OK - You just won your elected position. You know who you are. Mayors/Alcalde: I mean you too. Fortuno, the Senators, & the District Reps are not going to take all of the heat for you. You are in the public eye as well.

• Gobernador y Comisionado Residente / Governor and Resident Commissioner
• Representantes por Distrito / District Representatives
• Senadores por Distrito / District Senators
• Representantes y Senadores por Acumulación / Representatives and Senators At-Large
• Alcaldes / Mayors

Although the election is over, public responsibility is not. For those of you who are successful incumbents, you should know that by now. You greenhorns will find out quickly enough. So the question is:

Are you squeaky clean or not?

Or better yet: Are you Barack63 Complaint? You see, President Elect Barack Obama's team has circulated a copy of a document to the media containing 63 questions that must be answered by anyone being considered for a position within his administration.

He does not want any surprises (Aside: John Edwards - I would not get my hopes too high if I were you). It reminds me very much of the screening questionnaire I had to fill out when applying for a major intelligence agency.

Now isn't this a great idea for Puerto Rico? We are talking about a pseudo-State in which eliminating government corruption was a major platform issue, particularly in the gubernatorial election where the incumbent governor just could not explain away those Federal indictments?

I think so. So I challenge all you elected officials to review the questionnaire, and even go so far as to publish a publicly available response to each question on your website (for those of you who have one; if not, please get one). And I challenge you citizens, to forward this article to your regional representatives asking them for their feedback.

I personally expect that no elected official will be so bold as to even make a single response to these questions nor prepared statement, despite the fact that they are coming from one of the World's most inspiring people from the last 50 years and perhaps much farther back (we'll see) who has great ideals and a desire to start off with a clean slate.

It would be a bold move indeed for a politico (at any level of government) to step up and show this kind of momentous clean slate leadership, and earn the trust of his/her constituents for a long time to come.

Information access capabilities are growing every year. With that comes a new wave of new Internet users, year after year, of all ages who are not only figuring out the benefits of using the tools of the Information Age, but also learning how to play a part.

Enter Citizen Journalism and the blogsophere, and we not only have the ability to do instant research, but also to publish. And bloggers have been successfully pulling away focus/mind share from the mainstream media, offering an alternative to the big ones, and much greater coverage than could be imagined.

Yes, rights to privacy and Miranda rights (for those who get in hot water) are still there. However Big Brother 2.0 is as much "the people" themselves as it is the government. Now citizens are watching back and demanding more.

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to have an attorney present during questioning. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you. Do you understand these rights?

Perhaps we do not need to know about your diary, or your laundry list of past lovers. But your resume, affiliations, writings, criminal and civil issues, etc (as a public figure) are of interest... even now with the election over.

I can imagine some Public Relations people out there saying: "This Insider blogger must be crazy to suggest this". For those PR professionals and lawyers among you who share that perspective, I might further imagine *your* clients are NOT so "squeaky clean" after all. Otherwise a trust building exercise like this one would be something you could positively leverage.

The Barack63 just covers being open and honest. It is about letting citizens know the truth, allowing them to determine the risks involved with their choice, and helping them to ensure their interests are being served as best they can.

And since we are the topic of lists, why not check out the MacKay 66 to learn more about the citizens you represent. Perhaps this one is a little too sales oriented, but you get the idea: Know thy citizens.

The Insider