New York Times Reports Shocking News that CIA Keeps Secrets....

Today, the New York Times took the opportunity to let America know, for the first time, that the CIA doesn't always tell everyone everything. More specifically, Leon Panetta saw fit to announce that Congress had been directly lied to in the past.

Why is this a non-story, you may ask? You may think that the people, via their representatives embodied in Congressmen, have a right to know what the nation's entities are doing. And you would be right. If Americans were utterly and totally different. Like basically if we were martian versions of ourselves.

Americans (you could say people in general, but there are significant cultural differences) have the unfortunate personality combination of being chatty cathys and having a lack of natural intelligence. The kind of natural intelligence that tells you that if your government's spy agency isn't sharing information with you, it's probably best to let it go. Which, of course, brings in their third major personality flaw, undaunted confidence in their positions. Americans will believe that things don't exist when one is standing right in front of them. And they will fight to the death over the fact that the item doesn't exist.

To summarize, Americans can't keep secrets, don't understand the consequences of their actions, and insist that their personal opinions are correct regardless of the presence of irrefutable proof. I challenge you to find any online newspaper with a comments section that doesn't definitively prove this.

Enter the analysis of the CIA as to whether this group of people should be informed on a regular basis about undercover missions. The answer: a resounding no. Which is why, historically, the CIA as well as other nation's secretive agencies, have kept information from their citizens.

Yes, it does require that you trust someone you don't know and can't fight with to make decisions that are best for you, and if not for you personally, than for the country as a whole. But, get real. You do that every single day, whether you acknowledge it or not.

Today, again, they found e coli in commercial food. Three types, in fact, in nestle cookie dough. The stuff kids eat raw out of the refrigerator. Somehow, magically, the otherwise impeccable FDA missed that. Again. As they have, over and over again. And yet, for some reason, all these Americans actually believe their food is safe.

They believe, because they find him charming, that they are somehow able to communicate with the president and that he is telling them everything that is going on. Think about it. As an american, you probably instinctively believe this. Then step back and think about how absurd and naive that is. He can't tell you everything because you would tell everyone else and we would never be able to engage in any form of stratagem or even organized action. There would be constant chaos because everyone would be looking to respond first to whatever was announced.

Back to the CIA. I have enormous respect for the CIA. Respect and gratitude. I think even if I found out they killed my grandfather (which, just for the record, they didn't, just theoretically) I would lose none of my respect or gratitude. The CIA represents what we really need in this nation and in our lives - a pillar of responsible organization that makes the best decisions it can at the time given the knowledge it has. The types of decisions that weaker people can't make because they focus too much on the trees and miss the forest. Decisions that require a knowledge of the potential depth of human cruelty that many Americans ignore.

I think, perhaps, our nation has been sheltered for too long and as a result, we forgotten how much of the rest of the world lives. You would think that people would still remember, as we've recently had terrorist attacks showing exactly this thing, but people are quick to try to read in "difficult childhoods" and "brain-washing" and any number of other things that would somehow make these horrific incidents one-offs. People do this as a means of feeling safe. It's a very false sense of safety, but for many people, it works. Imagine if you lived the other way, constantly assuming anyone could turn on you. Anyone could commit the most unimaginable horrors or betrayals. Then, I would feel comfortable with having you make decisions on my behalf as part of the CIA. You would then "get it."

Under that scenario, not only would I not need updates from you, I wouldn't want them. The beauty of having other people do the dirty work for you and you never having to know about it is just that; you can live in denial that any acts were perpetrated for your good that caused others to suffer.

For me, the CIA does the work the military branches largely can't achieve because they're too transparent. If the army goes and openly kills the leader of a country or a foreign spy, the president will have to talk about it and there will be a world-wide uproar with attacks on americans and american assets. If it's done covertly, everything can hum along as it's meant to.

Built into this, again, is something that many people ignore - this is work that has to be done. We need people protecting us in a much more substantive and secretive manner. These people TRULY give their lives. They give up their identities, their ability to communicate freely, they give up everything they've known. And then Congressmen who sit in their fluffy chairs in their tacky dull 80s style suits want to complain? Why don't they get out in the field and do the work and then they can talk about it.