"It’s not just wrong, it’s stupid"
By God knows there’s no shortage of Bush administration perpetrated outrages, the worst of which involve people dying hellish deaths. And so from that perspective this one may seem minor. But it’s important: it’s going to be up to the historians to tell the full story of just what the hell these lunatics in the White House were up to while in office. But who can doubt that the last thing Bush will ever want is a thorough investigation of his record?
President George W. Bush’s 2001 executive order restricted the release of presidential records by giving sitting presidents the power to delay the release of papers indefinitely, while extending the control of former presidents, vice presidents and their families. It also changed the system from one that automatically released documents 30 days after a current or former president is notified to one that withholds papers until a president specifically permits their release.
Today the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is scheduled to discuss a new bill that would overturn Mr. Bush’s order, said a committee spokeswoman, Karen Lightfoot. The sponsors, who include the committee chairman, Henry A. Waxman, Democrat of California, hope to bring the bill to the floor of the House next week.
Allen Weinstein, the archivist of the United States, said yesterday that the order was not being used to prevent presidential papers from reaching the public, but that obviously “it has been increasing the time and delays, which are endemic.” The backlog of requests for documents now extends up to five years.
This story is also just a beautiful microcosm of how the Bushites do business. Look at this:
“There was a fair, reasonable, orderly, clear, sensible and workable process for presidential records in place during the 1990s,” which Mr. Bush’s executive order “overturned and replaced with the opposite,” Mr. Blanton testified. It “is not just wrong, it’s stupid.”
The 1978 Presidential Records Act, part of the post-Watergate reforms, clearly gave the American public ownership of presidential papers, said the historian Robert Dallek, whose latest book, “Nixon and Kissinger: Partners in Power,” is being published next month. But Mr. Bush’s executive order, he said, has had the effect of returning ownership to presidents and their heirs.
The transference of public property to private hands, the obsession with secrecy, the creation of a huge giant mess that someone else will have to clean up, the totally reckless lack of concern for the consequences of one’s actions… hold on, I think I’ve heard this story before.
“It’s not just wrong, it’s stupid.” Pithy.
(Also at Whiskey Fire)