The Classification System Isn't Broken - Elected Officials Are Being Reckless With It
Making Up Problems Isn't Going To Help
There's a logical fallacy saying that just because classified documents have been found in now in two ex- presidents' homes, one president's home, one ex- Senator's home, and one ex- vice president's home that the classified system is broken.
Another reaction going around is that maybe we’re overclassifying stuff. Again — that’s not a logical conclusion to draw from what’s happening.
No, it sounds like things are out of control with classified documents in the White House. And maybe in Congress.
Maybe a problem is that people who are in these roles of President and Vice President and even Senator feel like they are above the law, and that they can't be bothered by the rules that govern the rest of us.
Maybe a problem is with presidential administration transitions.
Maybe a problem is with tracking classified information in the White House.
Maybe a problem is with storing classified information casually in the White House, and perhaps in the US Senate as well.
Maybe a problem is with elected officials. The rest of us have to go through a highly invasive process to even get access to classified documents in the first place.
Most of the rest of us who have had access to classified documents are likely too terrified of consequences to pilfer them or to be so damn casual with them that we accidentally a bunch of them home and don’t even know it.
We don't feel like we're above the law.
When you have to walk through multiple layers of security every day just to have access to highly classified materials and then have to go back out through those layers of security, it's a constant reminder about how much protection is on these documents.
When you willingly allow the US government to dig into the deepest, darkest parts of your life in all the areas going back years just so you can have a clearance, you get a sense for the commitment you’re making to not be casual and careless with classified material. When you give the US government the names of your closest people, people you barely know, neighbors, colleagues, doctors you’ve seen, foreign nationals you know, and every address you’ve had for years… you have a sense for how seriously the US government takes all of this.
Elected officials don’t have all that process and background check and months or years of tension and terror navigating the process. They just get the keys to the castle, as it were. And the US government has one gigantic, wicked powerful castle.
Now, far right extremists elected the the US House are taking control of the US House Select Committee on Intelligence that will have access to all kinds of classified information. Same for defense. Same for homeland security. And so on.
They’ve not been vetted to make sure they’ll be responsible with classified materials. They’ll likely have a few briefings, and they’ll be in.
I doubt they will be intimidated by guns, guards, and gates.
I do think they’ll expect that they're above the law. So far all the evidence supports that conclusion for a number of Republicans in Congress.
How much of that classified stuff is going to leak?
The media is starting to conclude that classified information is everywhere, and that maybe this is not as big of an issue as it seemed.
No, that's not the right conclusion either.
And then there’s this kind of BS. Here’s Sen. Lindsey Graham saying maybe things are just overclassified (also he thinks maybe Trump and President Biden are doing bad stuff with the classified materials they have/had, but that former VP Pence certainly would do no such thing):
None of the classified documents issues with Donald Trump, President Joe Biden, and ex-Vice President Mike Pence have a damn thing to do with overclassification.
People who are saying there may be an overclassification problem — including the media — are dismissing and diminishing the very serious national security risks and vulnerabilities brought by these cases; especially by Donald Trump.
Nothing about any of these cases indicate any sign of overclassification being the reason why all of this happened. Neither carelessness nor deliberate malice should be ignored because of something that’s not even relevant to the situation. Plus, the only way anyone could know if there was an overclassification problem is if we knew what the content even is, but it’s all still classified… and it’s better that that content has not (yet) leaked.
Trump in particular deliberately stole incredibly sensitive highly classified code-word level materials. Graham and others (such as the Washington Examiner) further erode national security when they attempt to divert attention from the real threats, vulnerabilities, and potential consequences of what’s happening with talk of overclassification — and the media take the bait and run with it.
The US House is doing similar and is ramping up to do more of the same. The media will take the bait when they do it, too.
In every one of these classified documents cases, multiple individuals without clearances have had exposure to classified materials. In every one of these cases, casual treatment of classified materials has led to national security vulnerabilities.
Good heavens. Are we just going to throw national security out the window?
THIS. IS. DANGEROUS.
There’s no easy solution, either.
Everyone’s going around in the media and on social media yammering about solutions. It’s good to have these conversations, because we need to make sure we keep these issues on the radar. Having the conversations helps drive the narrative — and we need that.
But it’s also not worth going too far overboard, because reasonable solutions are not likely coming to reality anytime soon. The deadlock in Congress with the US House being run/pushed by Republican extremists and the US Senate with a razor thin Democratic majority doesn’t indicate that new transformation laws will get passed anytime in the next two years before the next major election.
The solution is we need sane people in favor of democracy to win in much more overwhelming numbers in 2024 — and to get clear majorities in both the US House and the US Senate with enough votes to overrule the filibuster. And to win the Electoral College. That’s the solution.
We’re planning to help Democrats get people fired up so we can reach more people than have been reached before. Join us. Volunteer, send funds through the through the website or ActBlue, sign up for this Substack, share the heck out of it, and ask people you know to get involved, too.
We’re not going to win overwhelming majorities doing the same stuff we’ve been doing… because that hasn’t gotten overwhelming majority results.
Let’s try new stuff. We need to start now. The other side is already engaged and hyperactive. It’s not a good time for a political time-out.
Be safe, be well, and look after some people. We all need it.
I get your basic premise, Vanessa. I might quibble with you about whether or not too much information is being classified. I would argue that's probably true--to me, only the stuff that really, really needs to be classified should be classified. But that is beside the point. We have arrived at a place where we aren't even concerned about what's IN all those classified documents. Not really. We'd rather gloat (if we're talking about the classified documents in trump's possession) or make excuses (if we're talking about the ones in Biden's). Oh, what to do about Pence's?! In a sane world (will we ever return to that?), we would carefully determine what potential harm might have resulted from trump's and Biden's and Pence's possession of classified materials. Then we would figure out what guardrails we need to ensure that future presidents (and as you noted, Senators) will not be able to mishandle the classified information that they receive. But honestly, there's no sex appeal in talking about what the real problem is and what real changes need to be made. Oh, no. It's much more titillating for the media to make hay about how Biden has lost all standing to criticize trump; that riles both Biden's and trump's bases. Bingo! A media circus is born. And nourished. So you and I definitely agree--2024 is crucial if we want to see any meaningful change to put the country back on track. And maybe then we'll be able to tackle the question of what SHOULD be classified and how it should be handled.