Anderson@Large

Sunshine Week 2011

This is Sunshine Week, a national initiative to promote open government, transparency and freedom of information.

It’s ironic that on the first day of this annual event, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley was unceremoniously kicked to the curb. Crowley’s firing offense: Being too open in his view that Bradley Manning is being “mistreated”:

What is being done to Bradley Manning is ridiculous and counterproductive and stupid on the part of the Department of Defense.

A new Knight Open Government Survey found that President Obama’s Freedom of Information Act memorandum notwithstanding, federal agencies are still reluctant to release information. Barely half of federal agencies are complying with Obama’s open government directive.

Eric Newton, senior adviser to the president at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, said:

At this rate, the president’s first term in office may be over by the time federal agencies do what he asked them to do on his first day in office. Freedom of information laws exist to help all of us get the information we need for this open society to function. Yet government at all levels seems to have a great deal of trouble obeying its own transparency laws.

Read more: Nearly Half of Federal Agencies Lag in Responding to FOIA Information Requests

A Change is Gonna Come to Egypt

I am following the uprising in #Egypt on Twitter and other social networks.

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When I was a USAID contractor in Cairo, I used to walk across the Qasr al-Nil Bridge to Tahrir -- or Liberation -- Square on my way to the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities. There was some looting early on; fortunately, the museum is now guarded by the military and concerned civilians.

Hosni Mubarak, the last pharaoh, has enjoyed a 30-year run but the jig is up. The people say they will not move from Liberation Square until Mubarak steps down.

Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei has joined the chorus of voices saying it's time for Mubarak to leave:

Our essential demand is the departure of the regime and the beginning of a new Egypt in which each Egyptian lives in virtue, freedom and dignity. You can call this a revolution, you can call this uprising, you can call it anything.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the rounds of Sunday talk shows. Although Clinton called for an an orderly transition to a democratic government, she stopped short of calling for Mubarak to get to stepping.

Clinton told ABC News' Christiane Amanpour:

And we have been consistent across those three decades in arguing that real stability only comes from the kind of democratic participation that gives people a chance to feel that they are being heard. And by that I mean real democracy, not a democracy for six months or a year and then evolving into essentially a military dictatorship or a so-called democracy that then leads to what we saw in Iran.

[…]

We believe that democracy, human rights, economic reform are in the best interests of the Egyptian people. Any government that does not try to move in that direction cannot meet the legitimate needs of the people. And in the 21st century, it is highly vulnerable to what we have seen in the region and beyond. People are not going to stand by any longer and not be given the opportunity to fulfill their own God-given potential.

Mubarak pulled the kill switch on the Internet. Show your support for the Egyptian people by signing the petition calling on ISPs to break the blackout of 21st century communications tools.

A change is gonna come.

UPDATE: Google has teamed up with Twitter to provide the people of Egypt with a speak2tweet service.

Don’t Mess with Bill Clinton

A new Gallup poll found that voters are more likely to vote for a candidate who campaigns with Bill Clinton rather than President Barack Obama. Conversely, a voter is less likely to vote for a candidate who shows up with Obama.

Gallup reports:

Former President Bill Clinton has the potential to do more good for Democratic candidates on whose behalf he campaigns than does President Barack Obama. The net positive impact of Clinton’s campaigning among Democratic registered voters is +48, while the number is a slightly lower +42 for Obama. Clinton, however, has a significantly more positive impact than Obama does among independents -- and among Republicans.

The Big Dog is more selective about whom he campaigns for than whom he messes around with. Clinton told the Telegraph:

I planned to do about one stop for everybody that helped Hillary run for president because she’s one of only two members of the president’s cabinet who cannot participate in politics.

Don’t mess with Bill -- or Hillary.

Clinton Pollster Got $6 Million from Stimulus

The Obama administration is the most transparent in history. As Recovery.gov data are reviewed, some stimulus-funded projects are stimulating outrage.

Recovery.gov reports that Burson-Marsteller, a global public relations and communications firm, received $5,966,260 in stimulus funds to “educate and advertise the congressionally mandated switch to digital television.” The PR campaign targeted “difficult to reach communities.”

