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Obama Wars Title: Most transparent administration ever restricting press and lawmakers' access to oil spill Most transparent administration ever restricting press and lawmakers' access to oil spill By: Mark Hemingway Commentary Staff Writer 06/10/10 9:43 AM EDT This New York Times piece detailing coordinated efforts by the Obama administration and BP to limit media access to the gulf oil spill is beyond damning: A pilot wanted to take a photographer from The Times-Picayune of New Orleans to snap photographs of the oil slicks blackening the water. The response from a BP contractor who answered the phone late last month at the command center was swift and absolute: Permission denied. “We were questioned extensively. Who was on the aircraft? Who did they work for?” recalled Rhonda Panepinto, who owns Southern Seaplane with her husband, Lyle. “The minute we mentioned media, the answer was: ‘Not allowed.’ ” Journalists struggling to document the impact of the oil rig explosion have repeatedly found themselves turned away from public areas affected by the spill, and not only by BP and its contractors, but by local law enforcement, the Coast Guard and government officials. Of course, the Times -- still somewhat reluctant to come right out and bash the Obama administration -- blames only the Coast Guard and 'government officials.' Only later in the story do we get the tale of how even Senator Bill Nelson, D-Fla., was denied access to the spill: “They said it was the Department of Homeland Security’s response-wide policy not to allow elected officials and media on the same ‘federal asset,’ ” said Bryan Gulley, a spokesman for the senator. “No further elaboration” was given, Mr. Gulley added. Wow. So a sitting U.S. senator who's state is directly affected by the spill can't get out to take a look at it because the White House says no. And speaking of hope and change, here's another fascinating tidbit from the story: Scientists, too, have complained about the trickle of information that has emerged from BP and government sources. Three weeks passed, for instance, from the time the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded on April 20 and the first images of oil gushing from an underwater pipe were released by BP. “I think they’ve been trying to limit access,” said Representative Edward J. Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts who fought BP to release more video from the underwater rovers that have been filming the oil-spewing pipe. B-b-but I thought only George W. Bush could politicize science! Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Most-transparent-administration-ever-restricting-press-access-to-oil-spill-96049529.html#ixzz0qSuot6WJ
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