The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society; and we are as a people inherently and historically opposed to secret societies, to secret oaths and to secret proceedings. We decided long ago that the dangers of excessive and unwarranted concealment of pertinent facts far outweighed the dangers which are cited to justify it. Even today, there is little value in opposing the threat of a closed society by imitating its arbitrary restrictions. Even today, there is little value in insuring the survival of our nation if our traditions do not survive with it. And there is very grave danger that an announced need for increased security will be seized upon by those anxious to expand its meaning to the very limits of official censorship and concealment.........we are opposed around the world by a monolithic and ruthless conspiracy that relies primarily on covert means for expanding its sphere of influence--on infiltration instead of invasion, on subversion instead of elections, on intimidation instead of free choice, on guerrillas by night instead of armies by day. It is a system which has conscripted vast human and material resources into the building of a tightly knit, highly efficient machine that combines military, diplomatic, intelligence, economic, scientific and political operations. Its preparations are concealed, not published. Its mistakes are buried, not headlined. Its dissenters are silenced, not praised. No expenditure is questioned, no rumor is printed, no secret is revealed. It conducts the Cold War, in short, with a war-time discipline no democracy would ever hope or wish to match.
Read more at the American Presidency Project: John F. Kennedy: Address "The President and the Press" Before the American Newspaper Publishers Association, New York City.
John F. Kennedy: Address "The President and the Press" Before the American Newspaper Publishers Association, New York City.
Talking Gitmo specifically and directly relating it continually to this is one thing...long drawn out debates on Gitmo and things regarding Gitmo with little or nothing connecting it to the topic in the post is entirely another. Now, in the future, if you have an issue with a moderators warning I suggest you PM the moderator or another moderator, report it with your comment, or use the "contact us" method. Trying to debate or make an argument/point regarding the warning in thread is a potential 6a violation and should not be done.
