You Think Cheney Was Secretive? Just Wait.

You'd think the title Czar in a free society would have negative connotations. You'd think people in power would fear providing this title to someone in power the same way they would fear referring to themselves as Communist in public (I'm not accusing anyone of being a Communist). Obama would never refer to himself as an emperor; the public black-lash would be incredible (you'd think). This is odd considering his surrogates have no problem tossing around the title "Czar" when referring to individuals who will be in charge of particular agencies.

Carol Browning has been referred to as Obama's climate czar. The Washington Times has reported on a recent testimony she provided in a civil case concerning governments obligation to preserve documents. In the testimony, the Washington Time quotes her testimony:

"It was a conscious decision not to use a piece of equipment or to learn how to use a piece of equipment because I didn't want to be in a situation similar to what I had been in Florida," she testified about government computers. The testimony referred to her days as an environmental regulator in Florida, where an e-mail message sent to her surfaced in litigation.

"This is why I made this decision not to use my computer," she said. "I was very careful."

Apparently Browning and Cheney share an affinity for destroying public records as well:

The lawsuit examined why EPA officials failed to save electronic records that chronicled the Clinton administration's final actions in office and that were being sought by a conservative legal group under federal open-records laws.

The same day a judge ordered the agency to preserve such records, Ms. Browner asked a staff member that any files on her government computer be erased, prompting allegations of a possible cover-up.

This reluctance to keep her actions on public record will mesh well with her newly appointed title "Czar".