Gee, imagine that. Obama breaks still one more promise -- and the press is noticing

jimpeel

Well-Known Member
Transparency? We don' need no steenkeen transparency!

SOURCE

Obama Closes Doors on Openness
By Michael Isikoff | NEWSWEEK
Published Jun 20, 2009
From the magazine issue dated Jun 29, 2009

As a senator, Barack Obama denounced the Bush administration for holding "secret energy meetings" with oil executives at the White House. But last week public-interest groups were dismayed when his own administration rejected a Freedom of Information Act request for Secret Service logs showing the identities of coal executives who had visited the White House to discuss Obama's "clean coal" policies. One reason: the disclosure of such records might impinge on privileged "presidential communications." The refusal, approved by White House counsel Greg Craig's office, is the latest in a series of cases in which Obama officials have opted against public disclosure. Since Obama pledged on his first day in office to usher in a "new era" of openness, "nothing has changed," says David -Sobel, a lawyer who litigates FOIA cases. "For a president who said he was going to bring unprecedented transparency to government, you would certainly expect more than the recycling of old Bush secrecy policies."

The hard line appears to be no accident. After Obama's much-publicized Jan. 21 "transparency" memo, administration lawyers crafted a key directive implementing the new policy that contained a major loophole, according to FOIA experts. The directive, signed by Attorney General Eric Holder, instructed federal agencies to adopt a "presumption" of disclosure for FOIA requests. This reversal of Bush policy was intended to restore a standard set by President Clinton's attorney general, Janet Reno. But in a little-noticed passage, the Holder memo also said the new standard applies "if practicable" for cases involving "pending litigation." Dan Metcalfe, the former longtime chief of FOIA policy at Justice, says the passage and other "lawyerly hedges" means the Holder memo is now "astonishingly weaker" than the Reno policy. (The visitor-log request falls in this category because of a pending Bush-era lawsuit for such records.)

Administration officials say the Holder memo was drafted by senior Justice lawyers in consultation with Craig's office. The separate standard for "pending" lawsuits was inserted because of the "burden" it would impose on officials to go "backward" and reprocess hundreds of old cases, says Melanie Ann Pustay, who now heads the FOIA office. White House spokesman Ben LaBolt says Obama "has backed up his promise" with actions including the broadcast of White House meetings on the Web. (Others cite the release of the so-called torture memos.) As for the visitor logs, LaBolt says the policy is now "under review."

© 2009
 

Gonz

molṑn labé
Staff member
Re: Gee, imagine that. Obama breaks still one more promise -- and the press is notici

I can hear the outrage from the left just building & looking for an escape. Let's wait & see what happens.
 

2minkey

bootlicker
Re: Gee, imagine that. Obama breaks still one more promise -- and the press is notici

gee, do ya think maybe the energy execs may want their identities kept private for some reason?

are their identities particularly relevant to the "public right to know" for anything substantive?
 

Frodo

Member
Re: Gee, imagine that. Obama breaks still one more promise -- and the press is notici

gee, do ya think maybe the energy execs may want their identities kept private for some reason?

are their identities particularly relevant to the "public right to know" for anything substantive?

Were these questions relevent 8 years ago?
 

2minkey

bootlicker
Re: Gee, imagine that. Obama breaks still one more promise -- and the press is notici

obama has very, very far to go to even be close to being in the same league as bush and buddies in matters of secret agent club.

but, at the level these questions are being asked, i would agree that they are a bit much in any context.
 

chcr

Too cute for words
Re: Gee, imagine that. Obama breaks still one more promise -- and the press is notici

You know, every president elected in the last fifty years or more has failed to keep campaign promises. What's so special about this one? Oh, wait. I remember. :rolleyes:
 

Gonz

molṑn labé
Staff member
Re: Gee, imagine that. Obama breaks still one more promise -- and the press is notici

GW followed through on more than his share.

2000 election
 

2minkey

bootlicker
Re: Gee, imagine that. Obama breaks still one more promise -- and the press is notici

he must have promised to suck, then.
 

spike

New Member
Re: Gee, imagine that. Obama breaks still one more promise -- and the press is notici

Then if you're someone who wasn't demanding these things of Cheney you should STFU right?
 

2minkey

bootlicker
Re: Gee, imagine that. Obama breaks still one more promise -- and the press is notici

yeah, gee, i wonder?
 

Gonz

molṑn labé
Staff member
Re: Gee, imagine that. Obama breaks still one more promise -- and the press is notici

It wasn't needed from Cheney & it's not needed here. However, given the hypocrisy, it needs to be pointed out.
 

2minkey

bootlicker
Re: Gee, imagine that. Obama breaks still one more promise -- and the press is notici

i'm sorry, whose hippo_cracy?
 

jimpeel

Well-Known Member
Re: Gee, imagine that. Obama breaks still one more promise -- and the press is notici

i'm sorry, whose hippo_cracy?

Those who were demanding answers from Cheney who now refuse to give those same answers when they are demanded of them. I think that fits the description quite adequately.
 

spike

New Member
Re: Gee, imagine that. Obama breaks still one more promise -- and the press is notici

Who did that?
 

2minkey

bootlicker
Re: Gee, imagine that. Obama breaks still one more promise -- and the press is notici

yeah that is the question. seems to keep going round and round. c'mon gonzie, peeler, and other eternal heroes of free market capitalism, what gives?
 

Gonz

molṑn labé
Staff member
Re: Gee, imagine that. Obama breaks still one more promise -- and the press is notici

How many hours of programming did MSNBC, as an example, put into finding the names of the execs & questioning, and hinting towards, possibly illegal (and most certainly morally reprehensible) activity of the Obama meetings?

Now, compare that with the same treatment of Cheney and his super secret energy meetings.

Hypocrisy.
 

spike

New Member
Re: Gee, imagine that. Obama breaks still one more promise -- and the press is notici

What are the hourly totals Gonz?
 

jimpeel

Well-Known Member
Re: Gee, imagine that. Obama breaks still one more promise -- and the press is notici

What are the hourly totals Gonz?

You look it up. You are the one defending his actions. Our contentions are already a matter of public record.
 
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