http://www.profswitzer.com/blog/2009/06/do-as-i-say-not-as-i-do/ Economics, Politics, Entertainment and Life in Academia Mon, 06 Sep 2010 23:03:55 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 http://www.profswitzer.com/blog/2009/06/do-as-i-say-not-as-i-do/comment-page-1/#comment-2354 ProfSwitzer Tue, 23 Jun 2009 05:27:51 +0000 http://www.profswitzer.com/blog/?p=782#comment-2354 Are they the exact same situation? No. Any time you're dealing with a president, it's hard to draw parallels unless you're comparing to other presidents. But they're similar enough (in my opinion) to at least draw a comparison. In both cases, you have a person who is responsible for other people's lives, and this person has information that he would like to be kept secret; information that, if it were made public, might put those people's lives at risk. Bill Keller understood that principle in the kidnapping case but in the other cases, his belief in the public's "right to know" overrode concerns for the safety of others. Maybe he's learned his lesson for all I know and now is more likely to defer to the requests of an administration trying to keep our homeland secure -- I would hope so. (Although at this point, if he acquiesces to Obama on something like this, those on the right will just say he's a partisan, willing to help Obama when he wasn't willing to do the same for Bush. I would think that going through a kidnapping ordeal like this, and really understanding how responsible he is for others and how the wrong action/inaction might result in their deaths, might change a person. So if something like this happens with Obama and Keller keeps quiet on it, I'll chalk it up to a change of heart. Maybe he's not a hypocrite. Maybe he's just acquired a little different perspective now.) Are they the exact same situation? No. Any time you’re dealing with a president, it’s hard to draw parallels unless you’re comparing to other presidents. But they’re similar enough (in my opinion) to at least draw a comparison. In both cases, you have a person who is responsible for other people’s lives, and this person has information that he would like to be kept secret; information that, if it were made public, might put those people’s lives at risk. Bill Keller understood that principle in the kidnapping case but in the other cases, his belief in the public’s “right to know” overrode concerns for the safety of others. Maybe he’s learned his lesson for all I know and now is more likely to defer to the requests of an administration trying to keep our homeland secure — I would hope so. (Although at this point, if he acquiesces to Obama on something like this, those on the right will just say he’s a partisan, willing to help Obama when he wasn’t willing to do the same for Bush. I would think that going through a kidnapping ordeal like this, and really understanding how responsible he is for others and how the wrong action/inaction might result in their deaths, might change a person. So if something like this happens with Obama and Keller keeps quiet on it, I’ll chalk it up to a change of heart. Maybe he’s not a hypocrite. Maybe he’s just acquired a little different perspective now.)

]]> http://www.profswitzer.com/blog/2009/06/do-as-i-say-not-as-i-do/comment-page-1/#comment-2353 Benjamin Seghers Tue, 23 Jun 2009 04:41:08 +0000 http://www.profswitzer.com/blog/?p=782#comment-2353 You might have a good point if the two situations were equivalent. I'm not so sure they are. You might have a good point if the two situations were equivalent. I’m not so sure they are.

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