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AP Reveals 8 Ways Obama's "Most Transparent Administration Ever" Blocks Information

Tyler Durden's picture




 

"We have put in place the toughest ethics and transparency laws of any administration in history," President Obama proclaimed four short years ago... However, as AP Washington Bureau Chief Sally Buzbee said recently, the fight for access to public information has never been harder, and in fact, the problem extends across the entire federal government and is now trickling down to state and local governments. Here is Buzbee’s list of eight ways Obama's "most transparent" administration is making it hard for journalists to find information and cover the news...

 

Remember, this is the most transparent and open administration ever...

 

Though, it seems, as AP reports, that is simply not true...

1) As the United States ramps up its fight against Islamic militants, the public can’t see any of it. News organizations can’t shoot photos or video of bombers as they take off — there are no embeds. In fact, the administration won’t even say what country the S. bombers fly from.

 

2) The White House once fought to get cameramen, photographers and reporters into meetings the president had with foreign leaders overseas. That access has become much rarer. Think about the message that sends other nations about how the world’s leading democracy deals with the media:  Keep them out and let them use handout photos.

 

3) Guantanamo: The big important 9/11 trial is finally coming up. But we aren’t allowed to see most court filings in real time — even of nonclassified material. So at hearings, we can’t follow what’s happening. We don’t know what prosecutors are asking for, or what defense attorneys are arguing.

 

4) Information about Guantanamo that was routinely released under President George W. Bush is now kept secret. The military won’t release the number of prisoners on hunger strike or the number of assaults on guards. Photo and video coverage is virtually nonexistent.

 

5) Day-to-day intimidation of sources is chilling. AP’s transportation reporter’s sources say that if they are caught talking to her, they will be fired. Even if they just give her facts, about safety, for example. Government press officials say their orders are to squelch anything controversial or that makes the administration look bad.

 

6) One of the media — and public’s — most important legal tools, the Freedom of Information Act, is under siege. Requests for information under FOIA have become slow and expensive. Many federal agencies simply don’t respond at all in a timely manner, forcing news organizations to sue each time to force action.

 

7) The administration uses FOIAs as a tip service to uncover what news organizations are pursuing. Requests are now routinely forwarded to political appointees. At the agency that oversees the new health care law, for example, political appointees now handle the FOIA requests.

 

8) The administration is trying to control the information that state and local officials can give out. The FBI has directed local police not to disclose details about surveillance technology the police departments use to sweep up cellphone data. In some cases, federal officials have formally intervened in state open records cases, arguing for secrecy.

*  *  *

If you like your transparency, in this case, you can't keep it!

 

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Sat, 09/20/2014 - 16:12 | 5238604 401K of Dooom
401K of Dooom's picture

Uh Tyler, why do you reprint the articles from AP?  They are just anohter mouthpiece for the government.

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 16:28 | 5238656 Skateboarder
Skateboarder's picture

The mouthpiece for the government is being rescinded access. lol?

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 16:16 | 5238613 franciscopendergrass
franciscopendergrass's picture

WTF Obama?  Are "Edward Snowdens" the only way to get truth around here?  Can we get more transvestite disgruntled army personnel?

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 18:55 | 5239009 garypaul
garypaul's picture

Who was that whistleblower that allegedly wanted a sex-change operation? I have a suspicion that the 'sex-change' might have been forced on him for flapping his mouth LOL. I know it sounds crazy but you never know.

Sun, 09/21/2014 - 07:11 | 5239935 RazvanM
RazvanM's picture

Well, I never saw millions of Americans on the streets requesting a fair trial and the release of "that" whistleblower.

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 16:17 | 5238625 Bumbu Sauce
Bumbu Sauce's picture

And all those media outlets just dutifly report what they are fed from the Obama regime.  It is sickening.

