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Obama adopts many Bush administration legal rationales By Michael Doyle
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | (MCT)
President In courtroom battles and freedom-of-information fights from "It's putting up a veritable wall around the Certainly, some differences exist. The Obama administration, for instance, has released documents on global warming from the On policies that are at the heart of presidential power and prerogatives, however, this administration's legal arguments have blended into the other. The persistence can reflect everything from institutional momentum and a quest for continuity to the clout of career employees. "There is no question that there are (durable) cultures and mindsets in agencies," Weismann acknowledged. A courtroom clash Thursday illustrated how Obama has come to emulate Bush. Weismann's organization sued last year to obtain the notes from an interview that the FBI conducted with then-Vice President "The records contain descriptions of confidential deliberations among top Obama's "The new leadership of the department supports those arguments," Perspectives, of course, often change once candidates assume responsibility upon taking office. As a candidate, for instance, Obama opposed the Defense of Marriage Act, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman. As president, however, he's following Bush's lead in defending in court the federal marriage law, which a The law "reflects a cautiously limited response to society's still-evolving understanding of the institution of marriage," Assistant Attorney General Legally speaking, every administration inherits lawsuits filed against its predecessor. The Solicitor General's Office, which represents the government in appeals, traditionally tries to hold a steady course. Personnel, too, stick around. Whatever the reasons, policy persists. The Bush White House sought to keep e-mails secret. The Obama White House has followed suit. The Bush White House sought to keep visitor logs secret. The Obama White House, so far, takes the same view.
"The disclosure of the information implicated by this case, which concerns how Similarly, the Bush administration objected to an Three weeks later, Obama reversed course and declared that "releasing them, I believe, would be to further inflame anti-American opinion and to put our troops in greater danger." The administration's attorneys followed up with a legal brief, augmented by a 24-page declaration that CIA Director "Information containing details of the (interrogation techniques) being applied would provide ready-made ammunition for al Qaida propaganda," Panetta declared. "The resultant damage to the national security would likely be exceptionally grave." In an interview, On the opposite coast, a similar drama is playing out in a clash over so-called "torture flights." An "Further litigation of this case would pose an unacceptable risk of disclosure of information that the nation's security requires not be disclosed," the Bush administration declared in a legal filing on The Obama administration now says the same, after a three-judge panel of the "Permitting this suit to proceed would pose an unacceptable risk to national security," the Obama administration declared in a legal filing For both arguments, the two administrations relied on the attestations of the same man: former Bush CIA Director
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Arnold Ahlert | |||||||||||
