ONE LONG DISAPPOINTMENT:

Obama Looks Like Bush on National Security Secrecy Argument (Robert Schlesinger, 2/10/09, US News)

[T]hen there's this, from the Times:

A Justice Department spokesman, Matt Miller, said the government did not comment on pending litigation, but he seemed to suggest that Mr. Obama would invoke the privilege more sparingly than its predecessor.

"It is the policy of this administration to invoke the state secrets privilege only when necessary and in the most appropriate cases," he said, adding that Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. had asked for a review of pending cases in which the government had previously asserted a state secret privilege.

I'm going to use these presidential powers less is a distinctly different thing than These "powers" were an over-reach and should be rolled back. Presidents don't as a rule relinquish powers grabbed by their predecessors, so it would not be a surprise if Obama and his team assume the first position. But it would be a disappointment.

As President Obama was fond of pointing out, he does look slightly different. Though he's governing the same.

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 10, 2009 3:10 PM