When people run for office, many will say anything to get elected.  Then, once they get elected, their views seem to change.  In some cases, this probably has nothing to do with deceit.  Rather, a realization or new sense of awareness sets in, and that office holder realizes that their ideal way of doing things may not be the best way.  If you would like to see a perfect example, just look at Barack Obama.

     In a case involving 5 Ethiopian natives who are suing Boeing for arranging flights for the Bush Administration's "extraordinary rendition" program", the Obama administration seems to be handling the case similarly to the Bush Administration.  Both administrations have argued for preserving state secrets, and have argued that allowing the case to move forward could jeopardize national security and our relationships with foreign countries.  Basically, Obama is doing what Bush would have done.

     As you can imagine, this caught the Judges and many others off guard:

“Is there anything material that has happened” that might have caused the Justice Department to shift its views, asked Judge Mary M. Schroeder, an appointee of President Jimmy Carter, coyly referring to the recent election.

“No, your honor,” Mr. Letter replied.

Judge Schroeder asked, “The change in administration has no bearing?”

Once more, he said, “No, Your Honor.” The position he was taking in court on behalf of the government had been “thoroughly vetted with the appropriate officials within the new administration,” and “these are the authorized positions,” he said.

     Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union wasn't too happy:

“This is not change,” he said in a statement. “This is definitely more of the same. Candidate Obama ran on a platform that would reform the abuse of state secrets, but President Obama’s Justice Department has disappointingly reneged on that important civil liberties issue. If this is a harbinger of things to come, it will be a long and arduous road to give us back an America we can be proud of again.”

     I don't think Barack Obama set out to deceive his supporters.  What I do think is that the reality of the Presidency has finally sunk in.  While I was watching the debates and listening to campaign promises of candidates from both parties, I often wondered how much classified information the candidates weren't aware of, or how they would truly act under the same circumstances that faced George W. Bush.  It will be interesting to see how Barack Obama reconciles his ideal vision of the job with the realities of the position..


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/us/10torture.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=obama%20torture%20ethiopia&st=cse