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Obama to Bush: I Can Release Your Records. Don't Like It? Sue.

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posted on Jan, 21 2009 @ 08:02 PM
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Obama to Bush: I Can Release Your Records. Don't Like It? Sue.


www.motherjones.com

On his first day in office, President Obama put former president Bush on notice. His administration just released an executive order that will make it difficult for Bush to shield his White House records--and those of former Vice President Dick Cheney--from public scrutiny by invoking the doctrine of executive privilege.
(visit the link for the full news article)


Related News Links:
chronicle.com
www.politicususa.com
historycoalition.org
feeds.voices.washingtonpost.com



posted on Jan, 21 2009 @ 08:02 PM
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Looks like Obama isn't wasting any time!

This is what a lot of people were hoping for!

All those times Bush invoked "executive privilege" weren't always because of national security.

It was to hide something a lot of the times!

Why should he have invoked "executive privilege" on things such as:

an EPA investigation
the Valerie Plame Leak
the US attorney scandal
the FBI's misuse of crime informants
Dick Cheney's meeting with energy executives

And many more ridiculous ones like this that weren't invoked for national security reasons, but to protect people from the law, or to hide something incriminating or against his "views".

National security should be the only reason a president can invoke "executive privilege", and Obama is going to make it harder to invoke executive privilege from now on.

I'll bet ole George W didn't like hearing this!

www.motherjones.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 1/21/2009 by Keyhole]



posted on Jan, 21 2009 @ 08:16 PM
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The article goes on to say, ...

Obama to Bush: I Can Release Your Records. Don't Like It? Sue.


During the campaign, Obama promised to "nullify attempts to make the timely release of presidential records more difficult." (A transition spokesperson promised Mother Jones essentially the same thing when we asked a few weeks ago.) That was a reference to former president Bush's infamous Executive Order 13233, which gave current and former presidents and vice presidents, along with their heirs, unprecedented authority to block the disclosure of White House records. But Obama's taken his campaign promise a step further. While revoking 13233, Obama has also put forth a far stricter interpretation of executive privilege:

[T]he Executive Order on Presidential Records brings those principles [of openness and transparency] to presidential records by giving the American people greater access to these historic documents. This order ends the practice of having others besides the President assert executive privilege for records after an administration ends. Now, only the President will have that power, limiting its potential for abuse. And the order also requires the Attorney General and the White House Counsel to review claims of executive privilege about covered records to make sure those claims are fully warranted by the Constitution.



Looks to me like Obama was doing his "homework" before he officially became president.

[edit on 1/21/2009 by Keyhole]


+21 more 
posted on Jan, 21 2009 @ 08:21 PM
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Wow. Maybe I was wrong about this guy.

Seems like he's doing a lot of good things, just on his first day.


+1 more 
posted on Jan, 21 2009 @ 08:21 PM
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They tried this with Nixon and what they got was a warning that anything they release without proper court orders would be considered treason. No former President has ever had this happen. If they could not do it for Slick Willy they can't for Bush. They are treading on real dangerous ice here.
Zindo



posted on Jan, 21 2009 @ 08:25 PM
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I have to admit, what Obama has begun to do in the first days of his presidency have taken me by surprise. I was, and still am, afraid that people vest too much power to Obama due to a loose feeling that things will 'change' under his direction. Moves like this, however, make me think he really is going to make things better.

I almost feel proud to be an American again!


[edit on 1/21/2009 by iceofspades]



posted on Jan, 21 2009 @ 08:26 PM
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Originally posted by ZindoDoone
They tried this with Nixon and what they got was a warning that anything they release without proper court orders would be considered treason. No former President has ever had this happen. If they could not do it for Slick Willy they can't for Bush. They are treading on real dangerous ice here.
Zindo


True. I wonder if Obama thinks this won't come to bite him on the ass when he's leaving office?



posted on Jan, 21 2009 @ 08:27 PM
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Not just that but all those records folks have been trying to get on Slick Willy might just torpedo Shrillary and her hubby as well as any living President!

Zindo



posted on Jan, 21 2009 @ 08:28 PM
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Whoa. Once again I am pleasantly surprised.



posted on Jan, 21 2009 @ 08:34 PM
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Originally posted by ZindoDoone
They tried this with Nixon



And it worked I thought?

