Obama's former press secretary told to lie about the drone policy

Robert Gibbs, via luckybogey.wordpress.com.

It gets worse all the time: the lengths the ObamaWorld takes to protect its right to violate the boundaries of other nations with unmanned vehicles programmed to kill suspected enemies and any innocent civilians -even American citizens- who get in the way. Never mind the U.S. Constitution.  Former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs now reveals that he was forbidden to acknowledge the existence of the drone program.

Here's the story:

Former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Sunday that he was told not to "acknowledge" or "discuss" the secret drone program when becoming the government's top spokesman. 

Chris Hayes, host of MSNBC's "Up," played a video clip of Gibbs and current press secretary Jay Carney dodging questions about drones in the White House briefing room before asking if the Obama administration has been sufficiently forthcoming about the controversial targeted killing program. Gibbs, who recently became an MSNBC contributor, recalled the instructions he was given upon taking the job. 

“When I went through the process of becoming press secretary," Gibbs said, "one of the things, one of the first things they told me was, ‘You’re not even to acknowledge the drone program. You’re not even to discuss that it exists.'”

The national media was slow covering the secret drone war in Pakistan and Yemen during Obama's first term, which has been difficult to track given both the government's secrecy and that strikes often take place in remote areas. But the drone media debate has gained steam early in Obama's second term, alongside questions for top counter-terror official John Brennan upon his nomination to become CIA director. 

Gibbs said that once he figured out a reporter's question was about the drone program, "I realized I'm not supposed to talk about it."

Read more:

Men May Dominate Obama Administration: This is Change You Can Believe in?

In response to all the thoughtless comments by giddy Obama supporters such as Rep. Clyburn that now all children in America can believe in the possibility of fulfilling their potential, I’ve said repeatedly: “Only male children in America have received that assurance; female children will have to wait.”

At first glance, it appears that President-elect Obama won’t contribute much to gender equality on behalf of all those little girls in America, including his own daughters.

Politico’s Lisa Lerer reports:

“The early teams released by the Obama administration have tended to be male-dominated. On Wednesday, four women and eight men were named to Obama’s transition advisory board. His agency review team is headed by seven women and thirteen men. And last week, Obama met with his key economic advisers — four women and 13 men.

“So far, Obama has named four members of his top White House staff. Three are men – chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, press secretary Robert Gibbs and chief congressional liaison Phil Schiliro. And one is a woman – senior adviser Valerie Jarrett.

“Additionally, Vice President-elect Joe Biden has named Ron Klain as his chief of staff.

“The senior staff assisting with the transition is more evenly divided, with Jarrett, a mentor and close friend one of the three top aides overseeing it.

“While Obama has not made any Cabinet appointments, the names that are circulating have worried some in the women’s rights community.

‘“I have been struck by how few women have been mentioned for high-level positions,’ said former Vermont Gov. Madeleine Kunin, who worked on the Clinton transition. ‘It’s still very early, so I don’t want to reach conclusions yet. But the rumors are a flashing yellow light.’

“The mention of Clinton Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers is seen as particularly problematic. As president of Harvard University, Summers said that innate differences between men and women might be one reason fewer women succeed in science and math careers. The controversial comment led to his ousting as president.”

Read Lerer’s post in its entirety here.