How good is the government at being as open and transparent to the public as possible?
(published 20-Mar-2006, Appleton Post-Crescent)
Terrible, but then it’s really goodies we want, not transparency. I find that others have ferreted out government’s true role much better than I could. For instance, Ambrose Bierce defined politics as “Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles.” Paul Valery said, "Politics is the art of preventing people from taking part in affairs which properly concern them." Larry Hardiman had this to say: "The word 'politics' is derived from the word 'poly', meaning 'many', and the word 'ticks', meaning 'blood sucking parasites'." And Will Rogers was always trenchant on the topic of government: 1) “This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer." 2) "There ought to be one day -- just one -- when there is open season on senators.” and 3) "Be thankful we're not getting all the government we're paying for."
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