One reporter's notebook
Agnew, Rumsfeld and a little Sunshine.
This week, a consortium of editors, executives and first amendment advocates are celebrating Sunshine Week. It is a worthwhile effort to remind Americans of the value of the Freedom of information Act and open government in an era faced with the danger of growing secrecy.
I raise my voice in support of this simple idea: Open government -- with open records -- is good government. Open records help us all make sense of our place, not just in history, but in the world. It allows us to protect ourselves and our families. Truth still matters and FOIA, one of the most important legislative efforts ever pushed by newspapers, and for my money the most important legislative achievement - save Civil Rights laws only - of the 1960s, is a gem worth remembering and honoring.
(One of the most interesting facts, by the way, about the history of the Freedom of Information Act is that Donald Rumsfeld, the nation's Secretary of Defense sometimes accused of cutting access to information, was one of the leading proponents of this legislation during his tenure in Congress in the 1960s.)
Why is this important? Take something from my own research experience: I'll admit it. I kind of grew to like Spiro Agnew.
Agnew, the only vice president to resign under pressure, is also the only vice president to give a prime-time speech as a sitting vice president - on all the networks at one time.
He rose from the obscurity of working as a county executive in suburban Baltimore to the second-most powerful person in the country in only a few short years. His background was as an immigrant, tough on crime while being smart on how to use government programs. He was a decorated WWII veteran.
And boy, did he know how to pick memorable fights. In October 1969, watching the chaos of the anti-war protests, he spoke to the ideology underneath much of the ideas and put pen to paper - these liberals, he said, were “an effete corps of impudent snobs.” And, frankly, agree or disagree, in 1969, as in every year, the intellectual arguments he raised, however forcefully, were arguments worth having. Some of those closest to him in the White House days were inspired by his sense of loyalty to them. He helped them find jobs, and he made sure they were OK, even as his life was in trouble after resigning. (After resigning, it was so bad for him, in fact, that he took a loan out from, of all people, Frank Sinatra.) And when his name was questioned in the early '70s, without admitting anything, he resigned for the good of the country, rather than put it through another scandal in the midst of Watergate. It can be tempting to see him as a martyr to left-wing interests who didn't like the points he made.
But, like so many temptations, it is probably best to resist this one. He was for all appearances, alas, a small-time crook who, in all likelihood, took kickbacks while in office in Maryland. His FBI file makes clear that there was significant evidence that he took cash in his White House office even. These files are available, now that he is dead, in large part because of Freedom of Information Act. They put to rest doubt of the meaning of his political career. And that is a good thing in a democracy -- making meaning of what we do and how we act.
The Freedom of Information Act and the philosophy of open governnance helps us question the role of our public leaders. We know of CIA overreaching during the 1960s, of government mistakes during the open-air nuclear tests in the 1950s, of Bill Clinton's intern problems, of where toxic dumps might be, of crime and of school problems within our neighborhoods -- all because of a basic belief - open government is good government. Citizens have the power in our society to make the ultimate decisions in an honest way, and they will come to good decisions most of the time if we trust them.
The temptations to curtail these freedoms are ever-present. Politicians can raise fees for copying files, they can argue that a letter or memo is in the interest of national security and withhold it, they can add new exceptions into law that quietly cut our ability to monitor power. They can meet in secret.
Stand with journalists this week and this year. Support Sunshine in government.
Of course, my views should not be construed to represent anything other than my own views. They are NOT necessarily the views of my department, my university or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the sponsoring institution of my university.