It seems the Bu$h malAdministration has a new excuse for secrecy. Samsara at The Agonist fills us in:
Not only is the Bush Administration more closed to journalists than administrations in recent memory, now it says the media is forcing its hand, driving the "kind of insularity that the press claims they don't like."Secretary Chertoff says in the interview, "That's having a real damaging effect." Too bad he's referring to the press, not the overreaching and seemingly ceaseless secrecy hurting public trust in the government.
“You made me do that. I didn’t want to, but you forced my hand” is one of the basic cheap, sleazy excuses of an abusive, drunkard husband after sending his wife to the hospital emergency room for the fifth time.
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Comments
We need a way for the people to propose legislation, I think.
Very true, Jeff, and thanks very much for the opening. There actually is such a vehicle in politics, called the Referendum. Wikipedia has a brief descriptiom.
There is also a second leg of the voter's triad, the initiative, and again Wikipedia has a bare bones explanation. For a fuller explanation of how these processes work, and what machinery exists in the individual states, you can read through the Initiative and Referendum Institute's webpage.
There's actually quite a bit of good teaching material, although the site is a bit weak on the tactics of advancing the initiative to the balloting stage.
The third leg of the voter's triad, of course, is the recall. That's where you have a special election to dump an ineffective or incompetent politician. Most people who breathe through their noses will probably remember the R's tactical use of the recall to get Gray Davis out of the Governor's chair in California, and install Arnold Schwartzenegger in his place.
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