"Catch-22" relates to TPTB arbitrary rules in order to justify and conceal their own abuse of power.
The State Department announced Friday that it will not release 22 emails from former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton because they contain "top secret" information, the highest level of government classification. State Department spokesman John Kirby said the documents, totaling 37 pages, were not marked classified at the time they were sent, but are being upgraded at the request of the Intelligence Community because they contain sensitive information. Kirby said a separate review by the bureaus of Diplomatic Security and Intelligence and Research is being held into whether the information in the emails was classified at the time they were sent and received.
The Clinton camp predictably went into damage-control mode when the news broke. The Clinton camp's response to the latest email revelation mirrors Joseph Heller's prose in Catch-22, circular and repetitive, exemplifying in its form the structure of a Catch-22. Circular reasoning is widely used by the characters to justify their actions and opinions. First, Clinton claimed there was “no classified material” on her private server — which turned out to be untrue. Then she claimed none of the intelligence on her server was “classified at the time” — which also turned out to be untrue.
Hillary may find solace in this Heller "Catch 22" quote: "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't after you.”
But the real moral of the story may be this "Catch 22" quote: “When I look up, I see people cashing in. I don't see heaven or saints or angels. I see people cashing in on every decent impulse and every human tragedy.”
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