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Continuing my list of unconventional suggestions to Congress ... last time we covered my favorite fix... a law that might be written on a single page, that would instantly transform the inspectors general in most agencies and departments from (often) passive servants of their bureaucratic bosses into tigers who are fundamentally servants of the People.
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Now let’s move on to more examples from part two of my suggestion list -- ideas for actual legislation that might pass, even with a hostile president. Because these are ideas that look so evenheanded and nonpartisan that it would be politically very hard to block them.
(In part three we’ll get plenty partisan, don’t worry!)
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Suggestion #12: THE SECRECY ACT would ensure that the recent, skyrocketing use of state secrets to avoid accountability -- exceeding anything seen during the Cold War -- shall reverse course.
Without betraying field operatives or vital tactical information, independent commissions of highly-trusted Americans will observe, approve, or set time limits to all but the most sensitive classifications.
These commissions will include some members who are chosen (after clearance) from a random pool of common citizens.
Secrecy will still be a useful tool. But we are entering an age when it is simply foolish to count on any secret lasting forever. Also it encourages sloppy habits. But above all, it should not be used as a convenient way to evade accountability.
(For more on this topic in general, see my nonfiction book The Transparent Society - winner of the Freedom of Speech Award of the American Library Association. The topic is also well-illustrated in my novel, EARTH.)
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Suggestion #13: THE PROFESSIONALISM ACT will protect the apolitical independence of our intelligence agencies, the scientific and technical staff in executive departments, and the United States Officer Corps. All shall be given safe ways to report attempts at political coercion or undue political meddling in their ability to give unbiased advice.
Further features: appointments to military academies and other special institutions shall be made in ways that avoid dogmatic bias and emphasize excellence. Whistle-blower protections will be strengthened within the US government. Which leads us to...
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Suggestion #14: THE HENCHMAN'S ACT. It has a provocative name, but the aim is simple. A permanent office will be created, outside the intelligence community, that will confidentially and securely advise any person, in America or around the world, who may be thinking about revealing information about bad activities, including those that are illegal or harmful to the people, or that impair the effective operation of fair markets. According to each individual's needs, the informant may be steered toward intelligence or law-enforcement services, or toward open source networks, or even toward mass media.
Moreover, a system of graduated rewards and prizes will be set up, that encourage emergence of new sources of information about threats to peace or law or public well-being. These rewards will range from financial to public recognition... or else assistance in creating new identities, so that henchmen can turn into whistle blowers in an atmosphere of safety.
A neutral advisory board will ensure that there are no systematic biases in the execution of this program, so that incentives apply to whistle-blowers at all ends of the "political spectrum."
A process will be established - and free advice provided - under which whistle-blowers are protected from civil liabilities for slander and/or libel, if they follow specific procedures.
Ponder this. We are heading into an era when the world can simply no longer afford dark conspiracies, no matter whether they are among elites of the right or the left. In a fast-paced and information-rich world, it should be possible for people of conscience to turn against their employers, when those masters are betraying some proper law or public trust. Indeed, can you think of a better way to undermine the power of secretive elites, than to create uncertainty over when or which henchman might become the next whistle-blower?
At minimum, it would force conspiracies to stay small and limit their ambitions. There is no better way to ensure that light will spread and cleanse.
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Next time... Political Reform!...
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