You are cordially not invited

Commentary January 20, 2010 at 07:00 PM
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You've no doubt heard the expression, "What if they gave a party and no one came?" Well, our rich uncle in Washington gave a party and didn't invite anyone. The most recent example of this is disgustingly tragic.

Candidate Obama made many, many promises of a new era in politics, one where we would enjoy unprecedented levels of transparency and openness. Candidate Obama promised that the health care "debate" would be televised on C-Span, so that the American public could see who was making what deal with whom. We would know who was working for or against our interests. It now appears that President Obama had no intention of ever living up to those promises. The discussion in Congress and the White House has become more "stealth care" than "health care."

But the pinnacle of opacity may have been exposed in last Thursday's Los Angeles Times. The LA Times, long a bastion of liberal ideals, showed a picture of Vice President Biden beneath the headline (I am not making this up), "Joe Biden Update: He meets on transparency today. But the meeting is closed."

Wait! Wait! That is not the best part. With whom was the Vice President meeting? Earl Devaney may not be a name with which you are familiar, but he is (wait for it… wait for it…) the chief of transparency for economic recovery. This would be absurdly funny – except that – well – it isn't funny at all.

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