Posted by Duane Lester on Jun 17th, 2009 • Clicks
Check this video out. Obama promising transparency and describing the Bush Administration as one of the most secretive ever:
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. It also denied a narrower request by the nonpartisan watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which sought logs of visits by executives of coal companies.
I disagreed with Bush when he did it, and I disagree with Obama for doing it. But honestly, can we really trust a list released from the government.
“We’d like to see the visitor list.”
“OK, here you go.”
“And this is everyone the President has met with in the White House?”
“As far as you know, yes.”
What about the people he meets with in private outside the White House? What about phone calls he makes? While a visitors list may not be accurate, the refusal to release it shows his dedication to transparency is a strong as his dedication to the Constitution.
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