The New York Times editorial page hits President Obama for dragging his feet on reversing Bush policies on counterterrorism and government secrecy, arguing that "Some of what the public has heard from the Obama administration on issues like state secrets and detainees sounds a bit too close for comfort to the Bush team’s benighted ideas." That's quite true. Ron Chusid argues that "it is far too early to come to any conclusions as to the ultimate policies of the Obama administration with regards to handling of terrorism suspects."
I've heard that argument before, and it's impossible to know if that's the case or not. But it seems to me that if you're concerned that the Obama administration may retain some of the more outrageous Bush era interpretations of executive power, there's an incentive not to cut him much slack on the subject.
-- A. Serwer
