Today's Topic is Pretty Obvious

One of my favourite lines from The West Wing (a show from which I have many, many favourite lines) comes from S3E2, when a frustrated campaign staffer shouts at the regular West Wing staff, "You people are never happier than when you're educating the public!"

Indeed.

You know who else enjoys educating the public? NASA. The National Parks. The USDA. The EPA. Researchers who rely on grants and whose findings are often taxpayer-funded. Want access to all this wealth of information? Call your elected officials and express your frustration about things like gag orders, hiring freezes that leave offices unstaffed, cabinet members being appointed with no qualifications to run some pretty important departments, data being withheld subject to the whims of politicians, and whatever new thing comes up today. The USDA's gag order was already lifted after public outcry. Let's keep it up.

Columbia River, 1973 vs 2012.
Image source: US EPA Ungagged.

Because having an educated public is critical, and we can't be educated without access.