Clark attacks Bush's secrecy (and so does Lieberman)

[Bucky]

OK, Joe first. Stuff covered in Lieberman's statement on the Bush Wall of Secrecy include:

1. Ashcroft Encouraged Agencies to Deny FOIA Requests
2. Bush Restricted Access to Presidential Documents
3. Bush Terminated or Altered Government Reports Not Favorable to the Administration
4. Bush Stopped Publishing Key Report Detailing Cuts in Federal Funding to States
5. Bush Discontinued a Labor Department Program that Tracked Mass Layoffs
6. White House Misled Public on Health Effects of September 11th Attacks in Manhattan
7. White House Altered Report on the State of the Environment

Lord, it just goes on and on... You can read this nice article about it, too, from the San Francisco Gate.

Lieberman said he would install a systematic review of the new powers under the Patriot Act to determine their impact on civil liberties before supporting their extension.

Lieberman would direct the Justice and Homeland Security departments to disclose as much information as possible about how they are using the Patriot Act and about those arrested and detained in the war on terrorism.

He said he would reverse Bush's executive order on presidential records, which blocked the release of non-classified records from past presidential administrations.

Now for my boy Wesley. Clark's policy (delivered with a much better speech) was laid outwith the usual Clark punch:

...This was just the beginning. In November 2001, President Bush signed an Executive Order making it harder to obtain information under the Freedom of Information Act - a thirty year-old law that protects the public's right to know. Now, let's be clear. What he was trying to hide are not classified military records. They are not top secret national security documents. They are reports and memoranda on topics ranging from public health to environmental hazards.

That same month, to keep former President Bush's papers sealed, President Bush reversed the long-held practice of opening records of former presidents twelve years after the end of their term. And President Bush has extended the length of time that all classified documents are withheld from the American public.

Most recently, President Bush has refused to turn over all relevant White House, State Department, CIA, and National Security Council records to the September 11th Investigative Commission - keeping the Commission and the American people from getting to the truth about what happened that day.

Yet, within 24 hours after former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill criticized the President's leadership, the Bush Administration was calling for an investigation.

[pocoloco]

1. WOW! Powerful stuff.

I've sure been sleeping better since Gen. Clark entered the race. Now it looks like I am going to start losing it again worrying about Gen. Clark's safety, especially if he becomes more popular.

His election would spell complete ruin of the BFEE and we all know how rats in a corner act.

[Clark4VotingRights]

5. All the candidates need to pound on this!

Keep their eyes on the ball.

[Dookus]

9. some candidates cannot pound on this...

due to their own history. Well, one at least.

[bain_sidhe]

2. YES! And, although Clark's release of his records

was seen by some as a slap at Dean, the press release announcing it specifically takes aim at BUSH.

http://www.clark04.com/press/release/185/

A snip:

"It's time President Bush played it straight with the American people," Clark said. "President Bush has shut the people out of government and told them they have no right to know what he says to special interests in the Oval Office. As President, my administration will be an open book. We need a higher standard of leadership in Washington."

Clark put forward a two-part plan to reverse the Bush Administration's secrecy policies and to make his administration the most open presidency in history:

Reverse Bush Secrecy Policies:

End hiding of documents through classification extension and FOIA rollbacks.
End the stonewall of the investigation of September 11th and Bush's Energy Task Force.

Establish an Openness Doctrine:

Restrict the assertion of executive privilege.
Eliminate secret task forces.
Disclose all meetings with special interests.
Require lobbyists to reveal more.
Use the Internet to make government transparent.

[Valjean]

3. Clinton News Network

Here is another example of how the "Clinton News Network" isn't. When Clinton was being tight-handed with information and documents, it was 24 hour news.

Bush II is the most secretive administration EVER. And the "Clinton News Network" doesn't really care. It's not a big topic for them. It's not interesting.

Part of this is likely do to the administrations overt manipulation of events ala Jessica Lynch and the Kurdish Hussein projects (that effectively covered up Bush signing new fascist legislation). The other part is that CNN is owned by a big ass corporation and reflects:

1) Their need to shill to wards the administration since the owners are Bush supporters.
2) Their need to sell commercial advertising because stories about documents are fundamentally dull.

I don't think Democrats should shy away from the "Clinton News Network" moniker. I think they should openly mock it by slowly repeating it with quote fingers waving in the air. It's a myth, a lie, and the opposite of whats going on.

[9119495]

4. Who is this Lieberman guy?

[dennis4868]

6. Paul Waldman's Book called, Fraud....

he goes into this very issue of this White House, Bush and Cheney being the most secretive ever. Cheney has always been a behind the scenes, very secretive fellow on akll his dealings and had to get rid of the Freedom of Information Act as much as he could....and he did!

[maddezmom]

7. bush* is really getting it handed to him

by all the dems. Dems win in 2004!!!

[bain_sidhe]

8. Kick

:kick: