It has been years before anyone seriously in the Administration has claimed that it is “the most transparent Administration” ever — as President Barack Obama once pledged. The Obama Administration instead has set new lows for its pursuit and prosecution of whistleblowers and reporters as well as classifying and withholding information on potentially embarrassing actions or programs. For that reason, there was not much surprise that the White House chose this week — with the National Freedom of Information Day and the Sunshine Week — to remove a federal regulation that subjects its Office of Administration to the Freedom of Information Act.
In fairness to the Administration, both President Bush and Obama have rejected requests for information from the office and they have some case support to refusing to share information with the public. However, particularly with the growing controversy over Hillary Clinton unilaterally using her personal server for emails and instructing subordinates to delete tens of thousands of “personal” emails, the timing and symbolism could not be worse.
The liberal Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) denounced President Obama’s broken promises on transparency as well as the specific move to remove the office from information access under the law. Of course, while it may not be required, the Administration could voluntarily make its self accountable to the public. That is, if it wanted to be the most transparent Administration ever.
Source: USA Today
I’d agree, Paul, the timing and tone is bad, but the reason is valid.
The timing could not be worse but the President is tone-deaf since he thinks he is the smartest person in the world. However, mespo is right in pointing out that there is a court case behind it, JT just didn’t mention it.
Happy ST. Patty’s Day…but there is no one to chase the snakes out of Washington DC at this time…
…and the Obama administration made damn sure of THAT !!
Par for the course A very deliberate & intentional snubbing their nose at the issue showing power over policy.
Their actions accent their intentional behavior as the true course of this administration despite the political rhetoric they sell to the true believers…and the dumb down public relations propaganda program they have successfully run throughout the course of the entire Obama administration from the start.
Jill:
“This hypocrisy is what will finally destroy our nation– faster and more effectively than the sociopaths in charge.”
******************
Believing this sincerely as you do and not wanting to subject you and yours to the coming apocalypse, I assume you’ll be leaving soon. Just one question: Are you having a yard sale?
It’s so sad. When Obama was elected people thought he’d do great things. They believed in him. People wanted this nation to turn around from what was going on under Bush.
Instead, Obama has worsened every atrocity inside and outside our nation. Worse still, he continues to be excused and even worshiped by many of the same people who complained bitterly when Bush did these things. This hypocrisy is what will finally destroy our nation– faster and more effectively than the sociopaths in charge.
This is a man who could have done great things as a president. Instead, he is king of a crap pile, “ruling” a nation that is unrecognizable from even 10 years ago. Yes He Can!
From the USA Today article, but curiously omitted:
“The White House said the cleanup of FOIA regulations is consistent with court rulings that hold that the office is not subject to the transparency law.”
And from the Hill:
“The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) sued the [Office of Administration] after being denied access to documents it had requested to obtain details about a slew of emails that had gone missing from White House servers.
After a lengthy appeal, the court upheld the ruling that the Office of Administration, which advises and assists the president, is not an “agency” as defined by the FOIA.
Since it only “performs only operational and administrative tasks in support of the president and his staff,” the court ruled in 2009, “under our precedent, [the Office of Administration] lacks substantial independent authority.”
Query: How can one enforce (or even keep it on the books) a regulation at odds with court orders?
BTW, “President Obama won an award from the organizing groups of Sunshine Week (one of which is CREW) in 2011 for his policies.”
Much ado about nothing? Probably.
What “roils” me Isaac is the utter tolerance people have for bad government. WTF does it take for the defenders of the realm to realize they are the dupes Gruber was talking about?
davidm2575
I must admit, you had me going for a while. Now that I understand you, your sense of humor is actually quite refreshing. However, now that your humor is transparent, you need to develop another ruse. Keep up the good work. Yeah, the three stooges had nothing to do with it; that’s funny.
Transparency now means we can easily see that many of the administration’s statements are lies. For that it is the most transparent administration in history.
Darren Smith wrote: “Transparency now means we can see through the administration’s lies.”
Rep. Joe Wilson Vindicated
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/10/rep_joe_wilson_vindicated.html
———————–
Joe Wilson was right when he said “You lie.”
