I think this early-American episode goes to the question of intent. It seems doubtful that Jefferson intended harm to the United States, which he had helped to create, or to the American people. While any historical dividing-line is arbitrary, there seems to be much less justification in attributing goodwill or good faith to post-JFK Administrations. This post and others suggest a progression from an adversarial relationship with the citizenry, to clear indications of government acting in its own interest (such as with mass surveillance) against political opponents, to over-reaching, constitutional nullification, gross illegality, and outright hostility. So we may be justified in concluding that there is something essentially different about governance now, compared to the way it was in Washington and Jefferson's day.
In response to ' When did the U.S. Federal Government start routinely deceiving the public?', Elliot Werner notes that Thomas Jefferson left notes of Cabinet meetings on his desk, leaving his door unlocked so that journalists could read them. This baffled and incensed President George Washington, Elliot writes.
I think this early-American episode goes to the question of intent. It seems doubtful that Jefferson intended harm to the United States, which he had helped to create, or to the American people. While any historical dividing-line is arbitrary, there seems to be much less justification in attributing goodwill or good faith to post-JFK Administrations. This post and others suggest a progression from an adversarial relationship with the citizenry, to clear indications of government acting in its own interest (such as with mass surveillance) against political opponents, to over-reaching, constitutional nullification, gross illegality, and outright hostility. So we may be justified in concluding that there is something essentially different about governance now, compared to the way it was in Washington and Jefferson's day.
In response to ' When did the U.S. Federal Government start routinely deceiving the public?', Elliot Werner notes that Thomas Jefferson left notes of Cabinet meetings on his desk, leaving his door unlocked so that journalists could read them. This baffled and incensed President George Washington, Elliot writes.