NY Times Jill Abramson: 'This is the most secretive White House I've ever dealt with'

Jill Abramson, executive editor of the New York Times, noted in an interview that the Obama White House was the most secretive she had ever dealt with:

"I would say it is the most secretive White House that I have ever been involved in covering, and that includes — I spent 22 years of my career in Washington and covered presidents from President Reagan on up through now, and I was Washington bureau chief of the Times during George W. Bush's first term," Abramson told Al Jazeera America in an interview that will air on Sunday.

"I dealt directly with the Bush White House when they had concerns that stories we were about to run put the national security under threat. But, you know, they were not pursuing criminal leak investigations," she continued. "The Obama administration has had seven criminal leak investigations. That is more than twice the number of any previous administration in our history. It's on a scale never seen before. This is the most secretive White House that, at least as a journalist, I have ever dealt with."

The comments were made to Al Jazeera America in an interview that will air Sunday.

Politico noted:

James Risen, a Times reporter, is currently fighting to avoid having to testify against a former CIA official accused of being his source. According to Robert Gates's new memoir, Obama hadn't been in office more than a month before saying he wanted a criminal investigation into disclosures on Iran policy that had been published the Times.

In the wake of the revelations about the Justice Department's monitoring of Fox News reporter James Rosen, whom the DOJ labeled a “co-conspirator," the Times editorial board wrote that "the Obama administration has moved beyond protecting government secrets to threatening fundamental freedoms of the press to gather news."

The far-reaching interview touched on the Iraq War, the Snowden debacle, and the future of print newspapers as well as secrecy of the Obama White House.

NY Times: 'The administration has now lost all credibility'

Facebook and Twitter lit up Thursday as a line in a New York Times editorial many never thought they would see was posted over and over like wild fire.

"The administration," the Times wrote in the opinion piece titled President Obama's Dragnet, "has now lost all credibility."

Reactions were swift and nationwide, and by Friday morning the line had been edited to read, "The administration has now lost all credibility on this issue."

Politico's Dylan Byers noted the change in wording that quietly took place Thursday night and, as he noted, "No correction or explanatory note was appended."

On Friday Byers wrote about the change and why it doesn't lessen the damage to the Obama administration:

"The change was for clarity's sake," Andrew Rosenthal, the Times editorial page editor, told POLITICO on Friday morning. "It was clear from the context of the editorial that the issue of credibility related to this subject and the final edit of the piece strengthened that point."

The "issue" in question is the Obama administrations' oft-repeated claim that an overreach of power -- from secret orders to kill an American suspected of terrorism to the subpoenas of reporters phone records to the collection of Americans' phone and now Internet data -- is required in order to keep Americans safe.

To the Times' critics, and to Obama's, the change may seem like an attempt to soften the blow. It shouldn't: The Times is still unequivocal in its condemnation of the president's abuse of his executive power. That is the important point, and it remains unchanged.

"The administration has now lost all credibility...."

How the GOP lost the youth vote

Politico reports the College Republican National Committee will release a dismal report on Monday detailing why the GOP has lost the youth vote. Among the reasons listed:

Gay marriage: “On the ‘open-minded’ issue … [w]e will face serious difficulty so long as the issue of gay marriage remains on the table.”

Hispanics: “Latino voters … tend to think the GOP couldn’t care less about them.”

Perception of the party’s economic stance: “We’ve become the party that will pat you on your back when you make it, but won’t offer you a hand to help you get there.”

Big reason for the image problem: The “outrageous statements made by errant Republican voices.”

Words that up-for-grabs voters associate with the GOP: “The responses were brutal: closed-minded, racist, rigid, old-fashioned.”

President George W. Bush received rave reviews for attracting the youth vote as well as President Ronald Reagan. Politico noted:

“[The] Republican Party has won the youth vote before and can absolutely win it again,” the report says, pointing to presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush who were competitive with that demographic. “But this will not occur without significant work to repair the damage done to the Republican brand among this age group over the last decade.”

The entire article can be read here.

George W. Bush raises $500 million for presidential library, dedication is April 25

The George W. Bush Presidential Library is ready for its dedication on April 25, 2013, and it will open knowing the lofty fundraising goal of $500 million set by the former President has been surpassed. It is one of the most successful post-presidential fundraising events ever.

Politico reported:

About half of the lump-sum will go toward building the library and museum on Southern Methodist University’s campus in Bush’s honor. The building will be dedicated April 25 and opened to the public the beginning May. Some of the funds will go to a mandatory endowment to the government and yet another portion will be gifted to the University, and the rest of the money will go to the George W. Bush Institute, a public policy center in Dallas founded by the former president and his wife, Langdale told Time.

Under construction for two years, the presidential library, museum, and policy institute sits on 23 acres at Southern Methodist University. More than 43,000 artifacts from the Bush presidency as well as numerous records and documents will be included.

At the dedication, President Bush will host President Barack Obama as well as former presidents Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and his father, George H.W. Bush.

The library will open to the public May 1.

Even Democrats are alarmed at nation's unemployment

Unemployment is at 9.2%. Twenty million Americans are out of work, have stopped looking, or are underemployed.

Even the Democrats are alarmed. The ProgressiveDem blog wrote:

The disdain shown by Obama, his administration, and his political and economic crew towards the tens of millions of struggling, unemployed Americans trying to find jobs when there are none or not enough, and those working for stagnant wages, living from pay check to pay check, barely hanging on is abominable.

