Stephen Aftergood provides these transsparency quotes from the Big Three in a recent issue of Nieman Watchdog (2-7-08). Keep these in mind during pre and post-election days.

“Excessive administration secrecy… feeds conspiracy theories and reduces the public’s confidence in government,” Sen. John McCain

“I’ll turn the page on a growing empire of classified information,” Sen. Barack Obama.

“We’ll protect sources and methods, but we won’t use sources and methods as pretexts to hide the truth.” “We need a return to transparency and a system of checks and balances, to a president who respects Congress’s role of oversight and accountability,” Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Can anyone provide parallel quotes from Minnesota senatorial wannabe’s?

Are you not ashamed of caring so much for the making of money and for fame and prestige, when you neither think nor care about wisdom and truth and the improvement of your soul? Socrates

Public records are the people’s records. The officials in whose custody they happen to be are mere trustees for the people.”

Judge Rufus Smith, Superior Court of Concinnati, Ohio, 1901.