Is The Greatest Threat To Democracy Coming From The Elites Who Refuse To Accept 'Accountability And Responsibility'?

Former FBI Director James Comey testifies before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, June 8, 2017. Reuters/Jim Bourg

Nils Gilman, American Interest: Wanted: A Self-Draining Swamp

Perhaps the most insidious threat facing Western democracies has been the progressive decline of elite accountability and responsibility.

When Christine Keeler died this past December 5 at age 75, a predictable welter of obituaries poured forth, most no doubt having been drafted in readiness decades ago when her fame was established. Central to that dubious fame was a series of lovers Keeler bedded 55 years ago, at age 19, including among others both Captain Yevgeny Ivanov, a Soviet naval attaché (and likely spy) in London and Baron John Profumo, the 46-year-old (and married) Conservative Secretary of State for War. This, it was averred, created a potential security risk.

Like all good scandals, this one burned slowly and climaxed dramatically. Profumo initially made a public denial to Parliament that he had engaged in any “impropriety,” threatening to sue for libel any newspapers that published rumors of the affair. But in a series of lurid twists and turns over the next two years, involving a high-class prostitution ring, lowlife beatings, some rare gunplay, and a high-profile suicide, the truth eventually dribbled out. Finally, Profumo was forced to admit the truth in June 1963.

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WNU Editor: If there is one thing that I have learned in the past few years is that the elites cannot be trusted to police themselves. They are always insulated and protected. Nils Gilman's analysis is spot on, and his post is a must read.

White House Promises Of Transparency Is A Myth

Camp Delta, the fenced-in core of the Guantánamo prison. Angel Franco/The New York Times

Second Thoughts -- Weekly Standard

The 'most transparent administration in history' buries a Gitmo report.

At 12:01 P.M. on January 20, 2009, minutes before Barack Obama was sworn in as president, the first post went up on the Obama White House website. It included a reiteration of a campaign promise Obama repeatedly made: "President Obama has committed to making his administration the most open and transparent in history."

Two days later, Obama ordered the detention facility at Guantánamo Bay closed. And two days after that, on January 24, Newsweek's Michael Isikoff wrote about a Pentagon study that will provide an early test of this promise: "The report, which could be released within the next few days, will provide fresh details about 62 detainees who have been released from Guantánamo and are believed by U.S. intelligence officials to have returned to terrorist activities."

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My Comment: I have always gone by the following rule: Do not listen to what a person does .... instead .... pay attention to what they do. Bottom line .... this White House is not going to be transparent on subjects that will undermine their political goals.

The unreleased Gitmo report is a landmine that the White house does not want to confront. The simple fact is that the inmate population at Guantanamo all have an extensive history of violence and murder. That is why they are still there.

From child soldiers like Omar Kadr to 9/11 planner Khalid Sheik Mohammed .... there is blood a plenty .... and no whitewash can get rid of the destruction that these terrorists have caused ....and could cause if released.

If this was not the case, these murderers would have been in front of civilian courts years ago. Tried and judged .... and quickly forgotten.

The Gitro report undermines the White House case for Guantanamo. It will be buried until the legal framework for these inmates has been decided upon and implemented.