Thursday, January 22, 2009

off to a good start: Obama reverses the Bush Family's code of Omerta


The Agitator has a good summary of some of the things Obama did on his first full day in office. Apparently reversing Bush policies on excessive government secrecy was a high priority. It should go without saying, but after 8 years of Bushism it bears repeating: openness and transparency is essential to a well-functioning democracy. There is a direct correlation between the amount of information the electorate has about what the government is doing and the ability of the electorate to make prudent electoral decisions (for a good example, look no further than the 2004 election).

So obviously I am happy to see Obama making this a high priority, and by all appearances the actions he took yesterday will go a long way toward bringing about a more well-informed electorate. But merely as a word of caution: issuing these directives now, at the beginning of his administration when it has no information it would rather hide, is relatively easy; the hard part will be the ongoing follow-through. But clearly Obama deserves the benefit of the doubt because he -- unlike Bush -- is showing through his earliest presidential words and deeds that he takes this seriously and believes it is important.

1 comment:

Gleemonex said...

Good CHRIST, doesn't that feel great? No one's ever going to agree with every decision the guy makes, but this is some serious money where his mouth is. And it's been so long since I could say that about a President ...