Donklephant » Transparency

Obama Orders Guantanamo To Close After One Year

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Barack, Bush, Guantanamo Bay, Law, Torture, Transparency

Also, the words “we don’t torture” will finally be true.
From NY Times:
The orders, which are the first steps in undoing detention policies of former President George W. Bush, rewrite American rules for the detention of terrorism suspects. They require an immediate review of the 245 detainees still held at the naval base in GuantÃ¡namo Bay, [...]

January 22nd, 2009 | Permalink| 13 Comments »

Obama Transition Answers Americans’ Questions

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Barack, Good Decisions, Transparency

They said they would, and so here are the Qs and the As.
From Change.gov:
Q: “Will you lift the ban on Stem Cell research in your first 100 days in office?” James_M, Nashville, TN
A: President-elect Obama is a strong supporter of Federal funding for responsible stem cell research and he has pledged to reverse President Bush’s [...]

December 16th, 2008 | Permalink| No Comments »

(Video) James Risen Talks Exec. Power of Bush/Obama

By American News Project | Related entries in 9/11, Barack, Bush, Cheney, Civil Liberties, FISA, Guantanamo Bay, The Politics Of Film, The War On Terrorism, Torture, Transparency, Washington, al Qaeda

This is Lagan from ANP,
We sat down with James Risen, the New York Times national security corespondent who broke the domestic wiretapping stories, to talk about the dilemmas Obama faces with the unparalleled executive power he will inherit.
Dick Cheney recently said that Obama would appreciate all of the power they are handing over, but Obama [...]

December 16th, 2008 | Permalink| No Comments »

More Transparency From Obama Transition

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Barack, Good Decisions, Technology, Transparency, Video

It wasn’t just talk.
He promised and he’s delivering…
Transition chairman John Podesta wrote a memo to the transition staff outlining the initiative, dubbed the â€œSeat at the Tableâ€ policy.
Any documents produced from meetings between the transition team and outside organizations will be posted on www.change.gov. The idea is for Americans to offer comments and suggestions. [...]

December 7th, 2008 | Permalink| No Comments »

Your Economic Ideas Wanted By Obama Transition

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Barack, Economy, Transparency, Video

Watch this…

Then drop your ideas here.
Isn’t it refreshing to have a 21st century President?

December 6th, 2008 | Permalink| 1 Comment »

The Obama Transition As Reality TV

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Barack, Good Decisions, Technology, Transparency, Video

One very smart thing Obama’s team is doing is documenting what is going on behind the scenes so if the American public wants to find out more, they can.
First, take a look at this piece about the environment and energy team…

Note how they’re talking about how their policies will help create jobs, but still be [...]

November 22nd, 2008 | Permalink| 13 Comments »

Obama Explains FISA Position

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Barack, Bush, Congress, Law, Terrorism, Transparency, United States, Video

More about his decision…

I know at least one of my fellow bloggers here at Donklephant strongly disagrees, and while I understand and appreciate the views of those who think this FISA legislation is still a gross violation of our civil liberties, the previous incarnation of this bill earlier this year (without tougher restrictions on telcoms) [...]

June 25th, 2008 | Permalink| 19 Comments »

Bush To Appease Sudan Government

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, Bush, McCain, The World, Transparency

Saying one thing and doing another has been the hallmark of this administration, but the ring is particularly hollow when it comes to Bush’s nonsensical “appeasement” talk.
Take our handling of the Sudan situation for example…
Sometime in the next few weeks, a special envoy of President Bush plans to meet with Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, [...]

May 27th, 2008 | Permalink| 11 Comments »

Support The Blogger Protection Act of 2008

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Blogging, Democrats, Law, Legislation, Media, Money, Republicans, Transparency

I’m not usually a big advocacy guy, but this is an important piece of legislation and I’m writing about it today in hopes that it gets wide bi-partisan support across the blogosphere.
Recently, the FEC created rules that protect bloggers from campaign finance laws, but they don’t constitute any binding law that extends that protection indefinitely. [...]

April 3rd, 2008 | Permalink| No Comments »

Errol Morris’ Standard Operating Procedure

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Bush, Cheney, Ethics, Iraq, Military, The Politics Of Film, The War On Terrorism, The World, Torture, Transparency, Video, War

The award winning documentarian trains his patented eye on the events that happened at Abu Ghraib prison in a film coming out on April 25.
From watching the following clips, as well as Frontline’s searing Bush’s War, a pretty clear picture emerges and makes it incredibly difficult for the Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld to put [...]

March 31st, 2008 | Permalink| No Comments »

Hillary’s Team Demands Obama Release His Tax Returns

By Justin Gardner | Related entries in 2008 Election, Barack, Democrats, Hillary, Money, Taxes, Transparency

And two minutes later he does!
This is pretty funny. Hillary spokesperson Phil Singer blasted out an email at 11:23 insisting that Obama release his tax returns for back years,
Exactly two minutes later, at 11:25, Obama spokesperson Tommy Vietor emailed out word that Obama had posted his tax returns for 2000-2006 on his campaign web site. [...]

March 25th, 2008 | Permalink| 14 Comments »