How much do you feel we as a society are "entitled" to know??

do you feel the govt has should be disclosing all information to us...should we be kept in the "loop" about everything that goes on....

or

do we give them some leeway, with the tacit understanding that though we don't need (or want) to know everything, that we will be holding them accountable in the long run?

where are the lines drawn, in your opinion? are there any lines? should we have an open book policy?

do you think that sometimes our "openness" can be used to our detriment?

Re: How much do you feel we as a society are "entitled" to know??

Great question. I think that we, as a society deserve to know what is necessary for us to inform our representatives as to what actions we want taken. (Vague answer I know but bear with me).

The purpose for us to have this information is to make changes in our government & society as needed. Unfortunately, it has become "entertainment" for us to get this info via a very slanted & window dressed newsmedia. And in the end I think that very few people actually "do" anything with the information they recieve. Most people take it is carved in stone & unchangeable, and move on to what Brit is doing with her hair these days.

However, since the media is global and available to everyone; even the "bad-guys," I think that certain things need to be kept underwraps. Like when Geraldo on a live telecast gave away the positions of the soldiers he was riding with. Completely assinine move on his part & if I were them I would have dumped his a$$ out of the convoy & left him in the desert.

I think every situation is different, and it would be impossible to come up with a definitive guideline for all situations.

And to answer you final question, I think our apathy (as a society in general, not as individuals) is what is causing our detriment.

Message edited 4/25/2007 10:43:46 AM.

Re: How much do you feel we as a society are "entitled" to know??

From my perspective: I want to know what happens that effects me directly. If the Prez/gov officials are sleeping around w/their interns - I don't need to know.

If we're about to launch a nuclear bomb against another country, then yes, I want to know. What happens if that country retaliates....my safety is at risk.

Re: How much do you feel we as a society are "entitled" to know??

Great question!

I don't need to know everything, but I think we need to know more.

If I thought the gov't was keeping secrets to protect us, that would be one thing. But I don't believe this administration is doing much of that. I beleive many of the secrets kept from us are to cover their own mistakes (hence the Tillman/Lynch lies). This was not a matter of national security. It was their own errors that they are trying to protect.

Look at all the scandals in the current adminsistration: leaking of CIA agents, lying about it, Gonzalez firing 8 attorney generals, Bush's advisors possible illegal use of e-mail, (I am purposely leaving out the the VP accidentally shooting a friend). These all turn on the lack of honesty, truthfullness and intergrity of the current adminstration. None of these are done to protect this nation, just to cover the azzes of the people running it.

I'll take Clinton's sex scandal over this any day. I don't really care who Clinton sleeps with. I DO care who the President uses as his advisors to make decisions and lead this country.

I don't need to know who our spies are, what they are doing or even sometimes what they learn. You can fix the threat without me even knowing. I don't need to know if our soliders are sexually abused- just that they are abused.

But be honest about why this war was started. Be honest about our mistakes. Be honest about real threats to our safety.

But there are too many scandals going on now. Check out wikipedia's section on Bush's scandals

This is not about protecting our country, this is about protecting out country's leaders' and their mistakes. Forbes ran an article about how the Bush adminstration regarded loyalty over competence. Source

I guess what I am saying is I don't believe we need to know everything. Everything we know, our enemies will also know. Keep secrets to protect us.

But we need to know more than we currently do. The government cannot sweep their mistakes under the rug. Often they come out anyway (Abu Ghraib) and we just look so much worse. You can always diffuse a scandal by coming clean up front before someone else finds out.

Re: How much do you feel we as a society are "entitled" to know??

I have to say that I think that with a lot of things we definitely deserve to know byt there are also some things that are better left unsaid as long as it is for the good of the nation. For example; I think that there are a lot of "close calls" when it comes to disasters both terrorism and otherwise but to tell the american public about every little scare would cause a mass panic and national hysteria.

On the other hand, I think that we should be kept in the loop about foreign relations and national debt issues, more focus should be put on glabal warming and the current effects it's having on our planet and we should also be more informed on the passing of bills and laws.

Re: How much do you feel we as a society are "entitled" to know??

Re: How much do you feel we as a society are "entitled" to know??

Re: How much do you feel we as a society are "entitled" to know??

I think that the media plays a very detrimental roll in this...pitting the citizens against the govt, saying "look what they're not telling you know" when in reality, MRSMBV is right...EVERYONE gets the news...what we see, our enemies see.

our world is global now. information works against us more than it works for us.

I hear things on the news and I think "Osama thanks you for that bit of info"

sensationalism is coming at the price of our national safety, I fear.

Re: How much do you feel we as a society are "entitled" to know??

Posted by Ophelia

I think that the media plays a very detrimental roll in this...pitting the citizens against the govt, saying "look what they're not telling you know" when in reality, MRSMBV is right...EVERYONE gets the news...what we see, our enemies see.

our world is global now. information works against us more than it works for us.

I hear things on the news and I think "Osama thanks you for that bit of info"

sensationalism is coming at the price of our national safety, I fear.

Re: How much do you feel we as a society are "entitled" to know??

Posted by Ophelia

I think that the media plays a very detrimental roll in this...pitting the citizens against the govt, saying "look what they're not telling you know" when in reality, MRSMBV is right...EVERYONE gets the news...what we see, our enemies see.

our world is global now. information works against us more than it works for us.

I hear things on the news and I think "Osama thanks you for that bit of info"

sensationalism is coming at the price of our national safety, I fear.

Re: How much do you feel we as a society are "entitled" to know??

I have done a lot of research the role the media has on our government. IMO, the media creates a 24-hour newscycle that isn't consistent, well-researched or even timely.

It used to be that a press secretary for the President would report the news of the day to reporters at 5 pm. They would ask their questions, and he would say "Good night folks" and close the door. They would go back, type their stories, do further research, file the story and go to bed.

Now, it's all the time asking questions and recounting every nuance of a statement. The media over-inflates stories and minimizes others that need to be "out there."

The situation with the military reminds me of the Iwo Jima soldiers (Forgeting the move title!) where things were inflated or covered up.

But back to the main question --- I do not want to know the inner workings of the government, especially if I am hearing it from the media. There are certain things, such as military operations, etc. that I don't want to know until it is over and taken care of.

Re: How much do you feel we as a society are "entitled" to know??

I think we need to know enough to stay safe but not enough to cause panic. Make sense?

Re: How much do you feel we as a society are "entitled" to know??

I want to further say that I think we need to know what bills & proposals are being reviewed. I know that C-span is available for cable subscribers through most of the country, but how many of us watch it? How many of us knew ahead of time that the Pres. proposal to send more troops to Iraq a few years ago was tacked on as an addendum to an unrelated proposal that way to increase funds to Veteran's benefits. That is the sort of thing I think more people should know about, and take action against. JMO