Obama’s Transparency – Moon of Alabama

April 10, 2009

Obama’s Transparency

Looking into Obama's promises and policies on transparent government I was not able to find anything about the issue through the menus of the whitehouse.gov website.

Then, using Google, I found that the White House published a

MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES
SUBJECT: Transparency and Open Government

The URL to that memo is:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/TransparencyandOpenGovernment/.

Rechecking the higher level page http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/ I am again unable to find a link to the transparency memorandum.

But back to the memo. The memorandum is displayed with a date "FRI, APRIL 10, 10:33 AM EST". Huh? They issued that just now?

No. Searching for "transparency" at the whitehouse.gov site the first two search result are to the link above but the third result leads to the same document under the slightly different URL:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Transparency_and_Open_Government/

where it has a timestamp of "January 21st, 2009 at 12:00 am".

How transparent is a government that even hides its own proclamation about "Transparency and Open Government" and even tags it with the wrong timestamp?

Not very much.

My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.
Transparency and Open Government

—

The U.S. Federal Reserve has told Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Citigroup Inc. and other banks to keep mum on the results of “stress tests” that will gauge their ability to weather the recession, people familiar with the matter said.

Fed Said to Order Banks to Stay Mum on ‘Stress Test’ Results

—

Panetta said the CIA will cooperate with the reviews of "past interrogation practices" and reiterated his insistence that agency officials who acted on Justice Department guidance "should not be investigated, let alone punished."
CIA Has Quit Operating Secret Jails, Chief Says

—

But last Friday, his Justice Department filed a motion in a warrantless wiretapping lawsuit, brought by the digital-rights group EFF. And the Obama-ites took a page out of the Bush DOJ's playbook by demanding that the suit, Jewel v. NSA, be dismissed entirely under the state secrets privilege, arguing that allowing it go forward would jeopardize national security.
Expert Consensus: Obama Mimics Bush On State Secrets

—

At a hearing of the Senate Committee on Finance on Tuesday, two oversight chiefs delivered harsh criticism of the Treasury Department's lack of accountability and transparency in its Troubled Asset Relief Program
Treasury Resisting TARP Transparency, Oversight

Not much change there one might say. But there is some. The Bush White House had a decent website where one could find the issues one was looking for.

So evidently something has changed and there is no reason to be disappointed.

The promise was change, not change to something better.

Posted by b on April 10, 2009 at 18:37 UTC | Permalink

Comments

National Security Archive: (February 21, 2009) Obama Justice Department Misses Opportunity for Transparency Stays the Course in Defense of Archive Suit About Lost Bush/Cheney White House E-mail

Posted by: Abe Linclon | Apr 11 2009 4:51 utc | 1

b, this info is so sad and appalling – and the fact that even now there was only one comment suggests that there is a deer-in-the-headlights syndrome going on among us. Or simple collective resignation.
Thank you for bringing the link to our attention. What can be done? Can any important group sue?

Posted by: lambent1 | Apr 11 2009 8:19 utc | 2

I don’t think it’s deer in the headlights at all, just a kind of sad and silent resignation at having been right. On the bright side maybe Obama is holding on to this one just to scare the shit out of the paranoid opposition and make them crazy – or crazy-er – which works to his advantage.

Posted by: anna missed | Apr 11 2009 9:19 utc | 3

Extraordinary film that exposes the power of the U.S. military-Wall Street complex under BOTH Obama and Bush. Sample nugget: A short interview with Jesse Ventura who says U.S. politics is like wrestling, namely, the wrestlers hammer each other and verbally abuse each other in public but are the best of friends outside the showroom. Then there´s Lincoln confirming that “corporations have been enthroned ….”, and Eisenhower lamenting that the military-industrial complex had taken over the nation, etc.,. etc.,.
JFK emerges as the sole genuine hero, “the last true President of the United States”:

“The Obama Deception”

Posted by: Parviz | Apr 11 2009 9:59 utc | 4

JFK was a womanizer and about screwed the pooch in Cuba… The assassin cut him down before he could screw anything else up. It’s easy to worship at the tomb of the dead, harder for a guy still walking around to be “good”.
The last “true” president of the US is probably Jimmy Carter… Kind of a goof, but a down to earth fellow that I’ve met a few times… Maybe that’s why I’m biased in his favor.
I remember a few years ago on one of Jimmy’s fishing trips in the Gunnison Gorge I paddled my kayak upstream to meet his floatilla coming down and give the man some of my hand-tied yellow sallys (type of stonefly)… Not a breath of trouble from the secret service, the group treated me pretty nice… this was during the iraq war (most recent) and the country was fearful of terrorism everywhere… I doubt I could have done a similar thing with Cheney (nor would I).
And it must be 12-13 years ago when I worked at a cafe on the ski mountain Jimmy’s group came though the line and waited like the other 600 people… Really salt of the earth folks.
But Jimmy also commanded a nuke submarine so I don’t think he is the second coming of Christ or anything, just a nice down to earth fellow who became president.

Posted by: DavidS | Apr 11 2009 14:26 utc | 5

DavisS, you clearly commented without having viewed the video. I recommend you patiently view the entire 90 minutes to see how gard JFK tried to alert the nation to the dangers of Wall Street and Organized Crime (for which his brother also suffered).

