Unchanged

One of my biggest criticisms about the Bush administration was its inability to be transparent about anything. The Obama administration thus far has done somewhat better, but on the issues upon which I had hoped he would demonstrate "change," we are seeing slow, if any, progress.

When asked at the press conference yesterday about Neda in Iran, President Obama was interrupted during his answer. As Glenn Greenwald (I'm telling you, you need to read him!) writes:

As Obama was answering -- attesting to how "heartbreaking" he found the video; how "anybody who sees it knows that there's something fundamentally unjust" about the violence; and paying homage to "certain international norms of freedom of speech, freedom of expression" -- Helen Thomas, who hadn't been called on, interrupted to ask Obama to reconcile those statements about the Iranian images with his efforts at home to suppress America's own torture photos ("Then why won't you allow the photos --").

The President quickly cut her off with these remarks:

THE PRESIDENT: Hold on a second, Helen. That's a different question. (Laughter.)

Of course, Ms. Thomas has a salient point, and one that deserves an answer, but she didn't get it. The most effective way to ensure that our nation doesn't repeat the travesties of the previous administration is to get all the dirt out in the open. Show the photos, let the country and the world see what we were when governed by a compassionate conservative.

Greenwald's article is superb, and truly deserves reading, not just for the commentary on this important issue, but also because he provides further evidence that the Conservative Bloggers are somewhat foolish in their criticism of President Obama fielding a question from the Huffington Post (one of the most difficult questions of the conference, he notes)...

All around good stuff.