Restricted Access as Policy in Bush White House

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President Bush runs a tight ship when it comes to preventing leaks of information, but John Dean of Watergate fame says the Bush White House is so secretive it's Nixonian. While Dick Cheney is frustrating Congressional oversight on energy and Tom Ridge on Homeland Security, a recent executive order could close off Presidential papers from generations of historians. Bush defenders say that Presidents have rights, too, and they can't get good advice if it's not confidential. Are these the demands of national security or the determined avoidance of democratic scrutiny? We'll hear from Dean and from Bush supporters about what the public has a right to know-and when.
  • Newsmaker: Internal Politics of the Catholic Church
    The Roman Catholic sex-abuse scandal surfaced in Boston, with reports that Archbishop Bernard Cardinal Law had reassigned known pedophile priests without reporting their crimes to law enforcement or parishioners. Now, the Boston Herald reports that Law himself is about to be reassigned. Jack Sullivan, who co-wrote the story, looks at the many reasons for the move.
  • Reporter's Notebook: A Look Back at the LA Riots Ten years ago, America suffered its most deadly, expensive civil disturbance of the century after an all-white jury found four LA police officers not guilty in the videotaped beating of a black motorist named Rodney King. Three days of violence killed 54 and caused a billion dollars in property damage. Larry Aubrey, civic activist and chair of the Los Angeles NAACP, looks at the lessons learned and yet-to-be learned.

Archdiocese of Boston

Boston Herald

The Vatican

Bush White House

Blind Ambition

Lost Honor

Abuse of Power: The New Nixon Tapes

Heritage Foundation

US Justice Department

The Wars of Watergate: The Last Crisis of Richard Nixon

Credits

Host:

Warren Olney