Another facet of the obsessive secretiveness and below-board style of the Resident:

"In November 2001, while the world was focused on terrorism, President Bush issued an executive order making it significantly harder for historians and the public to gain access to a former president's official papers. The House has a chance tomorrow to reverse this damaging decree.

Mr. Bush's decision effectively repealed the presumption of public availability enshrined in the Presidential Records Act of 1978, a post-Watergate reform that established that the treasure trove of historical material amassed by a president belongs to the American people.

In the place of these open government principles, Mr. Bush established cumbersome review procedures that give former presidents, and even their heirs, unprecedented authority to selectively withhold sensitive records indefinitely. The backlog of presidential document requests now extends to five years or longer, compared with 18 months in 2001, according to recent testimony in the House.

The bill to undo Mr. Bush's order, sponsored by Representative Henry Waxman, Democrat of California, and colleagues from both parties, would re-establish sensible procedures to ensure timely release of presidential documents. It would retract the authority Mr. Bush granted presidential descendants and vice presidents to withhold records. "

(Editorial NY Times)