Dr. Strangelove of national intelligence and the CIA

Clemons:

Dear CIA Director Goss:

You were once a member of the U.S. Congress. You represented constituents and swore an oath to defend and protect our system of government, our Constitution.

A secrecy-obsessed national security bureacracy may be a necessity on some fronts, but democracy requires that it be limited. Attempting to squelch retired CIA personnel from speaking to the public or media is absolutely outrageous and inconsistent with our form of democracy.

You are completely out of line and have forgotten what your oath to this nation was all about.

You are fast becoming a caricature of a person so obsessed with leaks that you break the system in order to save it. Your harrassment of former CIA staff is unacceptable and your attempts to stifle the civil society of this country is antithetical to what democracy is about.

Turn this harrassment policy you have launched against former staff around.

Don't become the Dr. Strangelove of national intelligence and the CIA.

Sincerely,

Steven Clemons

The Washington Note