Transparency, Collaborative and Participatory Defined

The below is a follow-up this earlier post.

President Obama, January 20, 2009:

My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.


Mirriam-Webster dictionary definition of transparent, participatory, and collaborative:

Transparent -- characterized by visibility or accessibility of information...

Participatory -- providing the opportunity for individual participation (i.e. to take part) <participatory democracy>

Collaborative -- to work jointly with others or together especially in an intellectual endeavor

Obama administrative operative definition of transparent, participatory, and collaborative based upon a September 2, 2009 reply from General Jones:

Thank you for your letter of August 1... However, we also believe it is essential to preserve the confidentiality (emphasis added) of the President's deliberative process regarding these complex issues that stem from the President's constitutional authority to protect the national security.

A number of observations based upon General Jones' reply and my almost 35 years of experience within the national security establishment.

1) Beware of individuals who talk of "authority" vice "responsibility." We have just lived through 8 years of an administration that saw authority as an end in and of itself vice a means to address the public good. Looks like we are in for more of the same when it comes to national security issues that invariably translate into the sacrifice of American blood and treasure.

2) Confidentiality apparently trumps transparent, participatory, and collaborative.

3) Whenever we wanted to blow off a member of Congress or the like, the short hand phrase was: "send them a letter thanking them for their interest in national security."

4) I believe my earlier question was answered -- apparently this administration was never genuinely interested in allowing the public to enter the public policy arena with the ability to make a substantive impact. Instead, they have simply been conducting a sideshow devoid of any real possibility to influence public policy of grave importance to our nation's well-being.

5) Notwithstanding the President's commitment to making his administration the most open and transparent in history, he apparently was only referring to the history of this millennium. As pointed out in the original letter to General Jones, "in 1993, public disclosure of a near-final draft of the executive order on classified national security information elicited substantial public commentary and contributed to significant revisions of Executive Order 12958 prior to its formal promulgation by President Clinton." Thus, while Obama may transcend Bush on a few issues dealing with official secrecy, he is still trailing Clinton.

6) This administration has apparently given up on any "fundamental transformation of the classification system" -- at least during its first (and perhaps only) administration. By the time any incremental revisions set forth in the proposed revisions to the current classification framework are implemented, this administration will be more than half over. Two years is not enough time to enact a fundamental transformation in a system that pre-dates World War II.