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Politics : The Donkey's Inn -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mephisto who wrote (1386)	12/10/2001 11:46:23 PM
From: Mephisto	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 15516

Hiding from history Buffalo News PRESIDENTIAL PAPERS 12/10/2001 President Bush's decision to hamstring historians and restrict access to presidential documents that by law should already have been public property is both heavy-handed and regrettable. Unravelling the past is key to understanding today's decisions. The president's executive order is a vote against the governmental transparency that is vital to America. It hardly can be coincidence that the effort to block access to Ronald Reagan's presidential papers also shrouds an administration that includes several key players now back in power, and ends with the declaration that "this directive again applies also to the vice presidential records of former Vice President George H. W. Bush." Executive order 13223 gives both former and sitting presidents far more leeway in claiming "executive privilege" to keep documents secret, and it orders the national archivist to comply automatically instead of evaluating that claim. It is now under challenge, rightly so, by a lawsuit. The 1978 Presidential Records Act, passed as part of the aftermath of Watergate, calls for presidential records to be released after 12 years unless national security or personal privacy exemptions apply. A former president could claim executive privilege but the sitting president had the final say. Now either can block the wishes of the other until a court decides. In essence, Bush's executive order shifts the emphasis from public access to a process favoring secrecy, and forces anyone seeking information to launch a costly court appeal and show a "demonstrated, specific need." That was clearly not the intent of the 1978 law. It's worth noting that, although Reagan is the first president covered by the law, previous presidents didn't even wait for such direction. Lyndon B. Johnson facilitated the release of his papers and his widow released even raw tapes of his telephone conversations. Gerald Ford agreed to deed his records to the archives before his term ended. Reagan's office has made no claims of executive privilege. None of them had problems with the "process" current administration officials claim they are trying to fix. Reagan's papers were due to be released last January, but the Bush administration ordered a delay for review. Now the claim is national security, a cover provided by Sept. 11. But cover for what? Actions or recommendations made by Bush's father as either vice president or president? Discussions involving such current administration returnees as Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, Donald Rumsfeld or Condoleezza Rice? Secrecy can only feed such speculation. Bush ought to rethink this position. buffalonews.com