Obama's Promise for Open and Transparent Gov't Bites the Dust as He Refuses to Relase Photos of Air Force One's New York Flyover

The Obama Rule: If it makes me look bad, it's classified and the public can't see it!

Remember this?

Change has come to WhiteHouse.gov
The White House Blog
Tuesday, January 20th, 2009 at 12:01 pm

Transparency -- President Obama has committed to making his administration the most open and transparent in history.

So, what about this?

Phantom Air Farce Pictures
By JEREMY OLSHAN
New York PostMay 5, 2009

The $328,835 snapshots of an Air Force One backup plane buzzing lower Manhattan last week will not be shown to the public, the White House said yesterday.

"We have no plans to release them," an aide to President Obama told The Post, refusing to comment further.

The sole purpose of the secret photo-op, which sent thousands of New Yorkers running for cover, was to take new publicity shots of the presidential jet over the city.

"The photos . . . are classified -- that's ridiculous," Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., said.
The photos have not technically been "classified," a White House aide said, but they are being kept from public view.

New Yorkers said they could not understand how a president who shares intimate snapshots from the White House could justify keeping these secret.

"So we're not gonna see the fruits of this cruel joke?" said Frank Antonelli, 39, one of the Wall Street traders spooked by last week's flyover.

"I'm not surprised. Obama . . . wouldn't further all the bad publicity by putting out those pictures."

If Obama is bold enough to keep something like this a secret one wonders what less public screw ups are being hushed up?