I've been sitting on this one for a bit now, but I feel it's time to break the silence.  For those that don't read him, Glenn Greenwald has been quite persistent in covering this story.  For my money, he's the best read on the topic.

Here's what I'd like to add: I think that we have to remember that in politics things are not always what they seem.  In principle, Greenwald is right on and he's taking the exact same issue with an Obama administration that he did with a Bush administration.  I appreciate this consistency of principle and I agree with him on the issue.

Having that said, I think there's something being left out here.  From Greenwald:

A unifying belief among liberals (and many principled non-liberals) for the past several years was that Bush's secrecy theories and assertions of unchallengeable executive power were grave and tyrannical threats to liberty.  Now, as of January 20, 2009, in some people's minds, to raise protests about the exact same theories is nothing more than "hysteria," because the Good Leader has secret reasons that he can't and won't share with us that justify everything he's doing for our own good.  We are in the dark about his motives. And that's how it should be.

First, Greenwald isn't being any more hysterical now than he was under Bush.  Calling him hysterical is just ad hominem crap that totally avoids the point he's making, which is germane.  If you really care about the issue in principle that Greenwald raises, then you should care about it no matter who is in the White House.  That should be obvious to any thinking person.

However, I think the question of the motive of these actions is relevant.  As Greenwald observes, we don't know what the motives are.  Perhaps Obama is really just as craven as Bush.  Personally, I don't think that's the case, but it's possible.  This is a good reason to stay on top of this issue.  If that's really what's going on here, it shouldn't take long for that to become apparent.

On the other hand, there could be another explanation.  Obama, being now sworn in and briefed, most certainly knows things that I don't.  Giving him the benefit of the doubt, that is that he is sincere about the rule of law and restoring the proper Constitutional role of executive power, Obama, along with Eric Holder and others, have to incorporate what they've learned into a viable plan for making this happen.  Consider what we know about torture and wiretapping, then consider that there's more that we don't know.  It is certainly possible that they've decided that they need to line their ducks up in order to make the right moves on this and it is also possible that they've determined that they have to make a short-term sacrifice to make a long-term gain here.

Consider the banking situation.  It has, to me, the outward appearance of being very confused and mismanaged, but there are complicated elements, such as foreign debt, that cannot be easily discussed in public.  This isn't even an issue of state secrets.  It's an issue of what is and isn't politically expedient.

But let me be clear: The circumstances I describe above, whereby Obama knows something we don't and has calculated that he must temporarily preserve the status quo in order to ultimately change it, are grim.  This is the best case scenario that I can imagine, given the circumstances.  Perhaps that's more of a reflection of my lack of imagination than it is a reflection of the circumstances, but I have my doubts about that.  If the best case scenario is that Obama must assume the untenable legal positions of the John Yoos and David Addingtons of the world, then the outlook for justice is grave indeed.  And there's no guarantee that this is really the hand we've been dealt.  The truth could indeed be worse.

In the meantime, I would urge everyone to stay vigilant and skeptical.  If you are inclined to come down hard on Obama, remember that appearances can be deceiving.  If you are inclined to support him even in light of the facts, remember that sometimes things are exactly what they look like.

In either case, the Constitutional mess that is the legacy of the Bush administration remains fully intact for now.  For those of us who care about seeing that changed, the task is far from complete.