Help Congress help President Obama with his State Secrets policy

Glenn Greenwald:



Legitimacy aside, I'm sure the DU community can come up with some handy excuses. What have you got?

seen many times here is that Obama does not know or does not agree with the his DOJ (yes, I have seen this many times here on DU) but they are mistaken:





http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/04/09/tpm/index.html

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Briefing-by-White-House-Press-Secretary-Robert-Gibbs-4/9/09/


UPDATE II: Just in case anyone had any doubts about whether Obama himself personally approves of what his DOJ is doing, Robert Gibbs dispelled those at today's Press Briefing (h/t CarolynC and Sam Stein):


Quote:



Q. Last Friday, the Justice Department invoked the state secrets privilege in asking a judge to dismiss a civil suit filed against the National Security Administration regarding its domestic surveillance program. And in its brief, the Justice Department argued that Americans have no right to sue the government for alleged illegal surveillance.

Does the President support the Justice Department's positions in that case?

MR. GIBBS: Yes, absolutely. It's the -- absolutely does. Obviously, these are programs that have been debated and discussed, but the President does support that viewpo

int.

That was followed by this amazing exchange:

Quote:


Q. Before he was elected, the President said that the Bush administration had abused the state secrets privilege. Has he changed his mind?

MR. GIBBS: No. I mean, obviously, we're dealing with some suits, and the President will -- and the Justice Department will make determinations based on protecting our national security.

Q. So he still thinks that the Bush administration abused the state secrets privilege?

MR. GIBBS: Yes.


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continually dog President Obama as somehow powergrabbing and backtracking. He knows that he cannot legislate, that only Congress can. I think he tosses out ideas and knows that we, the people, will have to take them up with Congress. I don't see much digression at all from what he continually said during the campaign about the people owning their nation again. Pushing legislators is part of that ownership. The law itself needs to be changed, and Congress needs to do it.