As a lay historian, I could not be more pleased with President Obama’s decision to use his first executive orders to restore teeth to the Freedom of Information Act and insist that the government err on the side of disclosure when it comes to official documents. Bush, however, and Rush, are shitting their pants.
“You couldn’t ask for anything better,” said Melanie Sloan, the executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, an advocacy group that tangled frequently with the Bush administration over records. “For the president to say this on Day 1 says: ‘We mean it. Turn your records over.’ ”
…It may not be the type of thing that Mr. Bush wants to hear, however. Experts said Mr. Obama’s moves would have the practical effect of allowing reporters and historians to obtain access to records from the Bush administration that might otherwise have been kept under wraps.
“Historians are overjoyed by this,” said Lee White, executive director of the National Coalition for History.
Amazingly, Limbaugh was completely transparent about the brick in his Fruit of the Looms.
LIMBAUGH: What I’m afraid of is that what Obama did with this executive order is actually make it easier for the media to go get Bush documents. Because you know Pelosi and some of the guys over in congress are talking about war crimes trials and charges and so forth. […]
What I’m afraid of is what Obama’s done here is made the gathering of the information for this kind of stuff– This is not American. This is not America. This is not what America does. We don’t– This is Banana Republic kind of stuff.
I like the executive order because it makes it easier for historians to make an accurate telling of history and because it adds sunshine to government and because Obama placed the highest priority on these things and because it keeps a campaign promise. The fact that it might make it easier to learn the secrets of the Bush administration is just gravy as far as I am concerned.
