01.26.09

Four days in office, at least five promises kept, 495 to go

Posted in Barack Obama, George Bush at 11:30 pm by Daimeon

It’s been about four full business days since Barack Obama took office.  How’s he doing so far?  Well with a 67% approval rating, an Executive Order to close the GITMO Torture Enhanced Interrogation Indefinite Detention Center in Guantanimo Bay , Cuba…you know, our friendly Communist neighbors a few clicks south of Florida in no later than one year, a Presidential Memorandum to temporarily freeze all military tribunals conducted at the facility, a complete reversal on the Bush energy abuses policies, appointment of a special peace envoy to the Middle East with a proven track record of diplomacy in those situations, reversing the policies of withholding funding from any AIDS organizations that used anything other than abstinence only education as preventative measures, and an EO releasing the presidential records to the public by reversing a policy started by the Bush administration once Rent-Boy Gannon was exposed, I’d say we’re off to a good start!

The good fact-checking folks at PolitiFact.com have started a new program called the Obameter to track How he’s doing on fulfilling those lofty campaign promises.  So far so good from there too!

 

Scorecard as of 1-26-09

Scorecard as of 1-26-09

PolitiFact has compiled about 500 promises that Barack Obama made during the campaign and is tracking their progress on our Obameter. We rate their status as No Action, In the Works or Stalled. Once we find action is completed, we rate them Promise Kept, Compromise or Promise Broken.

via PolitiFact | The Obameter: Tracking Barack Obamas Campaign Promises.

12.08.08

Disappearing Documents from the White House Website

Posted in Interesting at 9:56 am by Daimeon

As the Busy Legacy circles the drain, so does his history.  This, from the University of Illinois Independent Student newspaper.

Scott Althaus, professor of political science and communication, and Kalev Leetaru, coordinator of research in the Cline Center for Democracy, recently found that the U.S. White House Web site has modified, and in some cases, deleted key documents in the public record.

When the U.S. invaded Iraq, the U.S. government released a statement on the White House Web site listing the nations involved in the “Coalition of the Willing.” However, over a period of several years, different versions of the three releases all appear to be originals. In the case of two releases from the U.S. government Web site, the original document is completely missing from the site.

“I think that it raises the question of whether or not we can trust the government to maintain public records of things that were said or done that later prove embarrassing,” Althaus said.

Does the current administration really think they can get away with this considering the near permanence of our footprints on the Internet?

Found via AmericaBlog: The White House Web site meets the memory hole.

Crossposted @ Pam’s House Blend