The National Archivist is the custodian of American history. The head of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is tasked with preserving “precious and irreplaceable national treasures.” (Things like presidential documents, State Department e-mails, and the 9/11 Commission’s research and findings.) Naturally – given the potential that should the archivist be appointed “arbitrarily, or motivated by political considerations, the historical records could be impoverished [or] even distorted” – it is vitally important that the right person be selected for the post.
To that end, since NARA became an independent agency in 1985, the process of nominating a National Archivist has been open for “public discussion and input.” Meaning that other archivists, researchers, and historians have done their best to lobby against the selection of archivists who might – for whatever reason – impede access to politically sensitive national records. Fortunately, the American people will no longer needlessly suffer this scourge of transparency in government.
“On April 8 the Bush Administration quietly pushed the current archivist, John Carlin, a Clinton appointee, to step down. To replace him, Bush will nominate Allen Weinstein, a historian who has been criticized for failing to abide by accepted scholarly standards of openness”.
People have put forward several theories as to why the Administration has taken this unusual step. One is that the White House is out to protect dad’s “legacy” by having their man on the scene to manage access to Bush 41’s documents set to be released to the Archive in January 2005. Another theory concerns the Administration’s desire to limit access to the records collected and produced by the 9/11 Commission later this year. And then there’s my theory.
In addition to being the gatekeeper of the whats, wheres, whens, whys, and whos of our government, the National Archivist has another responsibility. I’ll explain.
While you and I are busy making hanging chads in November the REAL voters – those elite few known as the Electoral College – will be…well, they’ll probably be sitting on their asses enjoying their inherited lives of wealth and privilege however they damn well please. They won’t get together to decide who the 44th President of the United States of America will be until December 13th. We’re all taught in civics class that the electors are supposed to vote according to the outcome of the popular vote in their respective states, but “there is no Constitutional provision or Federal law” requiring this.
After the 538 electors vote, the governors of the 50 states (and the mayor of DC) send the Certificates of Ascertainment to NARA…by registered mail. Yup. Registered mail. I won’t even bother with that one.
And that’s where Bush’s hand-picked National Archivist comes in.
Now if one were to say – oh I don’t know – attempt to rig a presidential election, which would be easier: Tampering with the popular vote in thousands of precincts nationwide, or just waiting until 51 Certificates of Ascertainment are in one envelope, on the desk of one man?
Delusional fantasy? Yeah, in a sane world.