Obama and Holder Get Weird

We're accustomed now to stories coming from China about government suppression of information. No one is surprised to hear that North Korea has arrested someone for speaking truth about what goes on over there. Totaltarian governments fear information because they hate to be embarrassed. Their legitimacy is so tenuous that any inkling of trouble could cause huge trouble down the line.

In the United States, however, we are supposed to trust that information will flow relatively freely. Sure, we'll hear about national security trumping clarity at times, but the 1st Amendment limits that kind of thing.

That's why the Attorney General's argument that a defamation lawsuit against a wholly private company is so bizarre. There really are only two options here, neither one of which is especially attractive. Either the company in question is in fact a front for a cover operation -- in which case the cover is blown just by the government's position -- or it is not -- in which case the Obama Administration has lost its bearings.

According to the New York Times, Holder's argument is classic double speak:

In this case, however, the Justice Department said that “the concerned federal agency, the particular information at issue and the bases for the assertion of the state-secrets privilege cannot be disclosed” without jeopardizing national security.

Why can't we sue? "Secret." Why is the information secret? "Secret." 

That's it.

But that cannot be it. Not here. Not ever.