Official White House Photo by Samantha Appleton

An hour ago, the Whitehouse posted a photo taken by one of their official photographers of the President greeting Mr. and Mrs. Dumbass at the state dinner for visiting Indian president Singh. The photo can be viewed and reproduced in any of six different sizes by anyone who has copy/paste capabilities and can find their way to the Whitehouse's Flickr account.

They didn't have to do this. They could have rightly claimed the photo was evidence in a potential criminal case. Its only real value is to administration critics who already feel that the office of the presidency is being dishonored by its current resident. They could have waited until someone in the media went through months of petitioning under the Freedom of Information protocol, betting that demand for the image itself would wane with time. That has been a common tactic in the past.

I wonder if I'm the only one who thinks this is refreshing. Understanding as they must that it will not always paint them in a positive light, I think they are showing a deliberate commitment to openness. They seem to have much less of a filter before the public than even the Clinton administration had (even PRIOR to Monica-gate.) From what I've noticed so far, they take their hits pretty straight on. Isn't it nice not to have a presidential administration described as "secretive" for a change?