Our friend Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic calls for the Los Angeles Times to release the videotape of Rashid Khalidi’s 2003 going away party in the name of transparency.
He writes: “there’s a video out there of Obama saying kind things about Khalidi, and on the general principle that information in an open society shouldn’t be kept secret and that the voters should make up their own minds about whether or not they trust certain candidates, this video should be set free...
“I understand that the tape was leaked to the Times by a source or sources unknown, and that an agreement was struck with that source to keep the tape hidden, but the tape has been described in a Times story already, and it quite obviously contains no state secrets. I also suspect that the tape could be posted in such a way as to obscure its origins....
"(T)o those of you who think I’m interested in seeing this innocent source burned: We’re not dealing with a wallflower here. The source already leaked the video to the Los Angeles Times. One final thought: The L.A. Times could give us a hint why it agreed to the conditions set by the source. That would certainly help clear the air. And clearing the air is important here: I’m willing to bet that the video does not show Barack Obama wearing a keffiyah. But the anti-Obama conspiracists, who all seem to have my email address, believe it shows something nefarious. Trying to serve the truth here would be a good thing.”
What say you?
