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Re: Questions that didn't used to be sinister



I'm sorry Barabara, but I must protest your use of the word "government" in
reference to the _EXECUTIVE ORDER_ issued _solely_ by the office of the
President.  That one branch of the government decides unilaterally to
restrict access to the records is not the act of the government as a whole,
only a part of it.

It's exactly why Congress will hold hearings, why lawsuits are filed to
prevent this sort of imperial approach to the property of the citizens of
the US.  It is also an example of how the freedoms of this country are
exercised - the President attempts an action, the people protest, the
subject is debated, and (hopefully) a resolution is discovered.  Find that
in some other country - I dare you.

And the reason to keep the records is the same as it has always been - to
protect information and the history of this country.  GWB will not be
president forever, and if we toss it now, we won't ever have the chance to
revisit the decision made by Bush, assuming it isn't defeated through other
means.  A more sympathetic president with a better understanding of the
nature of the record-keeping process might overturn the EO, and we'd like to
have records to release should that happen.

One final point - even with the EO, Bush isn't closing the records, he's
just making it damned difficult to get to see them; theoretically, these
records can still be used.

______________________________________
Daniel Sokolow, Archives Coordinator
David Taylor Archives
North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System
155 Community Drive
Great Neck, NY 11021
mailto:dsokolow@nshs.edu

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Pope, Barbara [SMTP:bpope@MAIL.STLCOP.EDU]
> Sent: Friday, November 30, 2001 10:58 AM
> To:   ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU
> Subject:      Re: Questions that didn't used to be sinister
>
> If the government is going to restrict access to presidential records,
> what
> will be the point in even maintaining those records?
>
>

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