Mark Penn, the, um, brains behind Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, is CEO of Burson-Marsteller. With nearly $6 million in hand, Penn awarded a $2,797,377 subcontract to his “sister company,” Penn, Schoen and Berland Associates.

Burson-Marsteller claims Penn’s firm only received $142,000.00. Hey, tell it to Recovery.gov, which lists two subrecipients.

By the way, the number of jobs created: Zero:

This project preserved 3 full-time jobs (on an annualized basis) at Burson-Marsteller that would have been eliminated without the benefit of this assignment and the revenue earned from it.

Perhaps one of the jobs Penn preserved was his own.

In further Recovery news, ProPublica found that 2,500 recipients have not filed the required report. The missing reports account for at least $2 billion in stimulus funds.

Folks, if you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention.

Gillibrand Debuts to Mixed Reviews

Gov. David Paterson’s selection of Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand to succeed Hillary Clinton has received mixed reviews. As Gillibrand acknowledges, “you don’t know much about me.”

Here’s what President Barack Obama said about the soon-to-be junior senator from New York:

During her career, Kirsten has been a strong voice for transparency and reform in government and shares the belief that government should be open, accessible and work for all of our citizens. In Congress and as special counsel for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, she worked to strengthen public and private partnerships to invest in infrastructure and New York's economy.

At this time of great challenge, I know that Kirsten has the integrity, character, and dedication to public service to help us achieve our greatest goals.

Still, Gillibrand has already drawn a primary challenge. Indeed, a Quinnipiac poll found:

Because of Gillibrand's pro-gun position and her backing by the National Rifle Assn., 36 percent of New York State voters, including 50 percent of Democrats, are less likely to vote for her when she runs for election next year, while 17 percent are more likely to vote for her. Another 41 percent say this doesn't make a difference.

So with an eye on 2010, Gillibrand was Al Sharpton’s “special guest” at the National Action Network’s weekly rally.

In his introductory remarks, Sharpton talked about the “drama and some trauma around the governor selecting a successor to Hillary Clinton”:

Don’t get distracted on a lot of issues that have nothing to do with where we need to go. Others can deal with political trivia. We have to deal with our social reality.

Sharpton continued:

Reporter said to me this morning, “Well, do you know her well?” No. But I would rather it was someone I didn’t know that reached out than somebody that I do know that takes us for granted. Some of the folks I know too well. They’ve never done anything. They never will do anything.

Gillibrand said righting the ailing economy is her number one priority. A former securities lawyer, she defended her vote against the Wall Street bailout:

I voted against the bailout because of the lack of regulation. Nobody was watching. We don’t know whether the banks are worth anything… My goal was to try to change the bill.

The decisions that we make have to be the right decisions. We can’t do it over and over. We have to do it right.

Gillibrand added:

We need the ability to go into those banks with forensic accounting and find out what they’re worth and what they’re doing with that money. We may be giving billions of dollars to banks that will go out of business in a few months.

We need regulations, the right regulation that’s going to work… If we keep throwing good money after bad, the taxpayer is going to be left holding the bag.

Gillibrand took questions from the press and NAN members. BTW, can you, um, imagine, you know, Princess Caroline, taking questions in a public forum?

Gillibrand told her new constituents:

I’m here to listen to you. I’m here to be an advocate for your priorities… This may be my first visit but it will not be my last visit.

Rev. Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson, NAN’s chairman, promised to pray for her. With opponents organizing, Gillibrand may need divine intervention.

Left Feels Left Out

President-elect Barack Obama met with the nation's governors today at Independence Hall in the City of Brotherly Love.

Vice President-elect Joe Biden basked in the presence of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin:

Since the race is over, no one pays attention to me at all. So maybe you will walk outside with me or something later and say hello to me.

Obama is showing his former rivals lots of love. He named Hillary Clinton as his secretary of state. Earlier, he extended a hand of bipartisanship to Sen. John McCain and pardoned the backstabbing Sen. Joseph Lieberman.

