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Peter M. Shane: Obama's First Executive Order Strikes a Blow for Transparency and the Rule of Law
Politics on HuffingtonPost.com —
In a world where political symbols matter, President Barack Obama chose a worthy subject for the first executive order of his new Administration.
His first executive order, entitled "Presidential Records," revokes Executive Order 13,233, President George W. Bush's constitutionally lunatic procedure for enabling former Presidents and Vice Presidents to limit public access to their records. The obscurity of the subject does not diminish the importance of what the new President is signaling.
A statute called the Presidential Records Act (PRA) gives ...
Step One ... "Let the Sunshine, let the sunshine in ... the sun ... shine in"
Corrente —
Today, according to the New York Times, a Presidential pen stroke rendered an executive order rescinded.
This was a Gonzales writeup and GWB signature, and what it did was prevent the disinfecting power of sunlight from being used on not just Bush II's first term, but both terms of the William Jefferson Clinton Presidency as well as BushI's and Reagan's records. Good riddance.
The new order still reserves some records from immediate disclosure, but that might not be pure evil.
George W. Bush's America is alive and well
Brilliant at Breakfast —
I definitely like what I see so far. Whether it's the revocation of George W. Bush's executive order 13233, which sealed just about all presidential records, or the plan to close Guantanamo Bay in a year, in just two days Barack Obama has made very, very clear that there's a new sheriff in town, and this one doesn't regard the Constitution as "just a goddamn piece of paper." ...
Obama Opens Up Presidential Records; Some Conservatives Forget History
PoliGazette —
... You know. The 40th president. The guy before Bush the Elder. Politely asked Gorbachev to tear down some wall in Eastern Germany. Yea, that Ronald Reagan. I’ve read both orders, and except for a reformulated Section 5 and a new Section 6 revoking 13233, the new order is practically verbatim to Reagan’s. I read quickly but that’s what I saw. A closer inspection would probably show the copy and paste job that it is. ...
Obama Signs Five Executive Orders In First Three Days
Nice Deb —
... on the battlefield, or civilians in a terrorist attack, there will be hell to pay. If there is another terrorist attack on American soil because because we weren’t able to get the intelligence we needed due to Obama’s policies…there will be hell to pay. George Bush’s policies kept us safe for seven years after 9/11. Obama is now cheerfully dismantling those policies so “the world will like us more”.
January 21, 2009
Presidential Records
Ethics Commitments by Executive Branch Personnel ...
THOUGHTS ON OBAMA’S FIRST WEEK: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY
Right Wing Nut House —
... ) President Obama also issued an executive order that will bring some sunshine back into the Oval Office, when he nixed a Bush era rule that not only hid many presidential documents behind executive privilege but allowed surviving family members to make the same claim even after the death of the ex-president. Any move that opens the government to scrutiny is a good one—even if, as seems likely, Democrats will use Bush documents to press for an investigation into his presidency. Obama could have grandfathered the executive order to include the papers of future presidents only ...
The Legal Intrigue Behind Rove
TPM Election Central —
... And why rush to Craig at all when you might prevail in the courts? True, the courts have been loathe to offer hard and fast rules in these cases but it would seem worth pursuing such a legal avenue before going to the Democratic White House for solace. My source predicted that in the end there probably will be some kind of accomodation with Rove answering questions on some topics and not on others rather than a showdown that drags on endlessly. Interestingly, the source thought Obama's executive order on presidential records differed enough from the question of testimony that ...
Rove’s “Renewed” Privilege Assertion: Is It Absolute Immunity or Executive Privilege?
Firedoglake —
... And contrary to what you're reading in just about every story on this, all of this has very little to do with Obama's Executive Opinion on Presidential Records. Obviously, it's different because the EO talks exclusively about records, and not testimony from human beings. But more importantly, the EO deals with a totally different kind of privilege (the garden variety kind) than Rove has relied on thus far in his subpoenas from HJC. The EO certainly suggests that Obama won't endorse anything as extreme as Bradbury has put together, but it is a separate issue. ...
Matt Cooper Predicts Bad Things for His Buddy Karl Rove
Firedoglake —
... at all when you might prevail in the courts? True, the courts have been loathe to offer hard and fast rules in these cases but it would seem worth pursuing such a legal avenue before going to the Democratic White House for solace. My source predicted that in the end there probably will be some kind of accomodation with Rove answering questions on some topics and not on others rather than a showdown that drags on endlessly. Interestingly, the source thought Obama's executive order on presidential records differed enough from the question of testimony ...
