All Posts Tagged With: "openness"

This makes me feel a little better… TPM reports…

At his presser today, Barack Obama said he’d directed his advisers to assemble all the information about any contacts his team might have had with Governor Blagojevich about his Senate seat, and reiterated that he’d not had any direct contact with Blago himself.

“I’ve asked my team to gather the facts of any contacts with the governor’s office about this vacancy so that we can share them with you over the next few days,” Obama said.

The promise of sharing the info is welcome, both because it could clear up lingering questions about the controversy and could deflate the GOP’s efforts to use the Blago mess to tar Obama’s reformist image and promise of transparency.

“I am confident no representatives of mine would have any part in any deals related to this seat,” Obama said.

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I’m still hopeful that Obama will do the right thing. And for now, I’ll take him at his word.

I voted for him and I support him. But Campbell Brown is right:

Mr. President-elect, we understand there are reasons you have said so little. We recognize you don’t want to do or say anything that might compromise the investigation.

But all too often we have also seen presidents hide behind a “no comment due to an ongoing investigation” when they find themselves or their administrations caught up in scandal.  [Ed. Note — You have to look no further than the current administration for a prime example.]

For that reason, and because you asked us to hold you to a different standard, it is fair to ask you to be more forthcoming.

Be more direct and clear with the American people about what you and the people around you knew, or didn’t know.
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Here’s the video Campbell’s full commentary on last night’s program. (My own thoughts after the video) Continued

Patton Dodd writes a refreshingly honest and profound column about the power of lamentations.

For many years, I believed it was foolish and faithless to acknowledge all that is wrong with my life. I believed I was a new creation, and admitting anything less was not acceptable. I missed seeing a lot that was wrong with my community, my family, and myself because I thought the Christian thing to do was to emphasize the positive, glory be to God.

But Jesus came for the sick, not the healthy–by which he surely meant that he came for those who know they are sick, and not those who, being sick, nonetheless claim they are healthy.

Since I took up the habit of lamenting, my life has not improved, at least not directly. But life improvement isn’t the goal. The goal is faithfulness and servanthood–becoming like the image of God in Christ. I’ve come to believe meeting that goal involves severe honesty, self-awareness, and nakedness. There is power in honesty, because it removes any hint of deception, and puts us before our God as we really are.

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For more context, read the full article here.