“This is most closed, control-freak administration I’ve ever covered.”

[zipplewrath]

81. Everyone is talking past each other

I get the definite impression everyone here is talking past each other, and not alot of people are actually reading the article.

One can make the case that the Administration is working to make things like FOIA and other initiatives actually work. They are meeting some Resistance in the other agencies, and it is taking time to change the culture.

However, what this article was about, was that when they DON'T want certain information getting out, or more importantly after it DOES get out, they can be VERY aggressive in hunting down the sources of leaks. Up to and including the searching of digital records (including phone logs at the newspaper itself). That is why people aren't making calls of any sort, because of the meta data. They are going to pencil and paper (going back?) to avoid detection.

Of course in there is the comment that "every administration learns from the last". Which suggests that all that is happening here is that there is an over arching trend toward more government surveillance in defense of the government agencies themselves, and it has been going on a long time.

People will immediately jump upon the apparent conflict between a promise of more openness, and a hostile and aggressive investigation of leaks. Technically, it isn't a conflict at all, they promise to be very open about what they want to tell you about. Anything else, and they'll hunt you down and find you. It just doesn't make a great campaign slogan. But by now we've all learned that with this administration. Watch what they do so you can understand what they meant.