From: W, To: My Successor - the Traditional Handwritten Note

[CorpGovActivist]

Tradition dictates that the outgoing President leaves his successor a note in the Oval.

"Dear ...fill in name...

I thought you might find this dossier about your activities these past 8 years to be of interest. Most everyone in this chair eventually succumbs to the curiosity to see what may have been gathered, so I thought I'd save you the trouble on that little chore.

A friendly word of warning: I never did find the extra copy that I asked my Special Assistant to make. Karl is such a klutz around the copy machine, you know. Maybe you can ask your people to look around for it. I'm sure it will turn up.

Apropos of nothing, good luck appointing the next Attorney General. I'm sure that whoever you pick will exercise balanced judgment in making prosecutorial decisions.

W

P.S. Good luck with Iraq."

Yes, yes, I know it wouldn't be that blatant. But during the transition, when top advisors from the two sides are meeting, nod and wink warnings that come complete with well-rehearsed plausible deniability can be issued.

So, who's the open government candidate who will be immune to such nods and winks, and best able to pursue the investigations into this Administration's messes?

Electability is important.

So is governability.

- Dave