In 1775, a nation was purportedly conceived behind a veil. Amidst the shut windows and closed doors of the Pennsylvania State House, 343 of the nation’s most stalwart citizens entered and exited the Second Continental Congress in what was legendarily secret. Here they managed a ballooning crisis with their fatherland, and, together, forged a common bond that founded a nation.
But those officials had something today’s do not – government accountability. The unjust taxes, the innocent citizen casualties, and the dismay of Great Britain were shared. It bridged a gap between citizen and government. Vital to this connection was the media, and the outcome of the American Revolution may have been substantially different without the honesty and clarity they transferred.
But this pivotal role did not cease at national foundation. William Lloyd Garrison was a beacon of morality that helped abolish slavery. Journalism raked through the unsanitary conditions of the early 20th Century food industry. Nary could an American dismiss Walter Cronkite as he delivered the Vietnam War to American television sets. Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward used transparency to unearth Watergate. And, most recently, DrudgeReport.com revealed the shocking Whitewater scandal in 1998.
Though investigative journalism shed light on a litany of our government’s darkest secrets, Americans have come to accept a deeper veil of secrecy. Beginning September 11, 2001, many citizens became so terrified, they delivered Pres. Bush a blank check to protect us. There was little concern over what rights we lost or crimes we were about to commit.
And so, the blindness and shortsightedness of our government led us to war without evidence of weapons of mass destruction; to disobey The Constitution at Guantanamo Bay; to condone the atrocities committed by BlackWater mercenaries; and accumulate a deficit beyond imagination.
Slinging war money as though it were confetti is only the prelude to our morose economic climate. Undue tax relief complemented by bad loan industry oversight, shady banking procedures, and corporate bailouts doomed Americans without their knowledge. And here we stand, on the verge of collapse. A fall we knew little about.
The new incoming president has many difficulties to overcome, least of these being an open government. Barack Obama has resigned himself to the task, beginning Change.gov, a website dedicated to his administration’s tasks at hand, compiled in a Citizen’s Briefing Book.
But an e-book is just the beginning; the public is thirsty for more than rhetoric. They want honesty. Americans yearn to eliminate backroom, partisan politicking, and hope that the next decision to go to war or expunge previous policies is completed in public and not behind a veil. They want an environmental policy that is as realistic as it is idealistic, fair enough to keep jobs while improving an endangered environment. Americans want a government that will support them when health concerns arise rather than seek the political donations from the pharmaceutical industry. They want to feel safe from attacks and not threatened with their liberties. But most of all, Americans want to ascertain where their tax dollars are being spent. They want a government who helps them while accounting for every one of the hard-earned dollars it takes to accomplish that.
President Obama seems ready to the task at hand. He stated, in his inaugural address, “Those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.”
Our Founders rebelled from a government who failed to bridge a gap between the people and their government, a government who kept them in the dark. Hope and change led an admirable mission to create the American democracy; only open government can relight that mission and make it admirable again.
But those officials had something today’s do not – government accountability. The unjust taxes, the innocent citizen casualties, and the dismay of Great Britain were shared. It bridged a gap between citizen and government. Vital to this connection was the media, and the outcome of the American Revolution may have been substantially different without the honesty and clarity they transferred.
But this pivotal role did not cease at national foundation. William Lloyd Garrison was a beacon of morality that helped abolish slavery. Journalism raked through the unsanitary conditions of the early 20th Century food industry. Nary could an American dismiss Walter Cronkite as he delivered the Vietnam War to American television sets. Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward used transparency to unearth Watergate. And, most recently, DrudgeReport.com revealed the shocking Whitewater scandal in 1998.
Though investigative journalism shed light on a litany of our government’s darkest secrets, Americans have come to accept a deeper veil of secrecy. Beginning September 11, 2001, many citizens became so terrified, they delivered Pres. Bush a blank check to protect us. There was little concern over what rights we lost or crimes we were about to commit.
And so, the blindness and shortsightedness of our government led us to war without evidence of weapons of mass destruction; to disobey The Constitution at Guantanamo Bay; to condone the atrocities committed by BlackWater mercenaries; and accumulate a deficit beyond imagination.
Slinging war money as though it were confetti is only the prelude to our morose economic climate. Undue tax relief complemented by bad loan industry oversight, shady banking procedures, and corporate bailouts doomed Americans without their knowledge. And here we stand, on the verge of collapse. A fall we knew little about.
The new incoming president has many difficulties to overcome, least of these being an open government. Barack Obama has resigned himself to the task, beginning Change.gov, a website dedicated to his administration’s tasks at hand, compiled in a Citizen’s Briefing Book.
But an e-book is just the beginning; the public is thirsty for more than rhetoric. They want honesty. Americans yearn to eliminate backroom, partisan politicking, and hope that the next decision to go to war or expunge previous policies is completed in public and not behind a veil. They want an environmental policy that is as realistic as it is idealistic, fair enough to keep jobs while improving an endangered environment. Americans want a government that will support them when health concerns arise rather than seek the political donations from the pharmaceutical industry. They want to feel safe from attacks and not threatened with their liberties. But most of all, Americans want to ascertain where their tax dollars are being spent. They want a government who helps them while accounting for every one of the hard-earned dollars it takes to accomplish that.
President Obama seems ready to the task at hand. He stated, in his inaugural address, “Those of us who manage the public's dollars will be held to account — to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day — because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.”
Our Founders rebelled from a government who failed to bridge a gap between the people and their government, a government who kept them in the dark. Hope and change led an admirable mission to create the American democracy; only open government can relight that mission and make it admirable again.
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