FOIA Fables

The Freedom of Information Act is a great reporting tool, essential to exemplary projects like the investigation into Veterans Administration health care by my McClatchy colleague Chris Adams, http://www.mcclatchydc.com/staff/chris_adams/story/41363.html
And, really, I am no longer bitter that Chris's enterprising work beat me out for the National Press Club's Washington Correspondence Award this year. I am perfectly happy with my little Honorable Mention certificate. http://blog.press.org/?p=676. Perfectly happy, I tell you.
&$%)! FOIA.
But there are also persistent FOIA misconceptions we should dispel. One of the biggest has to do with what James Madison meant when he warned that

A popular Government, without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or perhaps both.

So let's find out, shall we, what Madison really meant with this most famous of FOIA-friendly quotes. Prepare to be shocked!
http://www.legalaffairs.org/issues/July-August-2002/scene_doyle_julaug2002.msp