REPEAL 13233
There are, obviously, many pressing and vital issues and policies heaped on the plate which will be set in front on then-President Obama come 12:01 p.m. on Jan. 21.
Ye old scribe implores that the repeal of the odious Executive Order 13233 issued by G. Walker to make presidential records subject to possibly indefinite sequestration, and vastly expanding claims of and authority to claim executive privilege after the end of office is not lost or buried under the rush of current events.
From the Obama-Biden campaign website:
Obama and Biden will nullify the Bush attempts to make the timely release of presidential records more difficult. Source
A refresher on this topic from 2001 here and, from a present-day recap:
Make no mistake: the Bush order broke new ground. Allowing a former president’s family or personal representative to assert privilege is novel, if not bizarre. It delegates and brazenly enlarges an ever-more luxuriant executive privilege upon former presidents—something the Bush administration has been very adept at doing for itself. The shadowy doctrine of executive privilege has been elevated to a personal right, extending a lifetime, and even beyond. You can take it with you, if Bush has his way.
[snip]
The prospects of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney proclaiming executive privilege long after they fade from their official duties is staggering. Their penchant for secrecy undoubtedly would insure significant gaps in any attempts to fathom the history of their deeds and actions. President-elect Obama has given us a promise. It must be delivered. Source
“… popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or perhaps both.”
– – James Madison
