Media Freedom International
Harvard law Professor, Cass Sunstein, is President Barack Obama’s appointee to head the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. In a published report from Harvard Sunstein claims that the United States government should infiltrate and discredit activists he calls conspiracy groups. Sunstein acknowledges that the US government has been involved in conspiracies in that past but believes that this is no longer a problem. He claims that groups that question the Kennedy assassination, Paul Wellstone’s death and the events of September 11th are dangerous and could lead some people to violence.
Sustein’s perspective on the government’s ability to infiltrate “conspiracy theory” groups is in conflict with his appointment to the head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. According to the White House web site this position entails “overseeing policies relating to privacy, information quality, and statistical programs,”
Sustein’s justification for disregarding the rights of those he is appointed to protect is his belief that they suffer from “crippled epistemology,” meaning conspiracy groups become internally amplified with a limited number of sources of information that they trust.
Sunstein believes refuting these groups in public is nonproductive, and the primarily effective method is to infiltrate and cogitatively discredit their internal sources. Sunstein is essentially calling for a return of COINTELPRO from the Cold War days when agents of the US government covertly infiltrated anti-war and civil rights groups with the intent to disrupt and discredit their activities.
