Wednesday, September 17, 2008

McCain will Continue Presidential Secrecy

McCain has always promised an open and transparent government if he is elected president. After almost 8 years of some of the most secretive government policies under the Bush administration, an open and honest government seems like only a fanciful dream to most of us. 8 years ago, I would have believed McCain was the type of man to tell the American people the truth.

Unfortunately, the McCain of 2000 is not the McCain of 2008. We are already seeing signs that the McCain/Palin ticket would continue the secretive, dishonest and obstructionist policies favored by the Bush administration.

Issue one - McCain has been called to the mat by nearly every organization and publication out there for being dishonest in his campaign. Even FackCheck.org had to publish a response to McCain's deceptive and misleading ads. Karl Rove, the king of deception has even called McCain's ads misleading and have gone "too far". Is it possible for anyone to sink below the level of the Bush administration? Apparently so.

Rove: McCain went 'too far' in ads

Issue two - Toopergate. Many partisans claim that this is a politically motivated investigation, but it must be reiterated that the investigation into Palin's abuse of power commenced long before she was chosen as McCain's running mate. Even if Palin is completely innocent of all charges, the attempt to subvert the investigation is clearly following the same path as the CIA/Plame leak investigation. McCain is already trying to control information available to the American people by taking control of the documentation. This is a state issue that should not be controlled by a national campaign. This only proves that McCain believes in Bush obstructionism. As the republicans always say, if you have nothing to hide than allow open access to prove your innocence.

McCain campaign clamps down on questions in Alaska

Alaska AG: State employees won't honor subpoenas

Palin unlikely to speak with investigator

Issue three - Openness subversion. Palin has already proven herself to be following in the footsteps of Karl Rove and Dick Cheney by using non-official email accounts to conduct official state business. In an attempt to leave no official paper trail on Palin's connections with lobbyists and crony capitalism, Palin uses a Yahoo account to conduct state business behind closed doors. This is the same tactic Rove and Cheney used to conduct national business without leaving an electronic trail that could be subpoenaed by the American people.

How Transparent Will Palin Be?

Issue four - Open door policy. McCain once championed the media as his biggest base. now that they are actually holding him accountable for his actions, McCain has closed the door to public access for both himself and Palin. Bush held the same philosophy of avoiding having to answer to the American people. A president cannot deny access due solely to the fact that the press might ask a difficult or probing question.

McCain campaign keeps Palin under wraps

Dems hit McCain on access

McCain has flipped from being a champion of open government to a champion of Bush secrecy and obstructionism. Eight years of this policy has lead to disastrous results. Another four years is not going to get any better.

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