While the cynics around us inquire, "So what?"
I can but ask you if this is not
A completely intolerable situation
For a putatively self-respecting nation.

The folks in the press can't be very proud
When reasonable doubts can't be uttered aloud.
The case for the note they're afraid to report
When they know it could not be defended in court.

How long can we live in this crippled condition,
In the halfway house to complete perdition,
With the home of the brave and the land of the free
In the thrall of agreed-upon secrecy?

David Martin