Consent of the Governed?

It's one thing to pretend you're elected--if the media and the Congress go along with it and drag the American people with them. Then you can stack the courts with political operative judges, turn over government to rapacious and inefficient private interests, and let Congress rubber stamp every unconstitutional action your operatives commit.

But, if you have to start covering your tracks from Congress and the American people, from Inspectors General and subpoenas and lawsuits, and the only way you can keep the evidence of wrongdoing buried is to hide it, bury it, or destroy it, then you're really pleading guilty to all the crimes the people are accusing you of--whether the media publicize it or not.

Take the case of the 5 million missing emails, for example. They have proven to be important as evidence in numerous investigations, including Congressional corruption probes involving the Abramoff syndicate, the outing of a CIA undercover agent, and the firing of the US Attorneys.

The White House has said it is aware that some e-mails may not have been automatically archived on a computer server for the Executive Office of the President.

The e-mails, the White House has said, may have been preserved on backup tapes.

``The Office of Administration is looking into whether there are e-mails not automatically archived; and once we determine whether or not there is a problem, we'll take the necessary steps to address it,'' said White House spokesman Scott Stanzel.