To my knowledge, the only truth that Obama has ever uttered is that “He would fundamentally change America.”
And he is doing just that with lies and deceit.
All this change is really frustrating. We want more liberty, more freedom, more transparency in government, and all we get from this administration is the opposite. On top of that, he is constantly spreading misinformation about Republicans and blaming them for everything, and those on the left believe his lies. I am getting so tired of this.
BDS patients sometimes try and mask their symptoms by using euphemisms like “3 Stooges.” They cannot be cured.
This is the baggage that comes with the predominant profession that prepares someone for politics. Most politicians spend only enough time in the profession of law to get a handle on how to get things done, slide things by, and fend off moves to thwart their designs. It is a sad state of affairs that the leadership of this country at all levels depends less on the actual benefits or detriments to society and so much on legal wrangling. The best move for the people can be undone through legal loopholes and the worst move for the people can be instituted with legal chicanery.
What roils those that criticize Obama the most is that he has weathered it thus far, bobbing and weaving, dodging and diving, smiling all the way. It would be refreshing if all that was published was the facts, statistics, results, how it figures in the grand scheme, how it compares to what preceded it, what might follow it, is it necessary, etc. Did the three stooges break any laws when they slaughtered hundreds of thousands through their arrogant incompetence?
The MSM both love and fear the WH. Those are 2 inherently wrong feelings for any press to have toward someone they are covering.
The press is derelict in not calling the administration out on this.
Politicians do what they can get away with – always have.
But the public relies on the press to inform them. Instead we have a partisan press corp pursuing its own agenda – at the cost of fairness and accurate reporting.
Prof. Turley celebrates the growth of his blog; while it is an excellent blog, part of its success is due to Americans wanting better sources of information. Prof. Turley is giving Americans what they want.
Did anyone bother asking this President WHAT exactly he would be the “most transparent” about? For instance, maybe he was going to fundamentally transformthis country (another question nobody bothered to ask him: “into what?”) into a shell of it’s former self and he would be so transparent about it that know would believe their eyes.
With as much contempt the administration shows the American public, are we sure Hillary isn’t already president?
More proof Jonathan Gruber’s philosophy permeate the administration.
The Local and National Media Sell Out
They are not telling us the Truth
Zionist Jews Own the Media
They have not reported;
1.) All the U.S. invasions are Wars of Aggression – War Crimes
2.) Obama’s birth certificates and draft card are forgeries
3.) Israel and American traitors did 9/11
4.) Vaccines are full of toxic chemicals. Vaccines cause autism and other diseases
5.) Obama is one of the biggest criminals in world history
6.) Zionist Jews control America
7.) According to the Federal Government, Obama’s Social Security number is a fake
8.) Obama is a homosexual
9.) By law Obama is not the president. He can be arrested like anyone else
10.) For swearing in an illegal president Chief Justice John Roberts is the biggest traitor in American history
11.) Your boards of elections are corrupt in placing non-citizen, criminal Obama on the ballot
12.) Many Members of Congress have been voting to fund U.S. and Israeli War Crimes. They can be indicted as war criminals
13.) Washington DC = Nazi Berlin in Nuremberg war crimes law
14.) Obama, Bush and many in U.S. government are mass murderers / war criminals
What a crock. The Government celebrates Non-Disclosure Day should be the Real Title.
They have been using FOIA DENIALS, FOIA APPEAL DENIALS, GAG ORDERS, NON-DISCLOSURE AGREEMENTS AND EVEN — “CLASSIFYING” INFORMATION IN ORDER TO COVER UP THEIR CRIMES AGAINST TARGETED INDIVIDUALS, ACTIVISTS AND JOURNALISTS.
They also use “BELOW THE RADAR” AND “OFF THE BOOKS” communications through private cell phones and messaging, as well as email accounts, as has been exposed with Hillary Clinton OFF THE RECORD COMMUNICATIONS.
There are so many more criminal activities that have been kept HIDDEN AND OFF THE RECORD BY GOVERNMENT PERSONNEL WHO ARE NETWORKED IN CRIMINAL COVERT OPERATIONS AND DO NOT WANT THEIR CRIMES EXPOSED.
scribd : CrystalSpirit_US.