Page 225 - Gobierno ivisible
P. 225
Date: 4/5/2011 Page: 225 of 237
Misleading statements related to covert operations have even distorted the electoral process, as was demonstrated
in the presidential campaign of 1960.
It seems reasonable to suggest that there be fewer righteous declarations and less public misinformation by the
government and, perhaps, more discreet silence in difficult circumstances.
The secret intelligence machinery of the government can never be totally reconciled with the traditions of a free
republic. But in a time of Cold War, the solution lies not in dismantling this machinery but in bringing it under
greater control. The resultant danger of exposure is far less than the danger of secret power. If we err as a
society, let it be on the side of control.
"It should be remembered," Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1819, "that whatever power in any government is
independent, is absolute also."
