Originally Posted by NKowi

Some of us call it a familiarization with H.I.S.T.O.R.Y. Recall, if you can, the relative openess of previous adminstrations, both Reps and Dems, when it came to taking questions from the public. Contrast that with the way "public" engagements are handled currently. I've seen Nixon, Reagan and Carter in person. I know what it took to get in - and it didn't include anything like what is required by Bush's screeners. And I'm not talking security - all were tight exceptionally tight (hell, Reagan had been shot - don't think he wasn't all about security) - I'm talking about the efforts made to ferret out those that might not agree. Each of those three took unscripted questions from the audience. They didn't know who they were talking to or what questions were coming. Have you tried to attend one of this president's gatherings? If you have, you already know that one has to provide a notable amount of information as to one's politcal leanings before admittance is granted - they've pretty much turned them into "invitation only" events. If you haven't tried to get into one, I'd enourage you to do so - you might gain some insight. So while your statement that one can't know something because one is not a cabinet member, might work with some it holds little water here.