Guest 2010-07-31 03:38

One thing left out.

What is the price tag of this 854,000 person monster costing the taxpayer?

Certainly in the billions.
How many Trillion?

+1 # Guest 2010-07-31 05:57

In the German Democratic Republic so-called some one-tenth of the population spied on the other nine-tenth. The result was that when the GDR collapsed it left behind warehouses full of spying reports that had never even been touched. There simply weren't enough people to read everything that was produced. Today this has to be a lot worse, proportionally. Should the US collapse no one will ever be able to read all the terrible things it has done - to wit the 92,000 documents leaked in one fell swoop. We're drowning in paperwork!!! Pete Edler, Stockholm

0 # Guest 2010-07-31 09:16

Who says, we don't live in a "police state"?!

0 # Guest 2010-07-31 10:32

There is no doubt that our governments and security-related agencies have gone a bit berserk using 9/11 to justify much of this craziness but we need to be careful in stating the extent of the issue. I am retired and 67 years old. I have a Top Secret clearance which I received in 1963 while in the military. I presume I am among that 854,000 as are thousands like me. A clearance doesn't go away unless you do something stupid (and get caught) or die. That doesn't mean that I have access to all this classified information laying around. In addition to having a clearance I must also have the "need to know." Hardly the case with me at this point. Although it appears that the rush to spy on each other and create secret files is, at best, excessive, a grain of salt should be considered with the "details."

0 # Guest 2010-08-25 07:20

The only “news” here is that the intelligence community is growing out of control just like the rest of the federal government.

What about The Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Health and Human Services, EPA, Transportation, you name it.
We need to pull the plug on this monster before it devours us all, if it hasn’t already.

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