Posted by: Parviz | Apr 11 2009 15:15 utc | 6

b, i am not good at searching for anything.. from the WH ‘transparency’ page..
This memorandum shall be published in the Federal Register.

did you search the The Federal Register ?

Posted by: annie | Apr 11 2009 16:31 utc | 7

Parviz: the obama deception is interesting, but Alex Jones seems to be eagerly allowing himself to be co-opted by the right, so take anything he puts together with a few shakers of salt.

Posted by: Lizard | Apr 11 2009 17:17 utc | 8

Ah. The New World Order. Alex Fucking Jones.
I give up. The intellectuals of our age are thirty-somethings armed with a working knowledge of the protocols of zion, the book of revelations as read for books on tape by arnold schwarzenegger, and 6 seasons of the tv show “The Entourage.” Pretty much the NWO countercultural zeitgeist.

Posted by: slothrop | Apr 11 2009 18:55 utc | 9

it is unfortunate that alex jones is as mad as a meataxe because in his onslaught are important facts lost in the loony conspiracy trajectory. for example the history & importance of thinktanks/research institutes & their ‘interest’s like chatham house, the role of financial capital, derivatives – but this is all lost in a mock messianiac mumbo jumbo
one of the more important statements in this doco is by the historian who speaks of the current elites being a sorry excuse for a ruling class – & that is closer to the truth than any conspiracy theorist wwould like to believe
& i suppose i am with slothrop on this – there are sufficient facts on the fround that you do not need to elaborate a superstructure of conspiracy
i too do not believe a word the presidential, legislative & judicial body of u s imperialism say, not a word – in fact there has never been a reason too – but they are so incompetent & venal – it will fall all by itself

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Apr 11 2009 19:27 utc | 10

all i have to know about obama is that he supported & is enhancing the patriot act
all i have to know about obama is the way he taked to the people of iraq
all i have to know about obam are his acts & his intentions in afghanistan & pakistan

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Apr 11 2009 19:29 utc | 11

& all i have to know about obama & his love of law- is that he has not done anything within his power that leonard peltier be freed

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Apr 11 2009 19:55 utc | 12

Emptywheel leads a discussion of transparency – none- and govt/financial disclosure. Seems SEC laws include clauses, which Bush invoked, and Geithner is now apparently channeling. These clauses allow the prez & his agents to exempt corps from SEC disclosure requirements. For national security reasons, of course. Bush delegated Negroponte. Who knows how often and how long the SEC requirements have been waived? Military contractors come to mind. An endless tangle of black budgets?

Isn’t it bad form for the Treasury Department to order financial institutions to hide data about their financial health on their earnings reports? (h/t Stephen)
The U.S. Treasury Department is asking banks not to mention the regulatory “stress tests” as part of their first-quarter earnings results, according to a source familiar with government discussions.

. . .

There was a provision in one of the Bush-era security acts which allowed a president to allow companies cooperating with the government on some secret project or other to keep the money they earned from the contract off their balance sheets. Initially, it was to hide the money from warrantless wiretapping, but it could just as easily go to defense contractors or, for that matter, financial companies.

. . . .

Apparently [authority is contained] in the 1934 Act that created the SEC. From commenter NorkaWest at CalculatedRisk:
Section 13(b)(3)(A) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934:
“With respect to matters concerning the national security of the United States, no duty or liability under paragraph (2) of this subsection shall be imposed upon any person acting in cooperation with the head of any Federal department or agency responsible for such matters if such act in cooperation with such head of a department or agency was done upon the specific, written directive of the head of such department or agency pursuant to Presidential authority to issue such directives. Each directive issued under this paragraph shall set forth the specific facts and circumstances with respect to which the provisions of this paragraph are to be invoked. Each such directive shall, unless renewed in writing, expire one year after the date of issuance.”

. . . .

Where’s the SEC in all this?
might be a clue: from the la times

While the SEC is incompetent, the securities industry’s self-policing organization, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, is “very corrupt,” Markopolos charged. That organization was headed until December by Mary Schapiro, President Barack Obama’s new SEC chief.

Any reason to wonder where lies the paper trail of executive directives, mandated by the SEC rule? How many times in one day do we hear “national security”?

Posted by: small coke | Apr 11 2009 20:05 utc | 13

Parviz-
It’s true I didn’t watch the vid… I’ll try and take the time this afternoon, but I may have already viewed it, I’m not sure.
I’ll agree that JFk and Robert were warning us about the corruption in government –but organized crime? Considering the Kennedy family past, maybe they were just worried about rival gangsters?
Eisenhower– was also trying to warn us about the coming dangers to our freedoms and he was doing so from the perspective of a former soldier. From his last speech:

Until the latest of our world conflicts, the United States had no armaments industry. American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.
This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence — economic, political, even spiritual — is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the militaryindustrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.

