Justice Department: We can't release Cheney records because of late-night comedy shows.

Seriously, we can't release what should be public records in case they might be made fun of on comedy shows???????/ WTF mate, why would you even say that outloud?

That's just madness, how stupid do we think we are?

The system is sooo slow tonight.

That said this is a big fail by Obama.

I understand his belief that the Judiciary and the Executive need to be held separate. I also understand the scrutiny that he is under considering the political meddling of the Bush Administration but there is a time when you just have to do what right regardless of appearences.

We know that he has been handed a plate full of shit to deal with and every bite is hard to choke down. That is why we voted for him. We had no allusions that anyone else running was up to the job. He seems to be doing a decent job. But then decent is not going to cut it now is it.

I don't understand the reasoning. Having late night critics is what this country is about! If you don't want people to scrutinize how well you do your job, you shouldn't run for public office.

This is great. WTF.

Where is today's Frost? We need such a man.

Justice??? Dept????

This actually sort of makes sense There has been a long tradition of cleaning presidential quotes and there is a fairly good reason for it. People have to get work done, and thy can't do it standing behind the equivalent of a podium 24 hrs a day. Therefore they are going to swear, tell off color jokes, break wind and to all those sorts of things normal people do. These are also the sorts of things that will get any celebrity in trouble. This leaves two options: Never get anything done, or never cooperate with an investigation.

There have long been rumors that for instance Dubya Bush was almost incapable of sitting through a meeting that lasted longer than about five minutes without either completely spacing out of the conversation or falling asleep. They likely won't be answered till after he is dead but the truth or fiction will come out eventually.

"For a long time now, there's been too much secrecy in this city. . . . Let me say it as simply as I can: Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency." President Barack H. Obama, speaking of his new transparency and Freedom of Information Act directives at their signing ceremony (Jan. 21, 2009).

Huh, I guess actions speak louder than words.

Now we know , we should make fun of them , over and over .... Obama should release the papers . All of them . The comedy industry will benefit , and , people just might learn something . And stop voting for idiots .

Did I miss something? When did we become North Korea?

I just wanted to say that there is LITERALLY a Monty Python Sketch about this!! It is near the end of episode 14 - Face the Press. It is part of the Piranha Brothers sketches, and it is Michael Palin running a not so secret escort service, and acting as if he was tortured because they used satire on him.

It is in here, but this isn't just that part of the sketch, but it's what I could find on youtube. The part starts at 2:15.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evj24bXakqg

Dont count on it Artemis, 48% of Americans still believe the Earth and universe were created in 6 days, So they must also still believe the Earth is flat and the Sun and universe rotates around us. Is it any wonder that Bill Gates wants to bring Chinese to the USA. We caint even find someone to educate as a scientist. Look at all of the Pharmacy researchers, Physists and scientists in this country. Look at the real geniuses graduating from school. Mostly orientals. And we persecuted the chinese in early America. We long thought that we wwere the smarties, while we are in fact the direct descendants of Jackasses. Now I feel better, I sure wouldn't want to insult the monkey genus.

so nothing is resolved again.

Cheney can make any accusation he wants stating everything will be revealed in the records to prove what a moral, upright man he is.

The Obama Administration is no better than Bush. In fact, they are worse because they saw what came before and extended policies that have made EVERYTHING much worse!

Wow.

When you have an administration protecting the opposition from public scrutiny this should make you aware of just how corrupt, how vile some of the dealings our govt. is involved in . To be fearful of a comedians jabs is not what I think they actually fear, I think it is their fear of an outraged public response to a fatally flawed system that has them obstructing justice.
As long as we have cheap gas for our SUV'S, Monday night football, online porn, fast food and Walmart, the American public seems to be content to just look the other way, and let them suck the very life out of us like the vampires that they are.
I have a feeling that if we actually had transparency, if we knew first hand the miserable things that are done in our name abroad, and the degree of corruption, corporate collusion, the bribes, the kick backs, the perversions of the laws within our borders we would vomit.

yeah , they are afraid that intelligent scrutiny could jeopardize the entire bush/cheney regimes efforts to undermine the American citizens and seize absolute power. Its kind of like the movie dirty work. " Ive never seen so many dead hookers in my entire life" kind of deal. I just don't see why he would be so eager to clean up their mess. If your dog takes a shit on the carpet you rub his nose in it. Then the dog learns to shit outside. I think that the people on the throne could use a good use the same if need be.

This is such a lame-o excuse.

At this point they just throw anything out to the public and they accept it.

After all, it doesn't affect who won on American Idol, does it???!

One day after all of our Rights to privacy and transparency of gvt have been stripped to nothing, and the Sheeple look around, they will notice how very much we've all lost.

They can't release the files because they're too busy trying to create them!

I think that what they are really doing is job protection for comedy writers. If we knew what these clowns really said and did we wouldn't need comedy shows Since when has satire been anti-American,Bob Hope you terrorist.

But isn't political satire part of free speech? The Justice Department has officially gone to s**t.

Kudos to Jon Stewart. Have always been a huge fan.

Ragan and Elaganza , you have a point . We need a truly educated population , to keep our Republic . Where I live the public schools are sufficient . Other places , not so much . I have watched ignorance spread for decades . One of the first things Reagan did was eliminate College funding . My younger siblings started careers in , massive debt . Education is belittled in the media , as are the educated . Religion fills the void , and polarization becomes easy . The third pillar of the country is healthcare . Unless these things (Education , debt , Healthcare) are dealt with , I suspect the nation will grow less stable .