Canceled Order

Big Brother backs down

In Orwellian terms, National Security Decision Directive 84 seemed perfect for 1984. Issued by the Reagan Administration a year ago but delayed by Congress, it included two Big Brotherly provisions: the widespread use of lie-detector tests within Government agencies to help find the sources of leaks of classified material, and a requirement that for the rest of their lives the 128,000 officials with access to top-secret information submit anything they propose to publish to Government censors for "prepublication review."

Opponents called the directive a threat to constitutional rights. Correctly. Nor did top political aides at the White House, who undoubtedly account for more sensitive leaks than lower-level bureaucrats, relish the thought of facing polygraph straps and lifetime censorship. Last week the President backed down, suspending the controversial provisions until a "bipartisan solution" to the problem of safeguarding classified information can be worked out in Congress. Orwell's worries about 1984 apparently failed to take into account that it was an election year.