The Obama administration's penchant for background briefings took a little hit at today's State Department briefing.
It began when State Department spokesman Ian Kelly noted there would be a conference call this afternoon with State and Treasury officials to talk about the U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue now being held in DC.
The call, Kelly said, would be "on background" -- meaning no names, no identities. Noting that the Chinese officials who were conducting a similar briefing planned to do so on the record, a reporter asked Kelly "which country is more open and transparent?"
The spokesman said he'd take the concerns "on board and I’ll see what we can do."
"I hope you do," the reporter retorted. "Because I think you should be embarrassed, actually."
UPDATE: The actual conference call was held on the record.
It maybe the great role reversal of modern times. Given the carry over from the Bush Secret Administration we need to get rid of the C.I.A before we can ever be a real democracy.
Posted by: Robert Machado | July 28, 2009 at 03:22 PM