"Bush's Veil Over History"

Kitty Kelley
New York Times, October 10, 2005

SECRECY has been perhaps the most consistent trait of the George W. Bush presidency. Whether it involves refusing to provide the names of oil executives who advised Vice President Dick Cheney on energy policy, prohibiting photographs of flag-draped coffins returning from Iraq, or forbidding the release of files pertaining to Chief Justice John Roberts's tenure in the Justice Department, President Bush seems determined to control what the public is permitted to know. And he has been spectacularly effective, making Richard Nixon look almost transparent.

But perhaps the most egregious example occurred on Nov. 1, 2001, when President Bush signed Executive Order 13233, under which a former president's private papers can be released only with the approval of both that former president (or his heirs) and the current one.

Full text here.

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It would be nice if someone possessing greater cred (as in credibility AND credentials) than Kitty Kelley was picking up this banner, but these days I suppose you have to take what you can get.

When Bush signed EO 13233, I was almost as alarmed by the lack of interest as the ramifications of the order itself. In the midst of discussions over the PATRIOT Act, this slipped in completely under the radar. Where covered by the media, it was depicted as little more than a potential inconvenience to future historians (and who in this adminstration cares about helping ivory tower eggheads make tenure, right?) Even now, it is primarily academics that are left to carry the weight of dissent and to voice the loudest concern.

At the time, the more conspiracy-minded among us saw it as a means to provide Bush with the opportunity to recruit individuals from Reagan & Bush administrations without having to fear skeletons that would appear as Presidential papers were released (Reagan’s papers were due to be released on January 20, 2001 and GWH Bush’s on January 20 of this year.) However, the order (unless repealed by a future President) could also provide the equivalent of a “blanket pardon” for the current gang of thieves.