Stupid is as stupid does and all the rest of that s**t, Come on, pretty baby, call my bluff…

    I  generally use this blog to write about the actions of persons who are unnamed for the protection of the individual and also in case the facts I have been told were wrong.  So, in the spirit of most of the other entries on this blog, this one shall go nameless, to protect the not-so-innocent.

    These folks are in court.  They’re arguing a sunshine law case.  The records are records of an entity created by statute of the State of Missouri.  The plaintiffs want them for a reasonable fee.  The defendants are asking a cost that the plaintiffs view as unreasonable.  In the evidence introduced in the case, a high ranking chief of staff of a certain state governor, who formerly served as the director of that certain state agency which is the subject of this lawsuit,  states in a deposition that she believes the records of this state entity, clearly an entity created by Missouri statute, are not subject to the sunshine law.

    Do  these highly placed officials ever read the law?  Maybe they don’t have to.  Maybe they have attorneys in those state agencies, paid by your and my tax dollars, who are able to advise them on the law.  If so, there are a few attorneys in this state agency who are not earning the tax dollars you and I are paying them.  How in the world could someone in that position make a statement that the records of a state agency are not subject to the sunshine law?

    Perhaps this highly placed state aide is getting advice from another highly placed state official, one of the highest placed state officials in our fine state.  There was a time when that more highly-placed state official seemed to have some confusion about whether emails constituted public records under the sunshine law.  The confusion runs downhill.

    Do these folks ever consider how they sound when they make a statement like that?  This is no different than the horror that was generated when another highly placed federal government official of a different political persuasion went before an investigative agency to parse the English language.  “It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is.”  I guess in this case it depends on what the word “record” is.  Or the word “public.”

    Try this word:  “Violation.”  How about “knowing?”  Or how about another one of my favorites:  “Purposeful.”  And “fine.”

    Maybe a last word to learn:  “stupid.”