It was this time last year when Barack Obama, then our president-elect, pledged to bring more openness to the White House, the likes of which had not been seen in the Bush Administration.
The Obama transition team was still flying on voter-powered momentum when it promised "cutting-edge technologies" to create "a new level of transparency, accountability and participation for America's citizens." There were great-sounding details about independent oversight of governmental bodies and new light shed on pork-barrel spending projects. No more would Americans have to tolerate a government that hid things.
One year later, the see-through glass of the White House appears to be all fogged up.
Obama promised to throw wide open the information on anyone that could be construed as influence-peddling, like federal contractors and corporations getting tax breaks. That seems curiously incongruous to his staunch refusal to release documents identifying the lobbyists who fought to protect the telephone companies that cooperated with President Bush's warrantless
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Could it be that once Obama got the feel of the office, he realized that keeping some secrets is a handy way to avoid sticky situations and bad news? Withholding that information leads him directly to another pitfall.
His withholding information in the wiretapping case was no casual refusal. The Obama administration twice requested a delay from the court, then filed an emergency motion to keep the documents secret. When that didn't work, the president's lawyers went to court again seeking postponement, which they secured. There must be something pretty embarrassing -- or worse -- in those documents.
This isn't the only failure on the transparency front. Just recently the White House announced its visitor logs will be made public -- four months after the visits. That comes after the administration first rejected a Freedom of Information Act request for the logs.
In May, Obama denied the court-ordered release of photos showing alleged prisoner abuse .
Remember the Wall Street bailout? Basic details about how the Troubled Asset Relief Program money was spent and whether it was repaid have not been disclosed. That was taxpayer money. Citizens have the right to know.
Some of Obama's failings have been in simple things, such as not making legislation available online in a timely fashion. Those are problems that can and should be fixed. But the president needs to review the promises he made last November. Denying public access can be as politically damaging as whatever Obama is afraid these records will reveal. He should honor his commitment to transparency and public access.
Editorials reflect the consensus of the Telegraph Herald Editorial Board.
