They almost got me excited until
Here I was watching the news today and Obama fulfilling one of his campaign promises .
White House Voluntary Disclosure Policy
Visitor Access Records
Pretty sweet huh? Wow, would have been nice under Bush to see all the people going in and out of the W house. You can’t imagine how happy I am now to see that Obama is stepping up and allowing us to see what is going on behind closed doors. Now we will get to see some serious shit. Finally, some access to the house that is our house!
And as I read down the web page I come to this…
The White House voluntary disclosure policy will be subject to the following exceptions:
hewwww, boy. This should be good.
1. The White House will not release fields within the access records that implicate personal privacy or law enforcement concerns (e.g., dates of birth, social security numbers, and contact phone numbers); records that implicate the personal safety of EOP staff (their daily arrival and departure); or records whose release would threaten national security interests.
whoooop, there it is!!!, sing it with me, whooop there it is!!!
Awwwwwwwwwww yeah, chilly chill in da house. The national security card biznatch! Suck on that stick mother fuckers. Let’s just see how many redactions we get that will be applied to this little exception.
2. The White House will not release access records related to purely personal guests of the first and second families (i.e., visits that do not involve any official or political business)
Purely personal? And who decides that one? That don’t include official or political business? Fucking A, I’m driving up there tomorrow. Sounds to me like he has one of those open door policy my CFO has. Sweet! I’m sure this excuse will be used a few times. I can see it now though, someone starts talking politics and Obama sticks his hand up and asks them not too so they make sure to keep their names public.
So far so good. I don’t see any loopholes people could use in the white house. After all, they only created memos and fake intel to take us to war. No worries….I’m making binoculars with my hands right now and looking right into the White house!
3. The White House will not release access records related to a small group of particularly sensitive meetings (e.g., visits of potential Supreme Court nominees). The White House will disclose each month the number of records withheld on this basis, and it will release such records once they are no longer sensitive.
This just gets better and better. I feel like I have an adirondack chair right outside the oval office. At this point I don’t see how any body that sees the president is going to sneak by me.
Well, there you have it, transparency baby.
I wish we had this in delaware!
So, they can classify anything as a “national security” threat and refuse to release the record. That is downright Bush-ian. Thanks for this, DV. Great writing.
YEAH! Makes me wish i had voted for McCain.. things woulda been MUCH better
So when will the White House log the visit of the Green Jobs Czar? Possibly,when he gets his pink slip.
Van Jones, poster child of the Obama Administration.
Mike Protack
What’s so unusual about an avowed communist working in the upper echelons of the White House? After all, BO’s friendly with a domestic terrorist, listened to the sermons of a raving lunatic for twenty years, and got a sweetheart deal on his house from a convicted felon. Anything goes.
I think you forgot to mention Obama’s historic 9.7% unemployment rate. Last fall he was going to put America back to work.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/05/uselections2008-barackobama
is the policy retroactive? or are the Big Pharma collaberation mtgs still classified?
Historic? Protack, you do realize the unemployment rate during Reagan’s first term was also 9.7%, right?
I mean, I expect these kind of ignorant comments from our young and uneducated wingnuts. But you are middle-aged, and at least smart enough to fly planes. So I have to attribute your misstatement to be a misrepresentation, a willful lie only created to attack the President.
Not to mention that Obama inhereted a 14-month long recession when he got into office. He’s turning it around in half that time. The recession was caused by Bush and his policies.
UI, Obama is not turning around the economy, the hard work of millions of Americans is. The presidents take blame and credit for massive economic cycles, they deserve neither.
John,
I agree that presidents get more blame and credit than they deserve for the state of the economy. However, the stimulus is responsible for 1.12% of GDP growth, according to economists. This growth is before the full stimulus package has taken effect. In fact, some economists say that we are actually out of recession officially. Hopefully that means that job growth will pick up soon.
ok, so you guys like actual data? is there anywhere actual data (eg, graphics) can be posted?
Post links
what about jpgs or ppts, do i have to post them somewhere first, then link to the post?
A slightly more articulate view that agrees with DV, from Michael German of the dread ACLU:
“The White House is the people’s house, and after years of closed doors, Americans will finally know more about who consults the administration on matters of public policy. This is an important and welcome step towards increasing transparency and public accountability.
While the new policy is commendable, some vaguely worded exceptions to it do raise concerns about the potential for abuse in classifying matters under the umbrella of national security. We encourage President Obama to define these exceptions narrowly and to keep secret visits in the White House to a minimum. The ACLU will continue to hold the administration to its commitment to be, in its own words, “the most open and transparent administration in history.”