sending a memo != micromanaging every FOIA case
Also, the memo says, “When in doubt, let it out.” It doesn’t say, “Let it all hang out!” To paraphrase “Yes, Minister,” he’s calling for open government, not gaping.
I’m just startled by the number of people who talk as though the president is going to get personally involved in every one of these cases, rather than, I dunno, delegating the work to others, maybe? Trusting the judgment of his subordinates?
so, you guys who were defending the obama admin for squashing the nsa lawsuit. why can they release damaging bush memos, yet put a halt to finding the status of e-mails?
the administration’s actions this week have invalidated the argument that they don’t want to drudge up stuff from the bush years.
You want information on the new copywrite treaty that will criminalize P2P and grant federal authority to search all ipods/laptops at (or within 100 miles of) the boarder or US coastline?
Sorry… that info is a state secret for national security.
You left out the best part. The names of the people actually allowed to see that info, such as the RIAA, ESA, Merck, Time Warner, MPA, GM, etc.
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama is seeking to block the immediate release of hundreds of photos showing U.S. personnel allegedly abusing prisoners in Iraq and Afghanistan.
An Obama administration official said Wednesday that the president told his legal advisers last week that releasing the photos would endanger U.S. troops. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the discussions were private.
Obama wants the issue to go back to the courts, although federal appeals judges have ruled the photos could be released.
The top military commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan have told Obama that their troops could be in greater danger if new detainee abuse photos are released this spring.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
WASHINGTON (AP) _ The top military commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan are telling President Barack Obama that their troops could be in greater danger if new detainee abuse photos are released this spring.
The Pentagon has said it will release the pictures this month. But the Pentagon now says that the three top commanders have weighed in with concerns.
Defense Department spokesman Geoff Morrell says that Defense Secretary Robert Gates shares those concerns. He says lawyers are looking at their options.
come on obama. that is a bullshit reason and you know it.
I hate to say it, but it’s probably a good reason. If the rumors going around about this stuff are true, our troops may be facing angry mobs :(
I wouldn’t support indefinite delaying of the release of the photos, but if the military needs a couple of weeks to fort up I could support that.
Kraaze is right. It’s okay, because Obama is doing it.
How fucking dare you, Andrew!!! Obama did this because he’s protecting us, why can’t you understand that?!
I just KNEW Cheney was still in control. The dastardly scoundrel.
So, how’s that transparency coming along?
The Obama administration is fighting to block access to names of visitors to the White House, taking up the Bush administration argument that a president doesn’t have to reveal who comes calling to influence policy decisions. Despite President Barack Obama’s pledge to introduce a new era of transparency to Washington, and despite two rulings by a federal judge that the records are public, the Secret Service has denied msnbc.com’s request for the names of all White House visitors from Jan. 20 to the present.
Oh…
Didn’t Obama refuse to allow the release of photos of American soldiers torturing Iraqi’s in prisons there over speculative fears? The guy is all talk.
Yeah, Obama has continually done things that are quite the opposite of transparency in government. Its beginning to piss me off.
Didn’t Obama refuse to allow the release of photos of American soldiers torturing Iraqi’s in prisons there over speculative fears? The guy is all talk.
He’s not running ogrish. I think he needs to make judgement calls on certain things. I really don’t believe we have any need to see those photos outside of morbid curiosity, do we?
Dumb motherfucker doesn’t know why he got elected.
I thonk the American public has a right to see exactly what certain American troops are getting up to in their name.
Even more than this, transparency is its own reward. Whether we need to see those photos is largely irrelevant. By being able to see them, wild and (hopefully) untrue speculation is laid to rest. And if the wild speculation turns out to be true… don’t we want to know about that?
I wonder whether Obama had genuinely good intentions while he was campaigning but the realities of the Whitehouse are far worse than he anticipated or whether his campaign rhetoric was just a cynical spin mastery telling the public what they wanted to hear.
Whatever it was, he was clearly trained by Mr. Miyagi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTpiwngOg7I
The man has impressive skills.
I hope the former. Looking back I realize that I projected Obama as a lot more liberal during the campaign than he actually was. Doesn’t make this stuff any less wrong though.
I’m very disappointed that Obama is blocking the name of visitors to the White House. It’s exactly what Bush did.
This is not what I expected. He doesn’t need to have secret visitors. I want to know who has his ear.