Open Records

Wednesday was the 48th anniversary of the Watergate break-in, and that is actually a hopeful memory for what coincidentally erupted this week with the pre-publication clamor over John Bolton’s book.

Of course Watergate became, in time, a watershed case for freedom of the press in a democratic society, just as the Pentagon Papers case had become in the year prior. Like him or not, whatever we think of Bolton himself, his case now - with the White House desperately trying to smother his manuscript, under layers of “national security” review and a clearly partisan shroud - is about much the same thing.

This time, the kudos in our current episode of official censorship, so far, belong to Bolton’s publisher, Simon & Schuster. Its president Jonathan Karp reminded The New York Times yesterday that his house has published histories critical of presidents of both parties (you can look it up) and that his sense of the S&S mission is to publish “the best first draft of history.”

The official publication date for Bolton’s book is not until next week. But long excerpts were published yesterday in The Wall Street Journal, and were picked up this morning all over creation. Funny how that happens.

Truth will out.

© Keel Hunt, 2020