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 16:22 | 5238639 DOGGONE
DOGGONE's picture

Here is THE GREAT TRANSPARENCY:
http://patrick.net/forum/?p=1223928

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 16:26 | 5238640 Dr. Engali
Dr. Engali's picture

They bitch now after they've lied and covered everything up just to get this bastard in office. They didn't give a rat's ass about his background and they still don't. Fuck them. When shit hits the fan I hope members of the MSM "free press" are strung up along side these criminals for their dereliction of duty when it comes to protecting the 1st amendment.

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 16:30 | 5238657 Skateboarder
Skateboarder's picture

Every man who pens a lie to be truth is a traitor to life.

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 19:35 | 5239098 Ralph Spoilsport
Ralph Spoilsport's picture

"If you take the king's shilling, you do the king's bidding".

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 16:25 | 5238646 Bangalore Equit...
Bangalore Equity Trader's picture

Listen. Freedom and stuff.

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 16:31 | 5238660 Skateboarder
Skateboarder's picture

Listen, Mr. Equity Trader. It's one or the other - freedom or stuff. Can't have both.

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 17:03 | 5238736 Dre4dwolf
Dre4dwolf's picture

Freedom = Stuff.

Stuff doesn't exist without the freedom to make the stuff.

 

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 17:22 | 5238765 Skateboarder
Skateboarder's picture

So the iPoops and other shartphones are made because the employees have freedom to make stuff. Right.

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 18:45 | 5238982 NidStyles
NidStyles's picture

Lay off the swed.

 

Your direct thought to the iPhone is the point he was making. There is an absence of competition because of the lack of freedom is why the iPhone was the first and probably only dominant product in mind with your retort.

 

Stop thinking only two steps ahead.

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 16:35 | 5238670 nostromo17
nostromo17's picture

ANd they fucking cover up that KIEV shot down MH17.

Sun, 09/21/2014 - 13:24 | 5240546 Village-idiot
Village-idiot's picture

Just after it was shot down there was a video on YouTube (that was removed after a couple of hours) of one of the rebels boasting about shooting it down. They thought it was a Ukranian military transport plane. As soon as they realized what actually was the video was removed.

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 16:37 | 5238673 Zero Govt
Zero Govt's picture

of course he can be transparent ..he doesn't make any deicisions ...that's for his owners, sorry Presidential sponsors

the Oval Office should be renamed The Puppet Office

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 16:38 | 5238676 Cautiously Pess...
Cautiously Pessimistic's picture

The AP, et al, were instrumental in getting this empty suit elected.  They have carried his water for over 6 years and now they are coming clean.  Really?

 

My opinion... they know he is a lame duck, down to his last 2 years, and are ready to unhitch their wagon.  That wagon will be re-hitched to the "I'm Ready for Hillary" camp real soon.

 

 

 

 

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 20:21 | 5239187 NOTW777
NOTW777's picture

e trade baby shocked face

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 16:43 | 5238682 boattrash
boattrash's picture

Say it ain't so, do they mean the "Cocksucker-In-Chief" lied?

The show, "For the Record" on the Blaze network had a good report on the Blocking of the FOIA,

and it was amazing.

One day maybe IS won't be the only ones that want to see blades drop and heads plop.

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 16:46 | 5238691 Bangalore Equit...
Bangalore Equity Trader's picture

Listen. Shhhhhh on this one, ok? Obama had Joan Rivers killed for calling Wookie a T-Wookie.

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 16:54 | 5238697 Dewey Cheatum Howe
Dewey Cheatum Howe's picture

8) The administration is trying to control the information that state and local officials can give out. The FBI has directed local police not to disclose details about surveillance technology the police departments use to sweep up cellphone data. In some cases, federal officials have formally intervened in state open records cases, arguing for secrecy.

...

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/09/cities-scramble-to-upgrade-st...

...

Until the new units become more widespread if you phone connection drops from 3G or higher down to 2G your phone is most likely being surveilled either directly or indirectly by a stingray especially in an area that is known to have 3G or higher coverage like a major city.

