Obama Launches Review Of Secrecy Policy

Washington Post:

President Obama this afternoon directed his national security adviser and senior Cabinet officials to examine whether the government keeps too much information secret.

Read the whole story: Washington Post

Comments

[RightWingMarine]

11:05 AM on 05/28/2009

somehow I suspect that the info that is deemed no longer needed to be kept secret will only be info that is embarassing to the Republican party.

[barackobama4prez]

11:26 AM on 05/28/2009

keeping my fingers crossed!



- Liberalism is a beautiful thing!

[CigarGod]

11:46 AM on 05/28/2009

Well, since the last administration let out everything that was embarassing to the Democrats, I guess everything will be out in the open.

Got something against fairness and balance?

[RightWingMarine]

11:51 AM on 05/28/2009

not at all, I just hate politicians

[Cambridge9]

08:10 AM on 05/28/2009

While talking torture:- All these photos can inflame recruitment against the USA. But there's another torture which hasn't yet been considered for prosecution. That's the torture of our own troops by our own contractors Haliburton/KBR. When our own soldiers are sent into battle without clean (or enough)water, or when they can't take a shower without wondering if they will live through it we need to prosecute the perpetrators of that kind of torture. How can we expect young people to sign up for military service when they realize they will be fighting two enemies??

[chocolatecity]

08:05 AM on 05/28/2009

I know many on the left don't think Obama moves quickly enough, but after 8 years of a ready, shoot, aim president, the fact that we have a president who always wants a thorough review before he makes a decision is heartening.

[uvymopka]

08:25 AM on 05/28/2009

Hope we are not dead before he gets done with the "thorough review".

[OMG1109]

10:13 AM on 05/28/2009

Well, if you are (dead I mean) at least you won't know.....I can only assume you're an individual that wants a President to "act' first and ask questions later. We just got rid of that one!!!

[StevenevetS]

10:53 AM on 05/28/2009

(These stupid comments get old.)

[wrencher]

03:31 AM on 05/28/2009

Talk is cheap with this man.

Why don't you start with releasing the 2000+photos, Mr. President?

[GodBlessAmerica]

05:03 AM on 05/28/2009

Because what good would it do? It's fairly obvious what bad it would do -- inflame those we collectively are trying very hard to make nice with, and be wonderful propoganda poster material for those who hate the US and really want to do us and our interests actual harm.

[gbrooks]

06:43 AM on 05/28/2009

What good would it do?

It would provide the fodder to prosecute Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld/Rice et al for their complicity in illegal acts, along with those soldiers/interrogators who carried it out.

Honesty and clarity takes courage, it takes courage to seek the truth and allow it to shine, regardless of how bad it makes us look. You talk about our "interests," what exactly are our interests? We're doing nothing but creating more and more enemies overseas, we're spending money on warfare like drunken sailors on hookers, we're protecting evil people who carried out heinous acts, we're building unsustainable empires and policing the world while not taking care of our people at home.

Is that the America you want?

[jane gutowski]

07:37 AM on 05/28/2009

Why bother? All this attention to what horrific torturers Americans are has worked. Now even Castro is out making speeches condemning us as torturers.When can we start talking about all the good Americans do or are we just going to keep giving terrorists more talking points?

[gbrooks]

05:10 PM on 05/28/2009

If, by "terrorist talking points," you mean "the truth" then I say yes. Certainly followed by serious apologies.

[JZ735]

02:50 AM on 05/28/2009

Let's hope this is more than mere rhetoric and a long overdue olive branch to po'd left that is angry at Obama continuing Bush's awful secrecy policies.

[GodBlessAmerica]

05:14 AM on 05/28/2009

Oh please .. to say Obama is continuing Bush's secrecy policies is absurd. The Bush White House fought every single FOIA or congressional inquiry, and sometimes subpoenas too. Even a picture of that dirty lobbyist was deemed not-releaseable.

It *is* reasonable to keep some things secret, some for "national security" and some for frank discussion about possible policy.. Every president has since Washington.

And I'm 1000 times more confident that the pres isn't giving anyone the green light to completely ignore US law, treaties, or other government input (say, the State Dept). Do you really think this is the same as W??

[gbrooks]

06:47 AM on 05/28/2009

Let's be honest, Obama had to be forced to release those memos by the ACLU.

Be honest with yourself: Would you have defended this secrecy if it were Bush/Cheney still in charge?

Don't give Obama more slack because he's a Dem, because he seems like a nice guy or because he's smart. Obama's greatness or failures will obviously depend on the people of America *pushing* him to do the right thing. Don't make the same mistake the Republicans did and simply go along with things blindly because he's your guy.

[opine2u]

02:29 AM on 05/28/2009

The opaque is being brushed over the transparent.

[bubbuh]

02:36 AM on 05/28/2009

The meaningless is being mumbled by the inconsequential.

[dems08]

03:03 AM on 05/28/2009

LOL!!

[StevenevetS]

10:54 AM on 05/28/2009

Touche'

('sooooo well done!)

[Telemachus]

01:19 PM on 05/28/2009

The pink geese fly north.

[dems08]

01:58 AM on 05/28/2009

"President Bush this afternoon directed his national security adviser and senior Cabinet officials to examine whether the government keeps too much information secret."

