Pay attention to what I'm *not* talking about
I'm not talking about whether this administration is any better or worse than the previous. What I'm saying is that the people who spent eight years saying secrecy was not a problem, that it was in fact essential for our safety, have suddenly "realized" that no, it's a problem after all.
So whether this administration is living up to it's campaign promises or not, that's not what I'm talking about.
You could argue the point that lack of transparency is a problem not in itself, but only because they campaigned on openness. But that is exactly the argument liberals have been making against the family-values Republicans when they get caught having affairs, or the anti-gay Republicans caught in public men's rooms.
But conservative pundits have never advanced those arguments, so why is going back on your campaign promises a problem now? Because now it's the other party. Which means it's not about principle. Which means it's fake outrage.
Process matters, but so does policy. The media today have all but given up discussing policy in favor of gotcha, and process arguments.
