On Mar 8, 2008, at 2:33 PM, jon louis mann wrote: > Nevertheless, I like the idea of being able to listen in on > high government officials planning ways to subvert the constitution.
Well, the guys who _wrote_ the constitution did so in secret. Yes, they published the Federalist Papers, a PR effort to generate support for their effort, but it could scarcely be called a transparent process. Of course, Don't let this make you think that I am disappointed with the result: what this bunch of white, mostly slave-holding-friendly men cooked up in private that summer of 1787 has survived various insults and injuries by presidents as varied as Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt and (so far) G. W. "It's just a goddamned piece of paper" Bush. I was with those at the Aspen Institute recently who felt that it was likely to survive this latest onslaught, too. There are times when transparency is best, and there are times when complete opacity is necessary, for a time. The trick is to know which is appropriate when. Planning an invasion of another country (let's assume, for a moment, that it is being done for the "right" reasons) should definitely _not_ be done with transparency, at least not in anything like real time, if it is to be successful and to protect the safety of those executing the invasion. Then again, deciding whether a certain shabby stretch of Story Road in East San Jose should be designated "Little Saigon" or "The Saigon Business District" is something that definitely should have be done in public. It might have saved the city months hard feelings, and may even save the life of Ly Tong, the protester who has been on a hunger strike over the issue for 23 days.* Dave * Yes, really: This guy is betting his life that he can convince the City of San Jose to name a crappy stretch of strip malls "Little Saigon". He stopped drinking water a couple of days ago, after the city removed the designation "Saigon Business District", and says that if he dies, it'll be on the head of Mayor Chuck Reed. The whole thing is making a neighborhood uncomfortably close to mine look incredibly stupid, in addition to being decidedly shoddy. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
