The ACLU is really happy about the new administration policy of releasing the list of White House visitors, lauding it as "landmark" and releasing this statement from Michael German of their D.C. legislative office:
"The White House is the people's house, and after years of closed doors, Americans will finally know more about who consults the administration on matters of public policy. This is an important and welcome step towards increasing transparency and public accountability.
"While the new policy is commendable, some vaguely worded exceptions to it do raise concerns about the potential for abuse in classifying matters under the umbrella of national security. We encourage President Obama to define these exceptions narrowly and to keep secret visits in the White House to a minimum. The ACLU will continue to hold the administration to its commitment to be, in its own words, 'the most open and transparent administration in history.'"
Obviously there are some qualifiers at the end there, but it's the ACLU's job to be suspicious of "national security" exceptions, and after the last two administrations, that's understandable. Praise from the ACLU for Obama has been fairly restrained following a series of disappointments on civil liberties issues and the beginning of the administration, when torture was outlawed and a date for closing Guantanamo was set.
-- A. Serwer
