Monday, February 25, 2013

Former White House Press Secretary: Treating Drones Like a Secret Is 'Inherently Crazy' - Conor Friedersdorf - The Atlantic:

"When I went through the process of becoming press secretary, one of the first things they told me was, 'You're not even to acknowledge the drone program. You're not even to discuss that it exists,'" he answered, explaining how that made for some awkward interactions with a press corps that knew it was real. "Here's what's inherently crazy about that proposition: You're being asked a question based on reporting of a program that exists. So you're the official government spokesperson acting as if the entire program -- pay no attention to the man behind the curtain."

That's a Wizard of Oz allusion. A federal judge has previously written that Team Obama's secrecy claims remind her of Alice in Wonderland. Gibbs went on to say, "I think what the president has seen is, our denial of the existence of the program when it's obviously happening undermines people's confidence overall in the decisions that their government makes."