> I'm unconvinced that private, smoke-filled backrooms don't have an essential place as the grease that keeps things running well. I hear that, and there's a

> I'm unconvinced that private, smoke-filled backrooms don't have an essential place as the grease that keeps things running well. I hear that, and there's a case for it. Diplomacy, maneuvering and negotiation require secrets and enclaves. So to allow for that you need a few things; - Strict official records of affairs - Strong penalties for fraud, malinfluence, intimidation - Whistleblower protection The last of these essential checks-and-balances has gone to shit our culture. Even if we pardoned Edward Snowden and made him a "hero of democracy" tomorrow, it's still a mountain of work to restore the essential sense of civic responsibility, patriotism and duty that allows those people who discover or witness corruption to step-up and challenge it safe in the knowledge that the law and common morality are on their side.