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TechnoratiObama Blocks List of Visitors to White House
Taking Bush's position, administration denies msnbc.com request for logs
The Obama administration is fighting to block access to names of visitors to the White House, taking up the Bush administration argument that a president doesn't have to reveal who comes calling to influence policy decisions.
![[U.S. President Barack Obama stops and turns to address a reporter's question in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, June 12, 2009. (REUTERS/Jim Young)]](http://www.commondreams.org/files/article_images/whitehousevisitors.jpg "whitehousevisitors.jpg")
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.
CREW says it will file a lawsuit Tuesday against the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Secret Service.
"We are deeply disappointed," said CREW attorney Anne L. Weismann, "that the Obama administration is following the same anti-transparency policy as the Bush administration when it comes to White House visitor records. Refusing to let the public know who visits the White House is not the action of a pro-transparency, pro-accountability administration."
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25 Comments so far
Show AllI have to admit I'm confused by what Obama had represented and presented in his campaign and what is actually happening with his administration. Very worrying....
"The administration ought to be able to hold secret meetings in the White House"
Sure sure, like Darth Viper's secret energy meetings. Go ahead O'Bamba, finish wrecking the republic. We want our revolution sooner.
Didn't he say something like"I'll never lie to you" but I guess he didn't say I'll always be honest with you.
i,m a jazz musician in nyc many friends and colleagues are black. when he was elected
we were so proud of him. now if discussion happens the name corporate tom escapes
their lips along with the deep pain they are feeling over their being betrayed by obama.
many gave money to his campaign believing with him life in america would
be somehow
transformed. instead of peter townsend's the new boss same as the old boss it's also
zeppelin's ''the song remains the same''. the cut by obama has been the cruelest it makes
you want to cry!
Unfortunately Obama was a cruel hoax played on the people by the Powers who really be.
They realized people were looking for change, so they used color to distract and it worked. But Obama is only the black face, the black puppet of the Powerful elite who still control things from behind the curtain.
I would suggest google searching the documentary The Obama Deception.
also check out this website http://www.blackagendareport.com
I just hope the majority of Americans who were fooled by this mean spirited joke will soon wake up and see the reality...
... before it's too late!
Ron Paul 2012 - End Imperialism - END these Illegal WARS! Bring ALL The TROOPS Home From ALL Around the World.
oh and lets End The FED - Support HR 1207
Ron Paul is beginning to look rather attractive. At least he's honest. Of course, that's what I thought about Obama.
When the people fear their government there is tyranny,
when the government fears the people there is liberty.
~ Thomas Jefferson
"The administration ought to be able to hold secret meetings in the White House"
- Are You Kidding Me?!
Secret meetings? So Much for Transparency in Government!
"The very word "secrecy" is repugnant in a free and open society..."
~John F. Kennedy - America's last true President.
George Barack Obama Bush is a LIAR!
Those of you whom voted for this person have be Bamboozled!
You want REAL Change, Change for the Better - Ron Paul 2012!!!!
Impeach George W. Bush the Third, er um, Impeach Obama - Save America!
Jeevee
We must impeach Joe Biden at the same time, or we'll be even more of a mess. Isn't Pelosi impeachable?
Jeevee
We must impeach Joe Biden at the same time, or we'll be even more of a mess. Isn't Pelosi impeachable?
redux Cheney and Energy....
So what else is new? Obama already broke the transparency promise. I can't think of a single promise he hasn't broken. Maybe someone could make a list to see if he missed any?
When the people fear their government there is tyranny,
when the government fears the people there is liberty.
~ Thomas Jefferson
http://politifact.com/truth-o-meter
It seems worse than it is...not to say that it's good. Maybe the bar has been set way too low.
Since Owebama is continuing every other Bush policy...
I wouldn't be surprised if Jeff Gannon is still having sleep-overs at the white house...!
I guess the campaign pledge of "Transperency" has apparently put the Liberals into a Trance...
My liberal friends with doctorates in education think that Obombya is doing a "heck of a job" in all...
When I bring up each issue case by case, they think Embalma is preserving the Status Quo...
But added all together, He is singlehandedly taking on the Empire by playing the game by their rules!
Long term strategems! Better than McPain! And so soothing to listen to... Give war a chance...!
Apparently Jeff Gannon was paid off.
If transparency existed he'd be a household name and Cheney's S&M videos would be on YouTube by now.
Apparently more "transparency" we can believe in. Yes we can get screwed again.
i care. and im sure a lot of others do as well.
just because hes at home doesnt mean hes talking about sports. the things he does affect us all.
Who cares who visits in the White House? That is their home, is it not? We will no doubt know if known criminals and terrorists visit regularly. We know Frank Sinatra visited the Reagan`s, but so what?
No, it is not "their home." In theory, it is OUR home.
As for criminals and terrorists visiting the White House, honestly, that's trite. And BTW, it's not criminals and terrorists I'm worried about, it's corporate big-shots and K Street hustlers that give me the willies. They're responsible for far more death and destruction than any two-bit criminal or terr'ist.
"We will no doubt know if known criminals and terrorists visit regularly. "
Yes, because the Joint Chiefs will visit, the CIA, FBI, DHS will visit, the captains of industry will visit, the bankers and heads of Wall Street will visit, the corporate media will have to run more stories about "Bo" the dog, AIPAC shares the oval office, and Dick Cheney's doppelganger (Obama) lives there, so yeah, I think we already know that the White House is full of "criminals and terrorists"
The empire simply has a new face - Mumia called this one early, saying that a black president would mean nothing for us - it's just a way of getting the masses to go along with policies they would otherwise protest. I have African American friends who tell me to "leave Obama alone" when I criticize him now, if this were Bush, they'd be right up there with me criticizing his policies. Sotomayor is going to get the Latinos on board. The new face of the empire is simply about getting people who look diverse from the outside, but who will continue with the same imperial policies that benefit the oligarchs who run this country, while the rest of us get screwed. Unfortunately, by the time people realize it, it will be too late.
tanguero: I also heard Mumia's assessment on one of his "live from Death Row" addresses on KPFA radio. Mumia did indeed call it early. He was actually quite harsh, but accurate none the less. I would rather have Mumia as president.
Affirmative action at the highest levels!
odoco
And I have a black compatriot, a Korean war vet, that saw through Obama from Day One, as have several black community leaders in our large midwestern city.
Good Lord! Can somebody find this joker a pair of 'nads?
Obama has been absolutely petrified by the brainless right-wing media blitz against him. I bet he won't even pick his nose with his left hand.
q
The only thing transparent about the Obama administration is their emulation of all things Bush.