Transparent Government...Not So Much

Faithful readers of the library's print publication, Murphy's Law, will recall an article in the May issue discussing the Freedom of Information Act. President Obama wowed starry-eyed progressives with his broad pronouncements of the value of FOIA. Owing to its firm dedication to objectivity, Murphy's Law decided to reserve judgment regarding the impact of the President's statements and also the impact of the policy shift for FOIA.

Events and occurrences in the intervening months since that article have cast a decidedly dour pall over Obama's 'sunshine is the best disinfectant' rhetoric. The most recent disappointment stems from the White House support for the Detainee Photographic Records Protection Act of 2009, co-sponsored by Joe Lieberman and Lindsey Graham. The Act was attached as an amendment to a spending bill. The Act has been removed from the House version of the spending bill at the insistence of House Democrats. The Senate version is in committee. Congressional opposition to the Act prompted Lieberman and Graham to issue a joint statement in which they vow to do everything in their power to bring the wheels of the legislative process to a grinding halt if the Act is not passed.

With every passing day this administration appears more and more to be an extension of its predecessor. Change we can believe in? I'll be reserving my belief for that moment when changes actually occur.