News reports and commentary bounced around the news cloud and blogosphere this week drawn on materials recovered from Osama bin Laden’s former Pakistani hideout. Some commentators chose to focus on the timing of this release, coming right after one reporter published attacks on the official story of the raid four years ago which killed bin Laden and netted the documents. Others keyed in on Osama’s management style or strategic vision.
Here in this Bureau we took particular note of one bit of spin attached to the release.
“Jeff Anchukaitis, spokesman for the [Office of the Director of National Intelligence], said the release of “a sizeable tranche of documents” was in line with President Barack Obama’s call for “increased transparency.”
No, Mr. Anchukaitis, no matter what your handlers coached you to say, this release in no way supports this administration’s claim on the label “Most Transparent Administration in U.S. History.™”
Releasing someone else’s documents does not make you transparent. Transparency in this context is all about letting people see details of your own business, not the four year old data of a dead foreigner. A people who see half their productive effort either taken or used as leverage, and who are legally constrained in their behavior at every turn, have every right to expect and demand a much higher standard.
From the Most Transparent Administration in U.S. History™ those people have seen a record number of requested documents censored or withheld, by both plain count and percentage.
“Administration sets record for withholding government files.” – AP
The Most Transparent Administration in U.S. History™ doubled down on support for and use of the FISA court. This court prosecutes individuals and whole large classes of people without any pretense of legal traditions like process, service, or defense. A traditional name for such a court can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kangaroo_court. The FISA court is thoroughly inscrutable to congressional or public oversight, or even to any higher court. It is nested in a cozy bed of classified catch-22s.
Fisa court oversight: a look inside a secret and empty process – The Guardian.
The Most Transparent Administration in U.S. History™ has been determined from the start to control and coordinate not just the soundbites coming from its own spokesmen, but also all the tangential talking points that follow. This administration is so far the biggest drag on the Democrat’s most universally favorited presidential candidate since Walter Mondale. A time came when a succinct message and apologetic tone was the only correct and productive course of action. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton could have said,
“Tragic mistakes were made. It happened on my watch. I am sorry.”
President Obama could have given a short stirring speech,
“Our brave diplomats work at risk. They are out there working behind unlocked doors, engaging other people in the world. We will continue to work to make friends, no matter how many enemies we have.”
Instead the Most Transparent Administration in U.S. History™ chose a course of blame-shifting, obfuscation, and diversion. It turned a case of ordinary incompetence into a triumphantly feeble and transparently incompetent coverup. Malpractice turned into malfeasance, and insisting that people move on doesn’t make the smell go away.
As of today the White House web site still carries the policy statement and directive from the President on openness and transparency. So the spin is still on. It only makes us remember days on the schoolyard where the challenge was to get the merry go round spinning as fast as possible, and then see who could stay on the longest without spewing his cafeteria lunch all over the teeter-totter.
riverratsc 