The Harriet Miers affair is another good example of how privacy hurts our ability to be appropriately informed. We should know, but don’t:
1. The real reason Ms. Miers was nominated by the President.
2. The real reason her nomination was withdrawn.
3. The sources of money who backed her nomination.
4. The sources of money who opposed her confirmation.
5. The elected officials who supported her confirmation.
6. The elected officials who opposed her confirmation.
7. The real views of Ms. Miers.
Democracy doesn’t work when the people we elect, the people appointed by the people we elect, and the people lining the pockets of the people we elect can all act in secret.
It is time to quit demanding privacy and start demanding transparency if we are going to have any chance of fixing the government mess.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
David: Thanks for your comment at Mikes' America... I get outnumbered sometimes, so I hope you can visit again soon.
Regarding your post here, I'm a big fan of transparency in government and business. I wish the level you suggest were possible, but I fear it is not.
We saw an attempt in the Miers debacle to obtain attorney/client privileged documents from the White House, this time, by our own Senate Republicans.
Of course, Bush cannot turn over that kind of internal memorandum.
Intersting that Democrats have laughed off conservative demands that THEY turn over the communications they have had with outside groups opposing the President, none of which have an attorney client protection.
We waged a good an honest fight on Miers and she never had a chance to speak for herself. I am very disappointed. But our conservative friends were looking for a fight and I guess they got one after all, only it was with the President and us.
I hope the damage can be repaired.
Hi Mike,
I wouldn’t be for complete transparency in matters that involved National Security, but I do think we have way too many secrets that are hurting our ability to be free.
Thanks for your comment.
Post a Comment