Here is the latest pile of cow excrement being thrown at them by these pompous, damn DINO asses.

What followed were excerpts from a post by Scarecrow at Firedoglake:

"I’ve always thought the pent up anger at George Bush and the frustration from the Bush years would have allowed Daisy Duck or the Chipmunks to win the Presidency in 2008. So the trick was to elect someone who understood that anger and was prepared to reverse all the reasons it existed. Sure, the Obama message people understood this, but so did my cat.

"Now the people who helped Obama defraud voters by channeling everyone’s hope for change have convinced themselves he won the election because they’re political geniuses.

"The lastest example of this delusion is Obama’s senior campaign adviser, David Plouffe, who confidently told Bloomberg that going into the 2012 elections with over 8 percent unemployment and no meaningful jobs programs will not hurt Obama’s chances for reelection.

When it comes to jobs and the economy, Americans become everyday people without Rs or Ds behind their names. They need to provide for their families.

Jim Hoeft at Bearing Drift blog has the June unemployment report and notes:

... you can sense the frustration growing from Majority Leader Eric Cantor whose House Republicans have been trying to pass job creating legislation and boost economic growth, only be stymied by the Obama administration and Democrats in Congress.

Meanwhile, Ed Morrissey at Hot Air doesn't mince words at the incompetence after Obama White House adviser David Plouffe said "unemployment rates or even monthly jobs numbers do not matter to the average American." Morrissey wrote:

This is denial on the scale of Baghdad Bob. The “prism” of GDP and the unemployment rate are precisely how Americans evaluate the economy. They don’t give a damn if the President makes decisions “based on me and my family” if those decisions turn out to be disastrous, and right now, that’s the case presented in the latest economic slide. Plouffe’s argument seems to be that people will vote for caring incompetence — and while that may be the only argument left for Obama’s re-election, Plouffe and company are about to find out that denial isn’t exactly a winning strategy.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney didn't mince words either as he retorted in Politico:

With their cavalier attitude about the economy, the White House has turned the audacity of hope into the audacity of indifference.”

Ouch.

George Allen website: 'STAY TUNED'

Check out George Allen's website ... all it says at this point is, "STAY TUNED."  Politico is reporting an announcement may be imminent....

Kudos to BD's Brian Kirwin

Brian's thoughts on politicians heading out of town and ignoring their constituents during the August break were picked up by Politico:

But public perception surely played a role, as well. “You’re in the middle of the worst recession in 30 years,” said Republican public image consultant Brian Kirwin. “If you’re going on vacation, you’re going to look pretty bad.”

Beyond the economy, Kirwin said, the seriousness of the legislative calendar requires some deference.

“We’re in the middle of health care; if you’re not holding town meetings and not talking to [your constituents] and using August to get out of town, that’s going to hurt you,” Kirwin continued. “This is definitely an August to be in town talking to your voters and not jet setting.”

Amazingly, Democrat strategist Steve McMahon agreed with Brian:

“Holding town hall meetings in August might not seem like much of a vacation, but it’s a really smart thing do,” he said.

Virginia U.S. Senator Jim Webb ignored his constituents during his recess even though Virginians made endless requests to have a hearing with him. Sen. Mark Warner finally held one townhall after much pressure but it was held in Fredericksburg and not even in central Virginia to reach the maximum amount of citizens.

Let's hope voters remember this when elections roll around....

What's he up to?

From The Crypt at Politico comes the question, "George Allen Making a Comeback?" which reveals that robocalls began going into Virginia homes last weekend:

Virginia voters started getting robocalls this weekend from a polling firm called Voter Roll Call, asking a very interesting question: What are their favorable and unfavorable views of former Sen. George Allen (R-Va.), and would they support Allen or former Democratic Gov. Mark Warner in a Senate race next year?

My first thought is why run robocalls now in the final crunch days of the 2007 campaign season? And is it from George Allen himself ... or someone else?

Politico: "Hillary bombs debate"

Politico is following Hillary and holding her accountable as she dodges and ducks questions and issues. About last night's democrat debate in Philadelphia, Politico's Roger Simon wrote Obama, Edwards attack; Clinton bombs debate with the following excerpts:

In a debate against six Democratic opponents at Drexel University here Tuesday, Clinton gave the worst performance of her entire campaign. ...

It was not just that her answer about whether illegal immigrants should be issued driver's licenses was at best incomprehensible and at worst misleading.

It was that for two hours she dodged and weaved, parsed and stonewalled. ...

Asked whether she still agrees with New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s plan to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, Clinton launched into a long, complicated defense of it. But when Chris Dodd attacked the idea a moment later, Clinton quickly said: “I did not say that it should be done.”

NBC’s Tim Russert, one of the debate moderators, jumped in and said to her: “You told (a) New Hampshire paper that it made a lot of sense. Do you support his plan?”

"You know, Tim,” Clinton replied, “this is where everybody plays ‘gotcha.’ ” ...

Politico's conclusion:

But, in the past, Clinton could always depend on her opponents to lose these debates. All she had to do was stay above the fray to win. Those days seem to be over.

Read the entire article for the full impact of Hillary's dodge-and-weave.