I Can Has Transparency?

Just in time for consideration for our 2009 end-of-the-year "top ten" lists, Team Obama provides us with another great moment in political ineptitude:

Today's workshop on government openness is closed to the public...

The event Monday for federal employees is a fitting symbol of President Barack Obama's uneven record so far on the Freedom of Information Act, a big part of keeping his campaign promise to make his administration the most transparent ever. As Obama's first year in office ends, the government's actions when the public and press seek information are not yet matching up with the president's words.

Don't worry, there's a good reason for the stunningly ironic hypocrisy:

The closed conference will provide tips for FOIA public liaisons on communicating and negotiating with people who make requests, and introduce the new Office of Government Information Services to them, said Melanie Ann Pustay, director of the Justice Department's Office of Information Policy, which takes the lead on government openness issues.

Pustay said she planned to say the same things at the private workshop that she would say publicly. She offered these reasons to explain why it was closed: She wanted government employees to be able to speak candidly, and the conference would be in an auditorium at the Commerce Department, where she said a government ID was required to be admitted.

The AP and others news organizations routinely enter government buildings to cover the government.

[emphasis added]

Now it makes perfect sense. When coaching bureaucrats on evasive tactics communicating and negotiating with the public, you want to keep the public at a safe distance.

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