Leaks

Alex, have you seen The Wire? I’ve just made it past season 3 of the show, and I have to say that the show has—maybe not changed my life—but certainly changed the way I see institutions and politics. The show is mostly about institutions, and how for the individuals within these institutions, change is possible, but for the institutions themselves, change is never effected, nor desired. Change is possible on an individual level, but never on an institutional level.

When I first saw the show, I saw parallels to what I was experiencing in academia. And then I realised that everybody experiences the sort of things depicted on The Wire.

It’s not just me, and it’s not just my career. It’s a bitter, bitter reality.

See, here’s where I disagree, pookie. Slightly. I mean, is the US Govnt’s reaction completely out of proportion? Yes. Are they using double standards? Yes. For one, where’s Dick Cheney’s indictment for leaking Valerie Plame’s identity? And how about the guy who leaked Prince Harry’s platoon’s location in Afghanistan? Their reclessness put people’s lives in clear and immediate danger and yet no action was taken against them. That being said, there are some things that govnts should be able to keep secret for obvious reasons. Preemptive attacks and proportional response strategies come to mind.
The latest batch of leaks indeed highlight the level of corruption and dissension within that particular govnt, but anyone who’s followed the administration’s run cannot be surprised by it. The most promising American President in a while is being held down by his own nosepicking party. But I digress. I don’t think there are many people out there, regular people like you and me, who’ve actually read through all the hundred upon thousands of pages and can say beyond the shadow of a doubt that there is nothing there that could endanger people’s lives more than they previously were. I’m willing to bet on the contrary. There is a difference between transparency and confidentiality.
Last but not least, the only thing I find amusing about this clusterfuck is that the people they’re outing, aka the CIA are the same people who would have poisoned him, shot him in the head and propped his arse at the steering wheel of a flaming car doing 100 mph on the edge of a cliff back in the good old days. So I’m going to go with: See, that’s progress, right there!