Honesty in government: best policy?

I ask this question in all seriousness. I honestly wonder whether or not blunt honesty is the best policy for government. I don't mind occasionally delaying dispensation of information as long as that delay does not become perpetual.

I ask this on a board where discussion of topics such as aliens and government is not uncommon because it seems most apropos. Most certainly, there are those that do not believe that honesty is the best policy for government, and sometimes that isn't even for something as sensitive as aliens.

I believe that honesty should be the best policy of government. Let there be laws that limit the amount of time that delays dispensation of information. Too many secrets, err, Setec Astronomy (any Sneaker fans here?), allows for certain abuses of government to perpetuate into perpetuity without the public being any the wiser. The careers of politicians be damned. They're here to serve us, not the other way around, but many seem to think that.

We have all seen enough sitcoms and comedy movies where some character is, for some far-fetched reason or other, compelled to tell the truth. It somehow always backfires and the audience is taught that honesty isn't always the best policy. Yet, on a moral level, we are taught that "truth is next to Godliness" It's a mixed message that can be confusing. On a conspiracy site such as this, one could say that because the government controls the media, the idea that some truth needs to be held back, "because we can't handle the truth" is an appropriate course of action in certain situations. Of course we can extrapolate that "truth control" by the government is, at times, necessary. I can agree that there are times when truth must delayed but, ultimately we should be told the truth. For example, there are untold volumes of information that is being withheld about WWII. The information is being withheld for periods of time as long as one hundred years so as to protect certain persons' and their families because of actions that were taken during the war that might not have been viewed positively at that time. An example of this is the Bombing of Dresden. But someday, all should be revealed to us. I only hope that I live that long.