...

Worse still, cops have lied to courts about the use of such technology. Not only can stingrays be used to determine a phone’s location, but they can also intercept calls and text messages.

...

If you have phone records including timestamps of the tower you were connected to and the network speed a laywer in theory should be able subpeona the mobile carrier network to find out if it was one of their towers or not.

 

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 16:49 | 5238702 smacker
smacker's picture

The Secret State.

It has always been thus in Britain. The British FOIA passed under Blair was never very open and has been rowed back on since introduction.

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 16:54 | 5238711 alexcojones
alexcojones's picture

826 Lies of Obama.

And NOT golf lies

Here are 826 well sourced examples of Obama's lying
Sat, 09/20/2014 - 16:55 | 5238718 alexcojones
alexcojones's picture

We might be up to 900 by now.

LOTUS

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 17:06 | 5238740 Arnold
Arnold's picture

Sorry,complaining about too little too late and only about new news.

You guys have crashed hard disk problems as well?

Well?

What has been and will continue to be your excuse for such shoddy media coverage of this administration, good and bad.

And I don' t want to hear any 'editorial' perogitive crap in the explaination.

Joe Goebbels has been dead for a long time now.

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 17:45 | 5238840 AGuy
AGuy's picture

The US is changed is sloan "liberty and justice for all" to War is Peace, and Freedom is slavery"

 

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 17:54 | 5238849 pupdog1
pupdog1's picture

The AP has been Obola's little ankle-grabbing bitch for six years, and they're  figuring this out just now?

I guess nowadays journalism is where you go when all else fails.

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 18:18 | 5238910 olle
olle's picture

Same feeling over here in EU-countries, "vote for Nobody, cause Nobody tells the truth, and Nobody cares",,,,, the ship is slowly sinking......

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 18:48 | 5238988 BeetleBailey
BeetleBailey's picture

FUCK AP!

This band of......leisure world assholes covered for Fuckbama and his band of......lying commie cunts for years....and now they come up with this shit.

JESUS FUCKING CHRISTMAS CHRIST.....

Fuckbama's entire administration is a joke - and these fuckers are "just catching on"?

LOL.....what a bunch of douchebags.

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 18:50 | 5239001 homiegot
homiegot's picture

We need more leakers.  Leak, leak, leak...

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 19:18 | 5239057 VWAndy
VWAndy's picture

If you dont believe in what you do bail. Find a new job. Or a new venue.

 Na these are sellouts and they should fall on thier pens. They knew dam well what they were doing from the get go. Next they will jump on the witches coat tails.

This is no different than the twats at screwgle sayin they made us do it. But then staying with the co.

They used to say dont sell your integrity because you cant buy it back.  

Sat, 09/20/2014 - 19:51 | 5239132 Coletrane
Coletrane's picture

fuck the AP.

They are complicit with everything the current regime does in printing their misinformation and refusing to print the truth.

Sun, 09/21/2014 - 08:56 | 5240072 d edwards
d edwards's picture

When this is the banner headline on the NYT and WA POST, and the lead story on the 6 o'clock news I'll get excited.

Sun, 09/21/2014 - 13:09 | 5240526 GrinandBearit
GrinandBearit's picture

I love watching the libtard zombie faces in the backround smiling with glee all thinking:  "This guy is honest"... "Change I can believe it!"... "Obama is the people's president!"

 

This man is a fucking farce.  Worst president in history... no question about it.

Sun, 09/21/2014 - 13:17 | 5240529 numapepi
numapepi's picture

With the collapse of American Constitutional rule isn't it time to take a new look at our Constitution, with an eye to solving this problem, else we are looking at inevitable tyranny. To that end I wrote my book The Fourth Branch as a means to bring the elite back into Constitutional limits.

80% is free so why not check it out? I don't expect to make money from it, I wrote it to save the world.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/277193

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!