With the entire C-SPAN archive up on-line, what was the first thing I wanted to re-live?

This:



ADDED: Check out the memorable moments page, which includes:

Al Gore concession in 2000 election

Bill Clinton 1987 press conference where he says he will not be a candidate in 1988

Barack Obama 2004 convention speech

George W. Bush announcing the capture of Saddam Hussein

Ronald Reagan and Gorbachev summit in late 1987.

Clarence Thomas testifying that he did not watch Anita Hill testifying.

Bill Clinton grand jury testimony

Dan Quayle and Murphy Brown

Medal of Freedom Award to Margaret Thatcher

George H.W. Bush inviting Dana Carvey to the White House where he impersonates Bush 1992

Which side wants to keep video of the Prop. 8 trial off YouTube?

The side that favors California's ban on gay marriage.

The trial "has the potential to become a media circus," wrote attorney Charles Cooper. "The record is already replete with evidence showing that any publicizing of support for Prop. 8 has inevitably led to harassment, economic reprisal, threats, and even physical violence. In this atmosphere, witnesses are understandably quite distressed at the prospect of their testimony being broadcast worldwide on YouTube."...

"Those who want to ban gay marriage spent millions of dollars to reach the public with misleading ads, rallies and news conferences during the campaign to pass Prop. 8. We are curious why they now fear the publicity they once craved," said Chad Griffin, Board President of the American Foundation for Equal Rights.

"Apparently transparency is their enemy, but the people deserve to know exactly what it is they have to hide."

What wussies!

Transparency!

***

And give us transparency on the healthcare negotiations too.

C-SPAN offers us transparency. Will Congress let us have it?

Or does it need those closed doors?

There's an old saying: "Laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion as we know how they are made." But if we care about democracy, we should do what we can to strengthen the counterproposition: Laws, like sausages, cease to inspire respect in proportion as we are denied the chance to see how they are made.