The Secret Government in the United States that acts against the Constitution
Introduction
The United States government is a democratic government whose interests are vested in the accomplishment of the desires of its people; who are part of the government through political representation. The government is run by rational-legal authority enshrined in the constitution and the laws of America. The people of America through various representations in special interest groups and elections are able to influence public policy. This is their constitutional right that offers them a chance to make decisions pertaining to how they are ruled and governed. In addition, the representation ensures their opinions are taken into considerations on matters affecting their livelihoods including the economy, social life and international relations. However, this ideal case is not anything like the situation on the ground.
The view of the U.S government today is nothing less of an elitist and bureaucratic democracy. The government’s powers are no longer in the hands of the people but rather concentrated in a few groups of people and individuals. In turn the government serves the interests of these few individuals and groups of people at the expense of the common American public. This is totally contrary to the statutes of the constitution and violates the rights of American people. Interestingly, this perpetuated not only against the will of Americans but also against their knowledge (It is the right of Americans to know what the state does and they are entitled to an opinion that can shape decisions pertaining to the states actions). This whole secrecy lies in the control of a few elite groups of people the form what is termed as the secret government by Boyers’ in his documentary on the secret government (1987).
The secret government form and manifestation
Through the few elite power controllers the secret government wields its influence on the state and the people. This lot of people and groups form the informal elements of the U.S government system (Kendall, 2006 pp 440). They manifest under political parties, socialization, voter participation and political action committees that solicit funds to field or fail candidates in an election. They mainly comprise of multinational corporations including the media and corporations owning controlling interests in media conglomerates. According to Domhoff (2002) the few corporate rich control the political process by influencing candidate selection through campaign funding and providing favors to the political candidates. In return, they acquire favors in tax cuts and favorable regulatory ruling. They also gain access to national policy-making and implementation through appointments to government positions, presidential commissions and advisory boards for the president and government.
These elite groups and individuals are able to influence and shape up public opinion and policy to favor their personal gains (This in a sense goes against the constitutional rights of American pertaining to free autonomous decision-making). They further these efforts through the media. In quoting Parenti (1998), Kendall (2006, pp 440) states that the media can intentionally distort the information it gives to the public in order to suit the interests of a few individuals and groups. Since the media represents a few people giving and shaping opinions of the masses that cannot respond to it, then we can say it becomes a perfect tool for the secret government. In addition to these gains their multinational corporates gain substantially in business due to favorable rulings that allow them to do business under oligopolies and monopolies as well as obtain government tenders. Though this may not be clear to the general population, Kendall (2006, pp 444) gives an example of how it works under “the iron triangle” involving military procurements revolving around the defense contractors, congress and the department of defense. Kendall explains how the official in these three point cycle revolve through the organizations and influence business without making it seem illegal or abnormal.
The secret government operations are exemplified in Boyers’ documentary (1987) by the operations of the “The Enterprise”. This was a group of companies formulated under the guidance of William Casey in the presidential times of American president Reagan. This was shadowy enterprise acting in its own principles and ideas without any checks and balances by the law or constitution. Ironically, these operations were carried out under the nose of the executive authorities that were supposed to uphold the morals and statutes in the constitution. This group of companies under Albert Hakeem and Iranian born American dealt in arms trade between America and Iran with great financial benefits that were channeled to overseas personal accounts. This was done contrary to the arms embargo on Iran by the U.S at the costly expense of lives of Iranians and Iraqis at war. The process was a total breach of the constitution done without the knowledge of the general American populace. A similar scenario is shown in the arms trade to the Nicaraguan rebel groups. By upholding the constitution the American government is not supposed to support terrorist activities, however; this happened in the Nicaraguan case.
The government in deceit lied to the American people about the situation in Nicaragua and the interests of the rebels in order garner support for arms sale. In the real sense some of these arms were at times used in civilians attack as the rebels tried to pressure the government out of power. All these activities: some of them including illegal acts, constitutional breach and violation of rights were done without the knowledge of the American populace. Since people cannot judge what they do not know and no truth equals to no justice; then justice was not done at all to the people of America and non-Americans.The most recent example of the secret government type of operation was shown by the inadequacies in the 9/11 commission’s report. The report seemed to have hidden some information on activities that led to the 9/11 incident and the connection to the U.S government. This attack is traced back to the CIA backed resistance of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan and the support of extremist Muslim groups by the U.S. (Matt, 2009). This sort of illegal and unconstitutional support actually gave birth to al Qaeda and Taliban extremist groups that are a threat to America.
Conclusion
Conclusively, there is a shadow hand that controls the puppet government and political system to the detriment of the constitution. This research illumined a possibility of the lack of public input in policy formulation. According to the findings of the research most government decisions are made by a few individuals or groups for the interests of the few elite that wield massive financial control and influence. In the process of doing the control the elite weave an impenetrable network of bureaucracy that locks out the public’s contribution to the governance of the nation. Prior to this research my inclination had been that the U.S is a free democratic nation and the citizens new all that goes on in the government and are entitled to have an opinion towards that effect. At the end of the research I can conclusively say that I have learned that the general citizen population knows less of what the government does. On the other hand, the government too seems not to care whether the citizens are informed or not. Instead, it seems to enjoy and exploit the ignorance of the citizens.
References
Kendall, D. (2006). Sociology in our Times: The essentials, 7th edition, chapter 13. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
William, G. D. (2002). Who Rules America Now: A view for the 80’s? New York: Touchstone, Simon and Schuster.
Moyers, B. (1987). The Secret Government, Constitution in Crisis, Movie. [Motion picture]. Accessed on 5th May 2010 at http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3505348655137118430#
Matt, E. (2009). America’s Secret Government and the Road to 9/11.Journal of Psychohistory, pp1. Accessed on 5th May 2010 at Journal of Psychohistory, The. FindArticles.com. 05 May, 2010. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_7622/is_200904/ai_n32321059/
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