Free Republic

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama says the detainee abuse photos he wants to block from release are "not particularly sensational" and would do no good if published. He said he will not tolerate abuse of prisoners. But he also said Wednesday he had directed his legal team to fight the court-ordered release of the photos because he was concerned about how they might affect the safety of U.S. troops. Obama spoke on the South Lawn of the White House, not long after his decision to fight in court to block the photos' release was made public by aides.

Obama is the most remarkable Democratic communicator of my lifetime, I think, and even he's not rising to the task, yet. He needs to lay out his priorities, clearly; he needs to simplify his pitch, yet he also needs to add some depth to his and our understanding of how we got here. This economic crisis is not just about bad mortgages and/or the housing bubble bursting, and it won't be solved by reinflating that bubble, the Republicans' latest dumb idea. These problems have been building since at least the 1970s. Here's how Reich laid it out on Salon....