What You Don't Know Can Hurt You

The congressional Joint Inquiry into September 11 is recommending revising government information policies not only to promote information sharing among government agencies, but also to expand public access to government information, because ""an alert and committed American public" could be "the most potent weapon" in the war against terrorism. This recommendation, unfortunately, comes while the Homeland Security Act, recently approved by Congress, "sets up rules that restrict the flow of information to scientists and to the general public and may actually retard progress in securing the homeland." And with Republicans now controlling Congress, Washington insiders say that "President Bush over the next two years will be protected from potentially embarrassing congressional investigations into his administration." The executive and judiciary branches of government are also doing their part to keep government secrets safe from public scrutiny, with a recent court ruling that blocks public access to the records of Vice President Dick Cheney's energy task force -- part of what former White House Counsel John Dean describes as "efforts ... to literally chop off Congressional oversight authority of the Executive branch."