Executive Privilege


U.S. v. Nixon

The Supreme Court addressed 'executive privilege' in United States v. Nixon, the 1974 case involving the demand by Watergate special prosecutor Leon Jaworski that President Richard Nixon produce the audiotapes of conversations he and his colleagues had in the Oval Office of the White House in connection with criminal charges being brought against members of the Nixon Administration. Nixon invoked the privilege and refused to produce any records.
******SKIP******
However, the Supreme Court rejected the notion that the President has an "absolute privilege." The Supreme Court stated: "To read the Article II powers of the President as providing an absolute privilege as against a subpoena essential to enforcement of criminal statutes on no more than a generalized claim of the public interest in confidentiality of nonmilitary and nondiplomatic discussions would upset the constitutional balance of 'a workable government' and gravely impair the role of the courts under Article III." Because Nixon had asserted only a generalized need for confidentiality, the Court held that the larger public interest in obtaining the truth in the context of a criminal prosecution took precedence.



[edit on 1/21/2009 by Keyhole]



posted on Jan, 21 2009 @ 08:34 PM
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Ooops!

Double post.

[edit on 1/21/2009 by Keyhole]


+11 more 
posted on Jan, 21 2009 @ 08:49 PM
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I hate to burst bubbles, but this isn't necessarily as positive as you might think.

As we saw with the Bush administration, asking your Attorney General or White House counsel for a favorable opinion is hardly difficult.


In fact, isn't that Bush/Cheney's precise defense for why they thought they could torture prisoners, wiretap without warrants and fire federal prosecutors for not towing the party line?

For a conspiracy board, you guys have gotten a bit soft.


What Obama changed was who now gets to assert the privilege.

In other words, him alone.

I don't know about you, but I typically frown upon such consolidations of power within government.


No offense, people, but please don't let your hopes or optimism blind you to obvious perils. We've already seen one President abuse the nation's trust. Let's not rush to do a repeat, shall we?

Moreover, Obama may have the best of intentions, but we all know where good intentions occasionally lead...

Food for thought.

My $0.02.



[edit on 21-1-2009 by loam]



posted on Jan, 21 2009 @ 08:53 PM
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I wonder if he will divulge any of the 9/11 government secrets to the world?

Now that would be change!



posted on Jan, 21 2009 @ 08:57 PM
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reply to post by Keyhole
 


Well, what goes around comes around I have heard. Great, when the next president takes over he can expose Obama's secret files, too.



posted on Jan, 21 2009 @ 09:04 PM
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But Cheney got rid of his secrets, isnt that how he injured himself? suposedly personally carrying boxes of secret docs and bags of cash from the white house....



posted on Jan, 21 2009 @ 09:11 PM
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So in other words they where trying to keep Obama out of the loop by hiding all of the previous letters and correspondence. So wanting to know all of what is really going on and who the real players are he is trying to get said papers and evidence so he has the whole picture.

Notice its only the President who gets to see them???? Wonder why? Maybe to see who is keeping power out of office and who isn't?



posted on Jan, 21 2009 @ 09:33 PM
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Oh, I DO so hope that the positive spin I'm sensing isn't some illusion.

While "Executive Privilege" can be a valuable counter-balance to the inherent liability of being the executive of a nation, it is a matter of trust to allow this power to exist without restraint or review. We've seen the abuse before, and it is likely that where there is trust, there will be abuse; given the uncertainties of the characters in the pool of celebrities and millionaires we choose to run the country.



posted on Jan, 21 2009 @ 09:50 PM
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Obama has stuck with the concept of open government! Limits on Lobbyists and this wonderful jewel right here. I stick with my choice of him for pres, I think this man is going to bring some much needed change. He is not a miracle worker, or the new Moses
but I have a sincere hope that he will bring better things.

I bet old George and Dick are in need of a new set of boxers after hearing that one.
Does this mean that the previously "secret" files and the like can now be opened???? That could really mean some problems for former Presidents, and keep future ones clean. We can hope.


+10 more 
posted on Jan, 21 2009 @ 09:54 PM
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This is all good and well, BUT!..... Why does Obama hide his whole past...Those are the records I want to see as well.



posted on Jan, 21 2009 @ 09:54 PM
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If Obama goes after Bush, he is in for a war with the Republicans in Congress. They will scrutinized his every move and will try to impeach him for the smallest of things. Politics will be at an all time low. I got a feeling a lot of this is just wishful thinking.




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