I really think Barack, excuse me, The President is really the coolest world leader. Previously, my list was: King of Thailand Carla Bruni Angela Merkel of Germany, for freaking out so stylishly when she got the Bush back-rub treatment Now it is Barack Hussein Obama, POTUS King of all Cosmos Carla Bruni King of Thailand It was a hard choice… versus In all seriousness, I recall my mom once saying that in her childhood, the Kennedy era, they thought that the government were “cool” guys. I remember her saying this to me and thinking, this is somewhere in the Bush I era, “you’ve got to be joking.

A democracy requires accountability, and accountability requires transparency. As Justice Louis Brandeis wrote, “sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants.” In our democracy, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which encourages accountability through transparency, is the most prominent expression of a profound national commitment to ensuring an open Government. At the heart of that commitment is the idea that accountability is in the interest of the Government and the citizenry alike. Heh, everyone always quotes Brandeis. The Freedom of Information Act should be administered with a clear presumption: In the face of doubt, openness prevails. The Government should not keep information confidential merely because public officials might be embarrassed by disclosure, because errors and failures might be revealed, or because of speculative or abstract fears.