Parade Magazine should hold Bush accountable for secrecy

When Parade Magazine, home of celebrity drivel and the meaningless puff piece, starts sounding the alarm on government secrecy, you know it's time to get worried.

Today's issue includes a bite-sized article urging readers to "Shine the Light on Government Secrets." Sandwiched between blurbs on where to get tax help and a CBS biopic, Parade outlines the sweeping new restrictions in public access to information over the past few years.

But not once do they mention the person responsible for this incredible new level of secrecy: George W. Bush.

(There doesn't seem to be a link to the complete text, so I've transcribed much of it below. Here is a link to their on-line article about the article.)

Shine the Light on Government Secrets

Citizens have the right to know what their government is doing. That's at the core of Sunshine Week, March 13-20, a new undertaking led by the American Society of Newspaper Editors. Freedom of Information advocates see a trend toward more classified documents and closed doors in government, and it worries them. Facts that once were available to the public are being restricted or erased from Web sites. The federal government is classifying about twice as many documents as it did in the '90s. Not all of it is to keep us safe: Agencies are using 9/11 protection laws to hide unflattering reports on official business, spending and conduct. And obtaining information can be costly. The Justice Department told one public-interest group it would charge $372,799 to search for data on detainees. Even states are getting into the cover-up act.

(The article goes on to urge readers to "visit www.parade.com and click on `Intelligence' to learn what you can do." Then they link you to some Web sites about "Sunshine Week" and state Freedom of Information laws.)

Kudos to Parade for at least raising the issue. But once again, Bush gets a pass. Parade has a huge readership, but the casual reader isn't likely to make the connection. "The federal government is classifying about twice as many documents as it did in the '90s." Folks, what happened between then and now?! Let's see, last I checked, Clinton and the Democrats were at the helm in the 1990s. There's a new team in charge now. George W. Bush and Dick Cheney brought this attitude with them in 2000, and they've used 9/11 to justify their arrogant view that the people have no right to know what's being done in their name.

This attitude is so un-American that it makes my head hurt. This travesty is the doing of George W. Bush, and he and his administration should be held accountable.

Here's what I wrote to the editors of Parade. (Go  here if you care to do the same.)

Dear Parade editors,

I read your article, "Shine the Light on Government Secrets," in today's Magazine with interest. Clearly, this trend toward conducting government in private is a switch from the Clinton presidency in the 1990s. Who is making the un-American decision to do government behind closed doors?

Your article makes it sound as though this is some sort of spontaneous trend. Our government has a leader, and his name is George W. Bush. This is the Bush government, these are Bush agencies, this is the Bush Justice Department. If you see fit to ring alarm bells here, it's only fair that you tell readers who is responsible for this situation. It's not as if this is happening in a vacuum and that the way people voted in 2000 and 2004 had nothing to do with this.

Sincerely,

(me)

Bush should be tied by name to actions such as this. We no longer have a bi-partisan government; everything that happens under his watch can and should be laid at his feet and those of the Republican Congress. The "accountability moment" must continue.