[3030] in cryptography@c2.net mail archive
Re: The issue is near-perjury by high ranking U.S. government off icials.
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (John Kelsey)
Tue Jul 21 17:49:42 1998
From: "John Kelsey" <kelsey@plnet.net>
To: <perry@piermont.com>, "Brown, R Ken" <brownrk1@texaco.com>
Cc: "Eric Young" <eay@cryptsoft.com>,
"C Matthew Curtin" <cmcurtin@interhack.net>,
"Robert Hettinga" <rah@shipwright.com>, "John Lowry" <jlowry@bbn.com>,
"Xcott Craver" <caj@math.niu.edu>, <gnu@toad.com>,
<cypherpunks@cyberpass.net>, <dcsb@ai.mit.edu>, <e$@vmeng.com>,
<cryptography@c2.net>
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 14:56:20 -0500
> From: Perry E. Metzger <perry@piermont.com>
> To: Brown, R Ken <brownrk1@texaco.com>
> Cc: Eric Young <eay@cryptsoft.com>; C Matthew Curtin
<cmcurtin@interhack.net>; Robert Hettinga <rah@shipwright.com>; John
Lowry <jlowry@bbn.com>; Xcott Craver <caj@math.niu.edu>;
gnu@toad.com; cypherpunks@cyberpass.net; dcsb@ai.mit.edu;
e$@vmeng.com; cryptography@c2.net
> Subject: Re: The issue is near-perjury by high ranking U.S.
government off icials.
> Date: Tuesday, July 21, 1998 11:40 AM
> Perhaps others find it acceptable for government officials to lie
to
> congress under oath, but I don't. I don't think that the bulk of
the
> American public finds this acceptable, either. Unsurprising,
perhaps
> -- but not *acceptable*.
I think that's pretty-much it. Most of us who ever pay attention to
the statements of politicians and bureaucrats have long since noted
that they routinely lie in public, and that (for whatever reason)
they are almost never called on it by reporters or public
commentators. The GAK debate has consisted of a huge number of
evasions, half-truths, and outright lies on the part of the Feds.
Seeing yet another lie is no surprise at all. It's like finding out
that a member of a local street gang was involved in yet another
mugging--it doesn't change your moral evaluation of the kid, since
you knew he did that sort of thing anyway.
I agree that this can't be good for the orderly functioning of a
democratic government, but I have no idea how to fix it. If lying to
congress and getting caught at it, again and again, doesn't cost an
FBI director or an Attorney General his/her job, and doesn't affect
his/her future prospects for power, then there is not an obvious
reason to expect him/her not to do it.
> Perry
--John Kelsey, kelsey@counterpane.com / kelsey@plnet.net
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