It’s a good speech (and short) despite having many of the same tired ideas about national security needs… but underlying his words seem to be the thoughts of a warrior tired of wars… I don’t want to crap on Kennedy; he was a very important to many people and his death a tragedy, but unfortunately we’ll never know how he would have changed america if he’d lived through his entire term.
There have been many amazing americans who have tired to change the status quo but ended-up screwed by the powers that be… I think of George McGovern… damn my small brain is scrambling for names but I know of their actions. People like Cynthia Mc Kinney and the many people who spoke out against the Iraq war are recent members of this group but there have been others… Ah yes Mother Jones, how could a freak living in Colorado forget that woman?
I sometimes get a bit flustered by the Cult of Kennedy that treats him like a second Christ (or Mohammad) and forgets his human qualities. I’ve often wondered if he wouldn’t have been blackmailed or otherwise compromised had he lived… Look at how ol’ Teddy has done (not that this is a fair comparison I suppose) I’m pretty well versed in Kennedy family conspiracies up to the modern mysteries (like strange plane crashes).
I guess I don’t trust any politician anymore… and the more perfect they seem the less I’m willing to trust the memories.

Posted by: DavidS | Apr 11 2009 20:56 utc | 14

Lizard, how is Alex Jones being co-opted by the right? He just spent the last eight years demonizing “W” and the neo-conservatives. Alex Jones has, and continues to open many eyes. The Obama Deception was not as well done as ENDGAME.
slothrop, are you implying that the NWO is not real? Not sure what you’re getting at here. What do the Protcols of Zion have to do with Alex Jones? Are you implying that he is accusing the Jews of being evil Bankers plotting to rule the world? I’ve listened to him for a long time and although he’s had some questionable characters on his show he’s always stayed away from making it religious, ethnic argument. If anything he often speaks to a Judeo-Christian ethic.

Posted by: DuhWayne | Apr 12 2009 2:01 utc | 15

I guess nowadays, the river which one crosses in the journey of the mind is pop libertarianism. It must be something to do with the construction of male ego by a succession of Hollywood disaster formula blockbusters, the rock band Metallica, and the regrettable, but hopefully fleeting, use of the internet as a conspiracy index by young men who really ought to read Philip Agee and C. Wright Mills before they monkey around with digitally packeted discourses.
I apologize. I had no idea Alex Jones is merely a secular conspiracy kook.

Posted by: slothrop | Apr 12 2009 2:30 utc | 16

I also think people who use “NWO” are unwitting progeny of those who liked to use the acronym “ZOG” written, I think, on the forehead of Alan Berg.

Posted by: slothrop | Apr 12 2009 2:38 utc | 17

I waited overnight to see what would be posted here, because it’s a little early to be saying “I told you so!” as far as Obama is concerned. He really hasn’t surprised me any, though.
While Alex Jones has never been my cup of tea, I may have to give him another listen after sloth’s ringing endorsement. Why the hell not, he’s been wrong about everything else…

Posted by: Jim T | Apr 12 2009 3:30 utc | 18

DuhWayne: Alex Jones has a substantial following, and his new flick is certainly making the rounds. unfortunately his conspiratorial critique of Obama dovetails nicely with the folks keeping guns backordered, because “socialist” Obama and the “liberal” conspiracy he represents is coming to take them away . so it seems to me the fractured, discredited right is regrouping, and part of that regrouping entails bringing the pop libertarians back under the tent. i could be totally wrong.
obviously, as more folks disillusioned with the whole charade gravitate toward bullhorn truth seekers like Jones, elements of the fringe will be acknowledged and absorbed. like anyone, Jones has an ego to feed, so he might mistake the attention from more mainstream sources as validation, instead of the more likely scenario of a broken ideology lusting after his fan base.
Jim T: …it’s a little early to be saying “I told you so!” as far as Obama is concerned. really? pretty soon it will be a little late, then what? none of us who saw this coming want to say “I told you so!” even though we did, and caught a lot of shit for saying it.
stay tuned.

Posted by: Lizard | Apr 12 2009 4:57 utc | 19

Obviously in a 90-minute dramatic account of a historical and ongoing disaster there are going to be things we all disagree with. But my reason for posting “Obama´s Deception” was to draw attention to some of the great and valid points made in the film. r´giap pretty much sums it up:
it is unfortunate that alex jones is as mad as a meataxe because in his onslaught are important facts lost in the loony conspiracy trajectory.

Posted by: Parviz | Apr 12 2009 6:18 utc | 20

It was pretty obvious to most folks that we had no real choice this last election. Choice was eliminated pretty early on and we were given a “choice” between three pro-Israel stooges. Obama hasn’t done anything really stupid yet, except for domestic shit like funding the banksters bailout. I guess in Bush terms, he’s still like December of 2000, when most of the country didn’t know what had been taken from us or what a moron was on the horizon.

Posted by: Jim T | Apr 12 2009 11:44 utc | 21

Obama hasn’t done anything really stupid yet, except for domestic shit like funding the banksters bailout
escalating AfPak, drone-bombing villages, destabilizing a nuclear armed nation…no, not stupid. suicidal.

Posted by: Lizard | Apr 12 2009 16:55 utc | 22

A Tiny Revolution on the same theme (but a day later)- How I Miss The Transparency And Openness Of The Bush White House

Posted by: b | Apr 12 2009 19:39 utc | 23

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