No?

[AnnfromCA]

01:32 AM on 05/28/2009

This should be fun to watch.

[We-Are-The-Ones]

12:47 AM on 05/28/2009

And despite all the madness and idiocy surrounding his every move, the President keeps working, doing the nation's business. Clearing away vagueness from eons of administrations. It took a new President to study this matter. Imagine what we will learn about all prior administrations.

Keep working Mr. President. Keep working.

[PJay1]

11:28 PM on 05/27/2009

I'm sorry, but this seems like a waste of time, money, and energy.
The govt will do a review on itself?
Gee, I wonder how that will turn out.......

They don't need a review.
The answer is a clear resounding *YES*!!
They do keep too many things secret simply because, as Jonathan Turley often says, because it might be embarrassing or politically inconvenient to release information that the public has a right to know about.

[weatherwaxx]

01:05 AM on 05/28/2009

There are probably some things that do need to be kept secret. Classified codes. Details about national defense. The names of some of our CIA people... like Valerie Plame Wilson...

It would be as big a mistake to make everything open as it would be to make everything secret. And only an idiot -- or Dubya, which is the same thing -- would just go one way or the other without deciding what is okay to release and what's dangerous.

[GodBlessAmerica]

05:16 AM on 05/28/2009

Mrs. Wilson is an excellent example. I am still mortified about her outing/burning, and still worry about the networks she put in place and left behind.

[PJay1]

10:16 AM on 05/28/2009

It's not all or nothing.
Some things are just no brainers, like the outing of a CIA agent.
Of course, that and the other things you mentioned such as secret codes, etc, SHOULD be kept secret.

It's the other stuff like declassified memos and photos that I'm talking about.
My operative words were: "...that the public has a RIGHT to know...." which does not include legitimately classified info like the names of agents and such.

[LemonMeringue]

10:31 PM on 05/27/2009

Of course the government keeps too many secrets.

Obama should open Pandora's box of the last administration's secrets.

[MissKaren]

11:20 PM on 05/27/2009

Given that President Cheney was more paranoid than President Nixon, I'm amazed the address of the White House is not a state secret.

[dems08]

02:01 AM on 05/28/2009

cheney is more paranoid than kim jong il.

[SueInCA]

10:14 PM on 05/27/2009

Our government, while they pretend to operate in synch in Washington, operates exactly opposite. We have all seen it, if you are local PD and are working on a case and the Feds have info, they do not just share it with you until you find out. The various departments, I am sure act on this same premise. Everyone has heard the term in the workplace, "that's they way it has always been done" as a reason for not trying something new. I imagine the Obama administration is running in to that same mentality all over Washington.

It will take time, but hopefully things will work out for the tor.turers, in our favor. It takes awhile to build a case just for indictment, let alone prosecution. We have seen it time and time again, Obama makes a move that none of us anticipated. If he were having Holder looking at prosecution, do you think he would announce it?

[Amalek]

09:59 PM on 05/27/2009

Start by explaining what really happened in Roswell, New Mexico. When our government fully accounts for the poor little alien they captured we can all rest again, or not.

[MissKaren]

11:21 PM on 05/27/2009

Giggle. The alien became Bush's VP

[mat3]

11:59 PM on 05/27/2009

He was water boarded first, then became the VP.

[GodBlessAmerica]

05:18 AM on 05/28/2009

"Take me to your leader"?

[dems08]

02:02 AM on 05/28/2009

you're watching the history channel again, admit it.

[JDM73]

09:52 PM on 05/27/2009

Just abide by the law and release those torture photos, Mr. President. That'll be a good start.

[absolutetruth09]

10:18 PM on 05/27/2009

I agree ,I want to see the memos,to find how effective they were.

[BruceHNV]

10:56 PM on 05/27/2009

"...how effective..."

That is irrelevant data. Torture that works is still torture, and illegal.

[myarmsaregreen]

12:30 AM on 05/28/2009

Yes, we need to see the memos Cheney requested.

Transparency please!

[Theo67]

01:18 AM on 05/28/2009

These so-called memo's that Cheney requested were probably typed by him in the secrecy of his lair. The fact of the matter is that the memos don't matter. The crime is still the crime. Ask a murderer if proof of a body vindicates him for the crime somehow. Same difference.

[Coinyer101]

09:49 PM on 05/27/2009

'To help clear the path, Obama yesterday created a task force to study that and related issues for 90 days, putting at the helm Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.'

I think AG Holder needs to be focusing his efforts on wa r crim inals, shouldn't he? let napolitano take the helm. Holder needs to do his dam job, and have those people arrested!

[Prakosh]

09:51 PM on 05/27/2009

I still don't think this is ever going to happen. I am sorry, disappointed, and disgusted to say it, but I think the war criminals are going to walk.

[Coinyer101]

09:52 PM on 05/27/2009

i know. you may be right. that's why I'm going to keep yelling..., lol

[LemonMeringue]

10:56 PM on 05/27/2009

Disappointed and disgusted too. There was never an honest investigation into 9/11 either.

Congress is wrong not to investigate. Obama is wrong not to demand it.

[unity08]

10:11 PM on 05/27/2009

I would think there is enough staff to do both.