Transparency

When I checked my email this morning, I found a letter from the Obama Transition Team. It seems they have decided to post the activities of the team online and open them up to comment. This is definitely a different way of "doing government," and it reminds me of a wonderful story about Andrew Jackson. You've probably heard it before. It seems he was given a rather large -- several hundred pounds -- block of cheese and he left it in the foyer of the White House so that visitors could help themselves. Apparently, Jackson was fond of allowing the people to "drop by" from time to time.

The size of government can seem daunting and access limited. You write a letter to the President knowing an aid will read it -- maybe you get a reply, maybe not. But actually posting documents and inviting comments, removing the barriers of authority and sharing responsibility: this is new. Well, maybe not new, but certainly overdue.

I like the idea of transparency in government and I like the idea of inviting the people to participate in the process of governing. There are some who feel they've elected others who are "more qualified" to make decisions for them and that's fine. But if I've got an opinion that I think is worth sharing with my friends, what makes me think it's not worth sharing with those who have the power to act? I love the line spoken by Kevin Costner's character in the film, 13 Days, discussing the Cuban Missile Crisis: "There's no 'wise old man' here -- hell, there's just us." I'm not convinced its not always that way.

Fairy tales are metaphors for human experience, not just bed-time stories for children. And one theme that repeats itself over and over is the "young fool" who saves the kingdom. In the story of David and Goliath, for example, all the king's horses and all the king's men are inadequate for the task of facing the Philistine army with their secret weapon, Goliath, and it falls to a young shepherd to slay him with a stone.

Maybe we are all like David when faced with the magnitude of governing, but that doesn't mean we are unqualified. It simply means we are human. Take a moment and visit change.org -- read a bit, make a comment. Who knows what will happen?