Matt Blunt refused to reveal what’s in his own e-mail files about Scott Eckersley’s advice to him and then got caught red-handed in a lie about what those files would have shown. So he’s decided to paint himself as the high priest of transparency. His minions filed Sunshine Law requests for every scrap of paper and every e-mail for the last three years from nineteen leading Democratic legislators. As you can see, he believes in transparency–from other people. Don’t think of it as harassment; think of it as making other people practice what he preaches.
And he does preach it, brother. He has been converted and has proven it by announcing the creation of a permanent e-mail retention system for the entire state government.
“I take great pride in my administration’s commitment to being good stewards of taxpayer dollars and commitment to accountable and transparent government.”
All both of the voters who might be taken in by his more-transparent-than-thou act, should notice that he’s still not revealing his past e-mail files in the Eckersley scandal.
Instead, by firing Eckersley to begin with and now by harassing Democrats about their records, he has turned what could have been a minor skirmish into war.
OzarksPolitics.com recommends a counterattack, one justified by the Republican abuse of the Sunshine Law. The harassment of Democrats is so obviously just that:
No particular issues or events are targeted, Sloca wants everything. Among the targets is Springfield State Rep. Sara Lampe, who holds a leadership position in the Democratic caucus. So, if you have ever sent her an e-mail expressing your opinion on an issue or asking for help in a personal manner, or just telling her she is doing a good job, the Missouri GOP will soon get their hands on it.
So the blogger recommends that we knock out some Sunshine Law requests that do focus on particular issues and lists nine possibilities. My favorite would be to write one requesting:
Any correspondence between St. Louis County State Rep. (and Senate hopeful) Jane Cunningham, Rex Sinquefield and the organization All Children Matter in regard to school voucher plans.
That request would be using the Sunshine Law rather than abusing it, and the results might be worth a look-see. How does one write a Sunshine Law request? Do I just put my request on paper, noting that it’s a Sunshine Law request, and pop it in the mail?
Who else deserves to get one of these letters?