Now, some are wondering when Obama will show Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. some love.

Dr. Julianne Malveaux, president of Bennett College for Women, wrote:

Meanwhile, Rev. Jesse Jackson made some ugly comments when he was off-mike at Fox News back in July. He was roundly, and justifiably, criticized for his remarks by an array of people, including his son, Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.

From all outward appearances, Rev. Jackson seems to be persona non grata to the Obama team. So while Clinton, Lieberman and even McCain have been forgiven for their campaign behavior, there appears to be no forgiveness for Jackson.

Malveaux continued:

While the president-elect is meeting with this group and that, hearing from this or that leader, it is important for him to maintain an open door to the civil rights community.

And it is important for him to be open to meeting with, among others, Rev. Jesse Jackson. Such a meeting would signal respect, magnanimity, and the open spirit that has welcomed Clinton and Lieberman to the Obama team. While the success of the Obama administration does not depend on a meeting with Jackson, it sends an important signal to a sector of our nation that supported this president-elect. Why not reach out to Rev. Jackson and, by extension, to the Black left?

The “Black left” is not alone. Latinos and progressives are also grumbling. Investigative journalist and author Jeremy Scahill told the hosts of “Law and Disorder”:

Yes, it’s good that John McCain and Sarah Palin are not in power in this country but Obama is not a saint. He is a center Democrat, closely tied to the Democratic policy elite.

Obama supporter and campaign surrogate Cornel West, author of “Hope on a Tightrope,” recently observed:

However, I do want to give him time. If he really does aspire to what I believe and hope he aspires to, namely, to be a progressive Lincoln, then we have to be like Frederick Douglass to help push him. If he has his own vision, then he could use these folks to push it through. But he has to be bold enough, strong enough and visionary enough to step into his own Age.

The whispers are getting louder.

The Ones We’ve Been Waiting For?

I am a policy wonk so on Saturday, I attended a daylong conference on building bridges between African American and immigrant communities.

As I walked past the Princeton Club, I thought about New York Times columnist David Brooks lauding President-elect Barack Obama for assembling a Cabinet of Washington insiders and members of the club:

If a foreign enemy attacks the United States during the Harvard-Yale game any time over the next four years, we’re screwed.

Truth be told, a lot of black folks already feel screwed. There is growing concern among black women leaders about whether a black woman will have a seat at the table.

It bears repeating that sisters had President-elect Obama's back from the South Carolina primary to Election Day.

Erica Williams, Study Director for the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, said:African American women in particular played a large role in this election, especially in several key battleground. More African American women voted in this presidential election than in any other.

I shared black women leaders' concerns with Ron Hayduk, a keen political observer and longtime democracy reform activist. Ron teaches at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, which is about as far from the rarified air of the Ivy League as one can get.

Ron told me:

He’s being very cautious to his detriment and to ours because he needs black women…A working class agenda has to have women of color for that to happen. What’s he going to do? Do it later if he gets around to it? How long do black woman have to wait. It’s nothing new.

What’s new is that we were expecting something different. People are fired up, black women especially are mobilized…It’s their time. It’s the people’s time. It’s going to be an opportunity lost. A chance missed. He’s going to go down if he doesn’t do it, and he’s going to take us with him.

Ron also noticed the Princeton Club on his way to the Murphy Institute for Worker Education and Labor Studies, where the conference was held. He observed:

Those appointments don’t reflect the electoral coalition. It doesn’t look like the electoral coalition will be a part of the governing coalition…It’s more of the same. Maybe not the same old but it’s the same monied interests. Some are just retreads from the Clinton administration.

Ron’s observations were echoed by Bill Fletcher Jr. who, BTW, is a Harvard grad:

It’s up to us to realize our job is to shape Obama and not the other way around. He’s constructing a center-right administration. We’ve got to get organized, shape the discussion, and help the man be who he has to be for this moment.

For President-elect Obama’s three million donors and hundreds of thousands of campaign volunteers that would be "change we can believe in."