Re: Thoughts on the proposal

[George A. Gleason <gg@well.sf.ca.us>]

Agreed with Phil here.  Clipper can't have been developed since Inauguration
Day; it has to be a hand-me-down from the Bush administration, and I'm
willing to bet that Clinton has been sold a bill of goods to get his
support.  Now a lot of folks on this list are ideologically committed to
positions which are opposite to those of the Clinton amdministration, but
please let's not let that blur our perception here.  Clinton has shown a
decent commitment to civil liberties (particularly concerning sexual
freedom and reproductive rights, a very hard place to take a stand because
there's such strong rightwing opposition); he's also shown an interest in
telecom issues; I suspect what we're facing here isn't malice but lack of
information on his part.  Crypto is an elite area in math and computer
science; for most people outside of this circle it's something they assume
that they could never possibly understand and so they tend to accept the
word of experts at hand.  And the experts who are closest to the White House
are at Fort Meade.    The task we face is to bring the expertise of the best
minds on our side, to the attention of the White House.  

-gg