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<h1 class="entry-header"><a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2010/01/joe-biden-update.html" rel="bookmark" title="Joe Biden update: He meets on transparency today. But the meeting is closed">Joe Biden update: He meets on transparency today. But the meeting is closed</a></h1>
<div class="time" style="margin-bottom: 8px;">January 14, 2010 | <span style="color: rgb(139, 4, 18); font-size: 130%;"> 2:22</span>
<span style="color: rgb(139, 4, 18);">am</span></div>
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<a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef0120a7d102f9970b-popup" style="display: inline;"><img alt="BidenHandstoHeavensap" class="asset asset-image at-xid-6a00d8341c630a53ef0120a7d102f9970b " src="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6a00d8341c630a53ef0120a7d102f9970b-600wi" style="width: 600px;"></a> <br>
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Everybody should just relax and take it easy.<br>
Unsubstantiated rumors that Vice President <strong>Joe Biden</strong>
had suddenly gone a little loopy and ordered some of his official
meetings opened to at least cursory public or media attention were just
that -- unsubstantiated rumors.<br>
After a recent public sighting, fears had mounted that the one-time,
long-term senator might rebel against traditional White House
strictures and start acting on all the administration's oft-promised
promises of government transparency and official openness running back
into 2008.<br>But the VP's public schedule today puts all those fears to rest.<br>
In fact, <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/12/vice-president-joe-biden-update.html">loyal Ticket readers will recall that one day last summer</a>
with no advance warning whatsoever Biden's official White House
schedule changed from listing frequent "private meetings" to listing
frequent meetings that are "closed press." Was this dramatic and<strong>....</strong><br>
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...little-noticed vocabulary change a sign of internal administration turmoil? What did it really mean?<br>
No, of course not. And, nothing.<br> <br>
Announcing everyone the VP meets with, including sessions with
unidentified senior staff, which consume much of the vice president's
listed time, and what subjects they talk about would have been a stark
contrast to <strong>George W. Bush's</strong> administration, whose
notoriously secretive ways drew such criticism from Democrats in
Congress during eight long years of really failed policies.<br>
Instead, in the apparent interests of bipartisanship, the Delaware
Democrat has adopted much the same sort of undetailed schedule as his
Republican predecessor, <strong>Dick Cheney, </strong>who was not in the Senate when Obama was only 11 years old.<br>In
fact, today's Biden schedule highlight is a meeting with the chief of
transparency for economic recovery. But, unfortunately, the
transparency meeting is non-transparent, closed to the press. (See his
full schedule below.)<strong> </strong>Which makes it -- what? -- secret openness? Open secrecy?<strong><br></strong><br>
In a joint report issued early this week <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31378.html">a league of nonprofit groups including Common Cause</a>
gave the Democratic administration high marks for its openness,
although it said the work was incomplete and didn't really go into the
lack of <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2010/01/democrats-reid-pelosi-healthcare-cspan.html">open healthcare legislative hearings televised by C-SPAN</a>, as promised by candidate Obama. <br>Under the category of good but not good enough, here's <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/online/white-houses-transparency-is-promising-but-still-not-what-we-were-promised/">another viewpoint from Tommy Christopher</a>, including the Obama C-SPAN promise video.<br>
Biden once described Cheney as the most dangerous VP in American
history. But since Biden will only turn 68 this year, he was probably
overstating in his well-known, jolly way the dangerous vice presidents
that he's known whose devious backroom skills and ways earned them fame
over the decades --men with household names like William King, Henry
Wilson and T.A. Hendricks.<br>
Someday, who knows, Biden's too may join them.<br>
-- Andrew Malcolm<br>
Here is the vice president's official schedule for today. Boldface was added in the interests of <strong>emphasis</strong>. Note especially that the vice president's meeting with the chairman of the Recovery Act <strong>Transparency</strong> and Accountability Board is <strong>closed,</strong> meaning <strong>non-transparent</strong>.<br>The
"pool spray" mentioned has nothing to do with aquatics. It's a coded
message to media that a few select members will be allowed in to take
pictures briefly -- possibly for only a few seconds -- as Biden and his
guest pretend to continue their previously private conversation as if
the meeting was open.<br>
DAILY GUIDANCE FOR THE VICE PRESIDENT, Thursday, January 14, 2010:<br>
In the morning, the President and the Vice President will receive the
Presidential Daily Briefing and the Economic Daily Briefing in the Oval
Office. <strong>These briefings are closed press.<br></strong><br>At
11:30 AM, the Vice President will meet with Secretary of Transportation
Ray LaHood to discuss the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. <strong>This meeting is closed press. </strong><br><br>Afterwards, the President and the Vice President will have lunch in the Private Dining Room. <strong>This lunch is closed press. </strong><br> <br>At
1:00 PM, the Vice President will meet with Iraqi Vice President Adil
Abd al-Mahdi in the Roosevelt Room. There will be a pool spray at the
bottom of this meeting; gather time is 1:45 PM in the Brady Briefing
Room. <br>Then, at 2:15 PM, the Vice President will meet with Earl
Devaney, chairman of the Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability
Board. <strong>This meeting is closed press</strong>. ###<br>
In the interests of transparency we admit you can click here to receive <a href="http://twitter.com/LATimestot">Twitter alerts of each new Ticket item</a>. Or follow us <a href="http://twitter.com/LATimestot">@latimestot</a>. You can also go to <a href="http://www.facebook.com/latimestot">our new Facebook fan page here</a>.<br>
<em>Photo: Associated Press</em><br>
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