Today amidst all the well-deserved hoopla regarding the Executive Order to close Gitmo, Senior Level pay freeze, and lobbying reform, there was a piece which I feel has been largely overlooked:

I will also hold myself as President to a new standard of openness. Going forward, anytime the American people want to know something that I or a former President wants to withhold, we will have to consult with the Attorney General and the White House Counsel, whose business it is to ensure compliance with the rule of law. Information will not be withheld just because I say so. It will be withheld because a separate authority believes my request is well grounded in the Constitution.

Let me say it as simply as I can: Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency.

OK, over to the flip side . . .

Riding the wave with me so far? Is President Obama telling us he is going to uncover a lot of the Bush-era programs if we issue a reasonable request?

I feel as though I have been wandering through the desert looking for water for eight long years and I've just stumbled upon Niagara Falls (or maybe I should say the bar/pizza place up the street on the Canadian side? hehehe).

Historians and political scholars, you've just had the doors to the past opened-up to you.

On the other hand, perhaps the "going forward" is a qualifier.

What do you think?