The Obama Admin: The Most Opaque Transparent Administration Ever
Jonathan Turley blogs:
Remember that politician around 8 years ago who promised the most transparent Administration ever? Well, long ago, President Obama distinguished himself by withholding documents, pictures, and documents from the public and Congress. This includes the withholding of photos for the simple reason that they will embarrass the government or be used by critics like the pictures of Osama Bin Laden. (In the case of Bin Laden, it appears that the account glamorized in movies like Zero Dark Thirty may not be true and that U.S. forces allegedly riddled the body of Bin Laden with countless bullets, according to a new report).However, the Administration has gone well beyond the simply embarrassing. It has defied Congress in refusing to turn over documents to oversight committees, prompting a vote to demand that Attorney General Eric Holder be prosecuted for obstruction. (The Administration then prevented prosecutors from acting on the charge). A new analysis by the Associated Press shows what is already well known in Washington, President Obama has created the least transparent presidency in decades. The AP found that the Obama administration more often than ever censored government files or outright denied access to them last year under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, according to a new analysis of federal data by The Associated Press.
...The hostility of the Obama Administration to inquiries from the public, the press, or Congress is obviously part of a broader attack on civil liberties. From surveillance to kill lists to torture, the Administration has held tightly to information that could be used by critics.
The President who would be king -- and is doing a pretty good job of it.
Sigh. Fox News got another one.
Sigh. Our fearless leader is only doing what is good for us. Obviously another racist attack.
Sigh. Thank goodness we have Hillary next up to protect and help us.
Bob in Texas at March 17, 2014 6:52 AM
Aside from direct obstruction there was also creative burying. For example, the transparency promise was to tell everyone who was visiting the president. The obscuring was to bury it in monthly visitor logs of tourists who tour the White House. So did John Smith personally meet with the Pres. 20 times for 5 hours each, or did he do a 20 minute tour of the green room and never meet anyone.
On a similar note:
Happy St Patrick's Day! The day when St. P drove evil out of the land.
DC gov't is closed you say? Well played. Well played.
Joe J at March 17, 2014 6:56 AM
If the Congress cared about the country, they would impeach and convict the president. They do not and they will not.
MarkD at March 17, 2014 7:11 AM
As the country's first black president, Obama is immune from impeachment and he knows it.
Bar Sinister at March 17, 2014 8:21 AM
"...and that U.S. forces allegedly riddled the body of Bin Laden with countless bullets, according to a new report)."
Don't care. "Countless" today means they didn't bother to count, and it was more than 1.
I'm sure some Americans are outraged that he wasn't given the best treatment possible then put on trial, all at gov't expense. We could have killed the wrong guy, huh?
Radwaste at March 17, 2014 9:29 AM
We could have killed the wrong guy, huh?
We did, repeatedly. The US has created quite the pile of corpses since 9/11, including lots of civilians. Real proud of ourselves, we should be.
On top of that, with the Patriot Act, TSA and other abominations, we did more damage to ourselves than Bin Laden could ever have dreamed of.
a_random_guy at March 17, 2014 9:50 AM
And having Biden as VP makes assassination a bad idea as well. It would also turn him into a martyr.
Jim P. at March 17, 2014 9:52 AM
" . . . having Biden as VP . . ."
Jim P, I always thought that Obama was smart in that way - choose a complete doofus for VP and no one dares to remove you.
Charles at March 17, 2014 11:56 AM
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