Say Anything Blog

AP -

More than 1 million pages of historical government documents — a stack taller than the U.S. Capitol — have been removed from public view since the September 2001 terror attacks, according to records obtained by The Associated Press. Some of the papers are more than a century old.

In some cases, entire file boxes were removed without significant review because the government’s central record-keeping agency, the National Archives and Records Administration, did not have time for a more thorough audit.

“We just felt we couldn’t take the time and didn’t always have the expertise,” said Steve Tilley, who oversaw the program. Archives officials are still screening records, but the number of files pulled recently has declined dramatically, he said.

The records administration began removing materials under its “records of concern” program, launched in November 2001 after the Justice Department instructed agencies to be more guarded in releasing government papers. The agency has removed about 1.1 million pages, according to partially redacted monthly progress reports reviewed by the AP. The reports were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

The pulled records include the presumably dangerous, such as nearly half an enormous database from the Federal Emergency Management Agency with information about all federal facilities. But they also include the presumably useless, such as part of a collection about the Lower Colorado River Authority that includes 114-year-old papers.

About 80 cubic feet of naval facility plans and blueprints — on microfilm, about 200,000 pages — were withdrawn since the agency said it didn’t have time to go through each individual document.

In all, archivists identified as many as 625 million pages that could have been affected under the security program. In their haste to remove potentially harmful documents from view, archives officials acknowledged many records were withdrawn that should be available.

So we pull everything from a free and open society for security reasons. What happened to limited government and open government? Oh right, the Republican Party doesn’t believe in this. It is a good talking point however. So we use the Patriot Act to put in US Attorneys that should go through the Senate. Congress meant for that provision to be used in an emergency situation. Even Republican lawmakers have said that. We pull files and papers of stuff from over 100 years ago. We are not allowed in certain places that we had access to before 9/11. We cannot take pictures of famous buildings or else we get questioned and hassled by the police. A misplaced backpack found anywhere is now a possible bomb. Never mind if it is at a Quiznos or a flaming 7-11. I don’t think bombing a 7-11 would be the big splash that Islamic Fundamentalists would be looking for. The Cartoon Network advertising in Boston shouldn’t have caused a scare because they had been there for 2 weeks. Overreaction is the name of the game in the United States, and I don’t see it getting any better.

It has been over 5 years since the Twin Towers were hit by airplanes. It is time to stop using that as an excuse for everything. Security needed to be tightened around the country and it still does. However, this secrecy that the Bush Administration has been using 9/11 since that day and it needs to be stopped. No more secret tribunals or detention without charges on Americans should be done. No more secrecy on how information was obtained to detain Americans. No more torture or anything else against the law should be happening. But it is. That is the true cost of 9/11. The freedom that Americans had since the Revolutionary War. We have lost it and it will not be given back to us. Why, you ask? When has the federal government given back rights to everyday Americans that it has taken away? You have your answer right there.

So right now, Americans are adopting a bunker mentality and we don’t know who the major enemy is. It could be Islamic extremists. It could be Hispanic revolutionaries crossing our borders illegally. It could be foreign governments like Iran or North Korea. However, we know it’s someone out there.  So why aren’t we as Americans coming together?  Our two major parties.  Both major parties would be served by shutting up about the insequential crap, stop playing politics as usual and focusing on helping the American People and protecting America.  It’s the absolute least that they could do for us.