executive privilege

The Bush administration's code of silence

Sidney Blumenthal
Guardian

August 2, 2007
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Omertà (or code of silence) has become the final bond holding the Bush administration together. Honesty is dishonourable; silence is manly; penitence is weakness. Loyalty trumps law. Protecting higher-ups is patriotism. Stonewalling is idealism. Telling the truth is informing. Cooperation with investigators is cowardice; breaking the code is betrayal. Once the code is shattered, however, no one can be trusted and the entire edifice crumbles.