“The Ship of State is the Only Ship that Leaks from the Top”, or Why “Yes (Prime) Minister” is the Greatest Political Show Ever!

Thanks to Brian Doherty at Reason, Wired on the US government’s mounting campaign against leakers:

The NCIS’ continued interest in an unclassified document posted over five years ago comes amid a new push by the Obama administration to crack down on leakers. The effort has been Kafka-esque from the start. It started when a pair of books revealed that the White House is intimately involved in approving drone attacks and cybersabotage operations against its foes. Days after the leaks, President Obama scolded the secret-spillers — even though the books’ authors were granted officially access to the highest levels of the administration. Congress has also stepped in with its own legislationthat would punish leakers of classified information. But the bill, recently passed by the Senate Intelligence Committee, exempts from reprisal most senior White House and administration officials — and, of course, members of Congress, as well.

As always Yes Minister anticipated this nearly 30 years ago

The Ship of State, Bernard, is the only ship that leaks from the top.

Why Yes Minister is vastly superior to The West Wing

From the BBC Radio 4 Documentary of the Week of March 2, 2012